Our Octopus smart meter went dumb, now our bills are rising: CRANE ON THE CASE A.W and his wife can't do manual meter readings due to disability Meter readers don't come regularly so bills are based on estimates Have you had a problem with a company? Email helen.crane@thisismoney.
co.uk By Crane on the Case Updated: 06:00, 18 July 2024 e-mail View comments My wife and I have had nothing but problems with our smart gas meter. There is an issue with the connection, meaning it is not 'smart' and readings don't get sent automatically to our supplier, Octopus Energy.
We are disabled and due to the meter's positioning, we can't read it – so unless Octopus sends someone to read it for us, our bills are based on estimated usage. Last year, we thought we were being overcharged so we complained to Octopus and then the Energy Ombudsman. Our bill was corrected, Octopus paid us £200 compensation and promised to send a meter reader every three months.
Not so smart: Our reader's smart meter stopped working, and he couldn't send manual readings to Octopus due to his disability and the main meter's position - then his bills went up Someone then read the meter in November 2023 and we were billed £400 which we paid, and were told everything was up to date. But in December we received another bill which said we had been under-charged in the previous bill and owed £500 more. This was followed by an estimated gas bill for over £1,000 in March 2024, and another for £392 in April.
Our meter wa.