Smart meter not sending readings: what to do
When a smart meter stops sending readings, the main risk is not the meter technology itself — it is that the supplier goes back to estimates, then later catches up with a large actual bill. The fix is to control the evidence trail while the technical issue is being resolved.
The safest workflow while it is broken
- Send regular manual readings.
- Store the submission confirmation each time.
- Check each new statement to see whether it says actual or estimated.
- If you keep getting estimates, ask the supplier to rebill after enough actual reads are on file.
This protects you from the most common bad outcome: a long stretch of low or random estimates followed by a painful correction.
Related guides
What to ask the supplier
- Is the meter currently operating in smart mode?
- Do you have a communications fault open on the account?
- What readings were used on the latest bill?
- When will you correct the estimated bills once the issue is fixed?
When to escalate
Escalate when the supplier ignores manual readings, keeps re-estimating after you have provided real reads, or cannot explain how it will correct the account once the fault is resolved.
For some smart-meter failures there may also be compensation rules or service commitments worth checking through Citizens Advice.
What to request under the 2026 smart-meter standards
Since February 2026, Ofgem’s smart-meter guaranteed standards include a £40 payment if a supplier does not provide a resolution plan within five working days after you report a smart-meter problem. Other standards cover an installation appointment more than six weeks away and a supplier-caused failed appointment. Check the exact circumstances before asking for compensation; a meter failing to send readings does not automatically prove that a payment is due.
- Record the date you reported the problem and the supplier’s reference number.
- Ask whether it received automatic readings, why it has used estimates and what checks it has completed.
- Ask for its written resolution plan and expected next step. Keep submitting dated manual readings where possible.
- If the response misses the standard, ask it to assess the £40 payment and explain its decision in writing.
Reviewed 28 September 2026 · Ofgem: 2026 standards · Citizens Advice: smart-meter problems. For urgent loss of supply, contact your supplier immediately.
Frequently asked questions
Can I rely on manual readings while the smart meter is broken?
Yes. In a dispute, manual reads with confirmations are often your best protection.
Does a smart meter not sending readings always cause a high bill?
Not immediately. Often it causes inaccurate estimates first, then a later catch-up bill when actual readings arrive.
What if my online account says smart but my bill is still estimated?
Use the bill itself as the source of truth and challenge the supplier with the bill wording plus your manual readings.
Why smart meters stop sending, and which ones are your problem
A smart meter talks to the national communications network, which passes readings to your supplier. Several links can fail, and only one of them is anything to do with you.
| Cause | Typical sign | Whose problem |
|---|---|---|
| Poor signal at the property | Thick walls, basements, rural areas, meter cupboards. | Supplier / network. They may fit an aerial or a different comms hub. |
| Dropped to “dumb” mode after a switch | First-generation meters that lost smart function when you changed supplier. | Supplier. Most have now been enrolled onto the shared network, but not all. |
| Comms hub failure | The IHD stops updating too. | Supplier. Needs an engineer. |
| You opted out of automatic readings | Reading frequency set to manual in your account settings. | Yours — and worth checking first, because it is a thirty-second fix. |
| Supplier system not ingesting the data | The meter and IHD look fine but bills still say estimated. | Supplier. This one is invisible from your side, which is why you ask for the last successful read date. |
Notice that the fault is almost never yours — and that matters, because it means a long run of estimates caused by a comms failure is a supplier failure. That is the difference between “you owe this” and a back-billing argument if the period runs past twelve months.
The workflow that protects you while it is broken
Read the meter monthly
Not the in-home display. Press A or the display button until the total kWh appears. Photograph it.
Submit and screenshot
Every single time. The confirmation screen is what makes “you never gave us readings” unusable later.
Check the next bill
If it still says estimated after you submitted an actual reading, that is a separate failure and worth raising immediately.
Send this once, at the start
Question 1 is the important one. The date of the last successful read establishes when the failure began, which is the fact everything else hangs on if this becomes a billing dispute.
How to take a clear, dated meter reading
Most rejected readings are rejected for one of four reasons, and all four are avoidable in the two minutes it takes to do it properly.
| Meter type | What to write down | What to leave out |
|---|---|---|
| Digital, single rate | The numbers left to right, before any decimal point. | Digits after a decimal point, and anything in a red box or after a red digit. |
| Digital, two rate (Economy 7) | Both registers. Usually R1 / R2 or Low / Normal. Record which is which. | Do not add them together — they are billed at different rates. |
| Dial meter | Left to right. If a pointer is between two numbers, take the lower. If it is exactly on a number, check the dial to its right: if that reads 0–1, use the number; if 8–9, use one lower. | The dial marked 1/10, and any dial in red. |
| Gas, metric (m³) | The black or white digits before the decimal. | Digits after the decimal, usually red. |
| Gas, imperial (ft³) | All the digits shown, ignoring red. | Do not convert it yourself — the supplier applies the conversion factor. |
| Smart meter | Press A or the display button until the total kWh appears. Economy 7 meters cycle through both rates. | The in-home display's figure — it is an estimate, not the billing register. |
The photo is the evidence, not the number. Take one shot showing the reading and one showing the serial number on the meter plate, or one shot with both in frame if you can. Phone photos carry the date in their metadata, which is exactly what you want if this ends up at the Ombudsman. Do not crop them or send screenshots of them — send the originals.
The in-home display is not the meter
This trips people up constantly. The IHD is a convenience device fed by the meter over a radio link. It can drift, lose sync, or show a different figure entirely. Billing runs off the meter's own register. When you take a reading, read the meter itself.
Frequently asked questions
Am I being overcharged while the smart meter is not sending?
Not usually overcharged — usually under-charged, on low estimates, followed by a correction. That is the outcome to plan for, which is why manual readings and screenshots matter more than the technical fault does.
Whose fault is it if the meter stops communicating?
Almost always the supplier's or the network's. Signal problems, comms hub failures and meters that lost smart mode after a switch are all theirs to resolve, and a long run of estimates caused by one is a supplier failure.
They keep saying an engineer will visit and nothing happens.
Put the chase in writing with dates, ask for the fault reference, and give a deadline. If it has run past eight weeks from your original complaint, it is eligible for the Energy Ombudsman — and repeated broken appointments is exactly the kind of service failure that attracts a goodwill award.
Should I go back to a traditional meter?
Rarely worth it. You lose access to some tariffs, and a working smart meter is the best protection against estimated billing there is. Fix the communications problem instead.