Since 23 February 2026, a householder who reports a problem with a smart meter must be told by their supplier how it plans to resolve that problem within five working days. If the supplier does not respond in that time, it owes the customer £40 in compensation under rules from the energy regulator Ofgem1. The same date marks the start of separate Ofgem standards covering installation delays: £40 is owed where a household waited more than six weeks for a smart meter installation appointment, or where an appointment failed because of a fault within the supplier's control2. In both cases the compensation should be paid automatically, though Which? notes there is no harm in telling a supplier if a customer believes it is owed1.
The rules sit alongside a persistent fault rate. In a survey of 813 Which? members with smart meters carried out in August 2026, 31% said they had had a problem with theirs in the past 12 months1. The most common complaint was the in-home display, the separate handheld monitor given at installation, with reported faults including lost connection to the meter, incomplete data, blank screens and, less often, incorrect figures1.
Government data published in May 2026 indicates around 3 million domestic smart meters, 8.2% of the total, were operating in "traditional mode", meaning they were not connecting to the smart meter network and so were not sending readings1. The Data and Communications Company, which runs that network, attributes such cases to causes including gaps in network coverage, meters needing a software update, a switch to a supplier that has not yet connected to the meter, and first-generation meters that have not been updated1.
On monitors specifically, Ofgem rules mean a supplier should repair or replace a faulty in-home display free of charge within the first 12 months, unless the householder damaged it. After 12 months the supplier is not obliged to repair it and can charge for a replacement, which Which? puts at roughly £30 to £501. Eleven suppliers, including the biggest six, have signed up to voluntary government principles covering troubleshooting, trained customer service staff, replacement monitors and a "next best" alternative where a monitor cannot work1.
"Since 23 February 2026, it you report a problem with your smart meter, your supplier must tell you how it plans to resolve it within five working days."
Why it matters for households
A smart meter that is not communicating leaves a household without the near-real-time consumption and cost data that the meter and its monitor are meant to provide, and can leave bills based on estimates rather than actual readings1. The five-working-day response requirement puts a clock on the supplier once a fault is reported, and the £40 payment is automatic rather than something a household has to claim1. The installation standards cover a different failure point, the appointment itself2.
The rules do not cover everything. Where a meter is recording usage but not transmitting it, readings can still be submitted manually to keep bills accurate1. Where a meter has been faulty, a supplier can charge retrospectively for the previous year if too little was paid, but must refund the whole period of the fault if too much was paid1. The £40 figures apply to the response deadline and to installation delays; no compensation figure for a monitor that is simply old and out of warranty is reported, and the £30 to £50 replacement cost is given as an expectation rather than a fixed price1.
What happens next
The standards took effect on 23 February 2026 and apply to problems reported from that date1. Where a complaint is not resolved, Which? states that after eight weeks a householder can take the matter to the energy ombudsman1. No further implementation dates are reported in these sources.