Why You Might Not Be Able to Get a Smart Meter

Most homes in Great Britain can now get a smart meter, but not every request ends in an installation. When consumers who proactively contacted their supplier about getting a smart meter were followed as part of research feeding Ofgem's Guaranteed Standards work, 33% were told they were unable to have one, and only 73% were able to book an appointment¹. That gap is not usually about eligibility in the everyday sense: it is about signal, meter position, the state of the existing installation, and in some cases a supplier that is simply not ready for a particular type of home.

The most common reasons an installation is deferred or abandoned are practical. A meter in a basement, a metal cupboard or a communal meter room may not reach the national smart meter network. Some homes sit outside that network's coverage altogether. Others have an existing installation the installer judges unsafe to work on, or a non-standard supply, or solar panels where the supplier's processes are not yet in place². And if you have not been offered a meter, you can request one from your supplier³.

This page sets out each reason in turn, what your supplier is expected to do next in each case, and where the rules now give you a route to compensation or a second attempt.

Reasons certain homes must wait before receiving a smart meter

The refusal you hear on the phone is rarely a hard "never". It is more often a "not yet", and the reason falls into a handful of recognisable categories.

The supplier-capacity dimension deserves its own note. A supplier that is behind on its rollout targets may simply be scheduling installations in batches by area, which can read to a household as a refusal when it is a queue. The same data gap means the homes still waiting are not always visible to the industry chasing them⁹.

Whatever the reason given, a supplier can be asked to state it in writing and to say what would need to change for the installation to go ahead. A refusal without a stated reason can be challenged through the supplier's complaints process and, if unresolved, the Energy Ombudsman⁸.

Coverage, signal and where your meter sits

The single hardest barrier is the smart meter network itself. The Department has referred to the "few hundred thousand" homes outside its wide area network coverage as located in "not-spots", around the 0.75% of homes that sit outside that coverage⁴. If your home is in one of these areas, the meter can be fitted but it cannot communicate, and many suppliers will defer rather than install a meter that cannot do its job.

Signal inside the home matters too. The devices suppliers were deploying could, at the 2018 stage of the rollout, only connect smart meters to in-home displays in up to 70% of premises¹⁰, and while the equipment has moved on, the underlying physics has not. The classic causes of a meter that installs fine but never communicates are:

• Metal cupboards and meter boxes that attenuate the radio link between meter, communications hub and display
• Basement meter rooms sitting below the signal path
• Thick walls and distance between the meter and the communications hub
• Communal meter positions where the signal must travel through shared structure

The type of home shapes the outcome. Installation rates in London, with its high share of flats and communal meter positions, were reported at only 43% in March 2023¹¹, well behind the rest of the country. You can apply for a smart meter if the meter is located outside your property, in flats with communal meter boxes for example¹², but these positions need an installer who can access the cupboard and a signal path that reaches it.

Even a completed installation can leave a household worse off in one respect. In one Energy Ombudsman case study, due to the location of the meter screen on the new gas meter the consumer was unable to check the reading on the meter¹³. Where a meter ends up matters as much as whether it goes in.

Who arranges fitting in rented homes and flats

The rule of thumb is simple: the person whose name is on the energy bill decides.

If you are a private renter and the energy bills are in your name, or you prepay for your energy, you can choose to have a smart meter. Tenants who pay the bills in their rental property are entitled to ask for one, and Ofgem recommends telling the landlord before getting one². Renters need to consult their landlord if the bill is not in their name¹⁴.

If your landlord pays for the energy bill, the decision on whether to get a smart meter or not will be up to them¹⁵. In that arrangement you are not the supplier's customer, so you cannot book the installation yourself.

The government's own statement of rights is broader still: households that pay for their energy, whether they own or rent their home, can expect to be able to book a smart meter installation where the meter is expected to work in the property¹⁶. That last clause carries the weight in blocks of flats. A communal meter room you cannot access, or a cupboard the freeholder controls, can stall an installation even when the bill payer is willing. If you are in this position, see our page on smart meters and monitoring in flats and rented homes.

Booking a fitting and whether you pay anything

Booking is done through your energy supplier, and it is always your energy supplier or a third party working on its behalf that will come to your house to change your meter¹⁵. Nobody else has the right to change your meter.

If you have separate suppliers for gas and electricity, you will need to book individual appointments with both, and it is recommended that you change your electricity meters first¹². If both fuels are with one supplier, a single appointment normally covers both.

What is funded at the visit is set out in the installation itself:

• An electricity and/or gas smart meter
• An in-home display
• A communications hub¹⁷

There is no charge for any of these⁶.

Once you have asked, the clock starts under the new Guaranteed Standards.

How to confirm you qualify and arrange your appointment

There is no eligibility test in the sense of a form you pass or fail. Contact your supplier to get a smart meter for free⁶; if you have not already been offered one, you can request one from your supplier³. The practical check is whether the supplier expects the meter to work in your property¹⁶.

The evidence on how well this works in practice is mixed. Of the consumers followed in research feeding Ofgem's Guaranteed Standards consultation, only 73% were able to book an appointment, and 33% were told they were unable to have one¹. A refused household can ask which of the barriers applies: coverage, meter position, unsafe existing installation, non-standard supply, or supplier readiness. Each has a different next step, and a refusal without a stated reason can be challenged through the supplier's complaints process and, if unresolved, the Energy Ombudsman⁸.

Timing also depends on where the rollout has got to. The previous rollout framework ran as a four-year obligation between 1 January 2022 and 31 December 2025¹⁸, and the policy framework that follows it requires suppliers to complete the domestic smart meter rollout by installing smart meters in remaining domestic premises by the end of 2030⁵. The Data Communications Company likewise states the aim to complete the rollout by the end of 2030¹⁹. A "not yet" today is, in principle, due to turn into an offer before the end of 2030. For the wider picture, see our page on the UK smart meter rollout.

Your appointment: how long it takes, outages and safety

Installation takes a couple of hours, with each supply switched off during the changeover¹². Welsh Government guidance gives a similar picture, stating installation typically takes about 90 minutes and is free of charge¹⁴. The two figures differ, so households arranging the visit can expect the power to each supply to be off for part of a visit of up to a couple of hours, not all of it.

Your smart meter should be installed with minimal disruption, and during your appointment key safety checks should be carried out. An in-home display should be offered and demonstrated as part of the visit¹⁶. Those safety checks matter: they are the point at which an unsafe existing installation, such as damaged wiring or a meter the installer cannot safely isolate, gets identified and the installation deferred.

Two rules protect the visit itself. There must be no sales during the installation visit, and installers must provide energy efficiency advice as part of the visit¹⁵. If a supplier intends to talk about its own products during the visit, it needs your permission in advance¹⁵. Some providers may offer a free energy efficiency inspection during installation¹⁴, which is advice, not a sales pitch, and can be declined.

If the installation fails due to a fault within the energy supplier's control, the consumer will receive compensation under the new Guaranteed Standards⁷. For more detail on the day itself, see smart meter installation: what happens on the day.

Free to install, apart from a few unusual cases

The headline is unambiguous. Contact your supplier to get a smart meter for free⁶. The same statement appears across Ofgem's consumer pages²⁰ and its getting-a-smart-meter guidance²¹, and the Data Communications Company confirms that getting a smart meter installed is free for UK energy customers³. There is no installation charge, no charge for the in-home display, and no charge for the communications hub¹⁷.

The rare exceptions run the other way. Only under exceptional circumstances would an energy supplier be expected to change a smart meter to a traditional meter, and the supplier may charge the costs if it agrees to do so⁸. That is a removal, not an installation, and it is the one place in the smart meter journey where a charge to the household is contemplated by the rules.

Everything else that might look like a cost is not one. The meter is not added to your bill, and the energy a smart meter itself uses is covered on our page about how much electricity a smart meter uses. If anyone asks for payment to install a smart meter, that is not the national scheme: it will always be your energy supplier or a third party working on its behalf that comes to your house to change your meter¹⁵.

When smart mode fails: your rights under the Guaranteed Standards

A meter that has been fitted but never communicates is the quiet failure mode of the rollout, and it now has its own standard.

The definition is straightforward: a smart meter not operating in smart mode is one where the respective energy supplier cannot obtain automatic meter readings as expected, therefore the meter needs to be read manually¹. The causes are that the meter loses connection with your supplier, loses connection after you change supplier, or has been installed without being connected to the national communication system²². You will also still be able to take manual readings while it is in this state²².

Ofgem's consultation set the trigger at over 90 days not operating in smart mode, due to an issue within the energy supplier's control to resolve²³. The final decision confirms the compensation: if a consumer's smart meter is not operating in smart mode for over 90 days, the consumer will receive compensation⁷. Ofgem's minded-to position was to introduce automatic compensation for consumers when any of the four new standards are not met²⁴, so the payment does not depend on the household asking for it.

The scope matters, and the boundaries are worth listing:

• In scope: no action of another party, other than the respective energy supplier, is required to provide a resolution; the consumer has not agreed the smart meter not operate in smart mode; and there is a solution that will resolve the issue¹
• Exempt: where the consumer requested no communication, where no appropriate technical solution is available, and where the consumer's role in booking appointments or interacting with the meter is the obstacle²³
• Also covered: microbusiness customers with smart meters, excluding larger non-domestic customers and advanced meters⁷

Ofgem intends to review the outcomes of the four standards in Q1 2027²⁴.

One further cause sits outside the supplier's control: your meter may not work in smart mode when you move to a new supplier, and you may need to take meter readings manually and submit them to your new supplier instead²⁵. For the full detail, see smart meter guaranteed standards.

Choosing not to opt in, and using the meter traditionally

Smart meters are optional¹⁴. It is your right to refuse the installation of a smart meter, but replacement options may be limited if a traditional meter is faulty or unsafe⁸. There are no provisions in the Energy Bill that would allow anyone to enter a property by force to install a smart meter, and consumers retain the right to refuse installation²⁶.

Except by switching, you do not control the tariff your energy supplier sets, but you can change how much energy you use²⁷, and a smart meter is the tool that shows you what you are using.

A meter can also end up in traditional mode without you choosing it. Your smart meter may stop recording the energy you use, or may no longer send readings to your supplier²⁸. With a first-generation SMETS1 meter, if you switch to a supplier that does not support your smart meter, you may find that the "smart" functionality no longer works¹⁵. Consumers can switch suppliers if they have a smart meter, but the new supplier might not offer all the smart meter services such as remote meter readings, and the meter may need replacing²⁹. For more on this state, see why is my smart meter in dumb mode?

Legacy meters and the closure of 2G and 3G networks

First-generation meters carry a deadline of their own. Suppliers must replace all smart meters that are still connected to 2G and 3G before the services are switched off by 2033. The costs analysis behind the post-2025 framework keeps the 2G/3G to 4G transition distinct from the original rollout, with benefits for 2034 reduced to reflect the 2G/3G switch-off³⁰.

The immediate pressure is smaller than it sounds. Your smart meter will continue to operate as normal following the 3G switch-off, as smart meters will switch seamlessly to the 2G network³¹. The 3G closure is therefore not the event that silences meters; the 2G closure later in the decade is.

The plan for first-generation meters is that they will either be migrated into the new smart data network or replaced with a second-generation meter by the end of the rollout². With a second-generation meter you can switch supplier and keep all smart functions with no interruption, while a first-generation meter may lose some smart functionality when you switch². If your meter is a SMETS1, our page on SMETS1 and SMETS2 meters explains what that means in practice.

The impact on your household's energy self-reliance

A smart meter does not make a home independent; it makes the household's own energy use visible, and it does so through infrastructure the household does not control.

On the visibility side, the gains are real. With a smart meter you receive accurate, not estimated bills², and the data can support smart energy services and innovation across the energy sector: through the national network, smart meter data can be shared securely between authorised users³². That data is the foundation for time-of-use tariffs, flexibility schemes and the sizing of solar and battery systems, which is where independence is actually built.

On the dependence side, the limits are equally real. Only your energy supplier can see how much energy you are using and when, and the network operator can only access your energy consumption data with your explicit permission³². The network has been built to high security standards and has been reviewed by the National Cyber Security Centre³², but it remains a national system: if your home sits in a not-spot, or your meter loses communication, the smart functions stop and you are back to manual readings²². The meter itself is owned and operated by your supplier, and the tariff you pay remains the supplier's to set²⁷.

So the honest position is this: a smart meter is a monitoring instrument, not an independence system. It tells you what you use, which is the prerequisite for cutting what you use and for sizing generation and storage. The independence comes from what you do with the data, and our page on smart meters, monitoring and energy independence takes that step.