Guidance

Smart meters: Your rights and expectations

Published 8 August 2025

Applies to England, Scotland and Wales

Overview

Smart meters are replacing analogue gas and electricity meters as part of the national infrastructure upgrade to improve and modernise Great Britain’s energy system. Smart meters enable accurate billing by automatically recording energy use in half-hour periods, enabling energy suppliers to bill based on actual rather than estimated usage and to provide flexible energy tariffs, which could save consumers money. With these tariffs, energy is cheaper when fewer people are using it, or when there is more renewable energy being generated. Smart meters can operate in credit or prepayment mode. Smart meters also come with a useful In-Home Display (IHD) so consumers can see and manage energy use to save money on bills. Find out more about smart meters.

This guide sets out in one place what you should expect at each stage of the smart meter installation process, from arranging an installation appointment to resolving any issues which might occur after installation.

Service expectations

There are 10 key stages to getting a smart meter and being able to benefit from it. Against each stage, set out below is the minimum service and experience the government expects all domestic energy suppliers to provide households.

1. Communication: Communication from your energy supplier should be accurate and easy to understand.

2. Appointments: If you pay for your energy, whether you own or rent your home, you should be able to book to have a smart meter installed (where it is expected to work in your property).

3. Installations: Your smart meter should be installed with minimal disruption. During your appointment, key safety checks should be carried out, you should be offered an In-Home Display (IHD), and it should be demonstrated to you so you can monitor your energy use.

4. Ongoing support and maintenance: If you suspect an issue with your smart meter, or your energy supplier identifies an issue, they should promptly investigate and work to resolve issues themselves or with third parties, keeping you informed throughout.

5. Automatic readings and accurate bills: Meter readings should be sent automatically by your smart meter to your energy supplier and you should receive accurate bills, only paying for the energy you use.

6. Prepayment: Your smart meter should only ever be in prepayment mode if it is safe and works for you to use this payment method. When you have a smart meter in prepayment mode, you should be able to top-up in a way that best suits you, be that in-person or remotely.

7. Monitoring energy use: You should be able to accurately monitor your energy consumption and spend via a means of your choice; this could be via an In-Home Display, an Accessible In-Home Display, a mobile app, other linked devices, or a combination of those monitoring methods.

8. Data privacy and security: You have control over who can access the energy use data from your smart meter; including how often and for what purposes, except where this is required for regulated purposes, such as billing.

9. Support for vulnerable consumers: If you or somebody in your household is considered vulnerable, those needs should be proactively identified by energy suppliers, and additional support provided wherever appropriate.

10. Tariffs and switching: With a smart meter, you should be able to participate in and benefit from a flexible energy market and to switch easily and quickly between energy suppliers without any disruption to your smart service.

If you do not feel the service you’ve received has met these standards, you can complain to your energy supplier. They have 8 weeks to investigate and resolve the problem.

If the issue is not resolved to your satisfaction, you can complain to the Energy Ombudsman.

Next steps

It’s a priority for the government to keep improving consumers’ experience of the nationwide smart meter rollout. We continue to work with the energy regulator, Ofgem, and the energy industry to make such improvements, making it easier to get a smart meter installation and to ensure households receive a high-quality service.

The government has published a consultation on the future framework for smart metering post-2025, alongside Ofgem’s consultation that would see automatic compensation for smart metering consumers where their energy supplier fails to meet certain expectations. We will update this guide with new relevant requirements when they are in place.