Martin Lewis 'don't bother' warning as customers pay more to avoid smart meters

Martin Lewis has issued a warning over ‘too many broken’ smart meters after it was revealed that as many as one in five are not working properly.

The money expert has called on the new energy secretary Ed Miliband to do something to fix the industry wide problem of broken smart meters over ‘heavy handed’ tactics to try to get customers to install smart meters, many of which don’t work properly.

Martin revealed that many of his followers actively look for deals which avoid having to install a smart meter, such is the will to avoid them because of their issues.

Martin Lewis, in an open letter to the energy secretary, said: “Too many smart meters don't work. The industry can pump all the money it likes at marketing them, but when word of mouth is often saying 'don't bother', it's tough to shift the dial. I am regularly contacted by people asking: "What's the best tariff I can get without having to fit a smart meter?", as many who don't have one now are willing to pay more to avoid getting one.

“Our latest MSE research (via statistically representative polling), which asked people if their smart meters work, shows 19% say theirs don't work. The reason this is so much higher is that it includes everything people feel has gone wrong, including in-home displays that won't communicate or connect, incorrect data on tariffs or usage, and prepay top-ups that don't register correctly. These aren't in the official stats.

“When it comes to installations, it's undoubtable many of the low-hanging fruit have now been picked. This means providers are having to use more forceful language and exclude customers from better deals to try and heavy-hand them into having a smart meter – all of which risks breeding resentment.”

Martin urged the government to change the way it enforces targets on energy companies, away from installation and towards overall number of working smart meters, which would mean more customers’ broken meters get fixed.