Louise Minchin's advice on smart meters

Recently, the UK government released some statistics showing that more than 3.1 million smart meters aren't working in 'smart mode'. That means that your meter is likely still measuring your energy use accurately, but it's not sending those readings automatically to your supplier.

The best thing to do is contact your energy supplier and send them your meter readings until the problem's been fixed, to avoid overpaying or underpaying estimated bills.

To check if your meter should be working in smart mode, you can use Citizens Advice's free checker tool here, external. This can tell you what type of smart meter you have in your home and if it should work in smart mode. All you need is your Meter Point Administration Number (MPAN) for electricity or your Meter Point Reference Number (MPRN) for gas, which you can find on your energy bill, along with your postcode.

Once you've established if your meter should be working in smart mode, the easiest way to check whether it is or not is to have a look at your energy bill.

Look for an 'S' for 'smart' label next to your meter readings on your latest statement. This is shown as 'actual' by some suppliers.

That means these readings came automatically from the meter.

What you ideally don't want to see is an 'E' for 'estimated'. An estimated reading might mean your meter is not sending readings back to your supplier automatically.

If you are on estimated bills, get in touch with your supplier and ask them to resolve the issue.

From this point, they've got five working days to get back to you and let you know that they're investigating whether your meter is working and, if not, why not. If they fail to do this within the timeframe, you should be eligible for £40 compensation, which will be paid into your account automatically.

If the issue drags on, you might want to consider lodging a formal complaint. If you choose to do so, your energy supplier has eight weeks to investigate and resolve it once it has been submitted.

If this is not done to your satisfaction within that timeframe, you can then raise the complaint with the Energy Ombudsman which will investigate and take the appropriate action.