My business energy meter is faulty — who fixes it?
Report it to your supplier. They are responsible for the meter even where a separate meter operator owns or maintains it, and they must investigate a suspected fault. Keep paying a reasonable amount while it is looked at, and keep your own readings — they are what any correction gets calculated against.
Last reviewed 2 September 2026 by Utilities Made Simple · independent, whole-of-market, supplier-paid — how we are paid
Signs of an actual fault
- The display is blank, frozen, or showing an error code.
- Readings go backwards, jump, or do not move while equipment is clearly running.
- Consumption changes sharply with no operational change — but rule out the ordinary causes first, in why has my bill gone up when my usage hasn't?
What to do
- Record your own readings daily for a week, with photographs. This is the single most persuasive evidence in a meter dispute.
- Report it in writing with the meter serial number and what you have observed.
- Ask what test is being carried out and when. Suppliers can test on site or remove the meter for laboratory testing.
- Ask how bills will be handled meanwhile — usually estimated against historic consumption, which you should sanity-check.
Costs and outcomes
If the meter is found to be faulty, it is replaced and the account corrected from when the fault is judged to have begun. If it is found to be accurate, some suppliers charge for the test — ask about that before it happens, so there are no surprises. Either way, get the outcome in writing.
If it is a safety issue
Smell of gas, burning, sparking or scorching around a meter is not a billing matter. Leave the building and call the National Gas Emergency Service on 0800 111 999 for gas, or your network operator on 105 for electricity. Both are free and staffed around the clock.
Ask an energy specialist
If your question is not answered above, send it to us. A specialist answers personally, normally within one working day. No sales call, no obligation — and if the answer is "your deal is fine", that is what you will get.
Want this checked against your own bill?
Email a recent bill to info@utilitiesms.co.uk and a specialist will check your rates, VAT, levies and contract end date against the live market — free, usually the same working day. If your deal is already good, we will tell you to keep it.