Why won't power firms repair our  broken smart meters? 

Raymond Edgell and his wife Sandra decided to get a smart meter fitted last August.

Their old gas and electricity meters in their home in Harefield, near Uxbridge, were in a cupboard under the stairs. And the couple — who are both in their 70s — were increasingly finding it a pain to take regular meter readings.

Even better, the couple would receive a gadget with a screen that would show exactly how much power they were using each day.

But seven months later, the device doesn’t work. In fact, it never has. Raymond, 78, a retired postman, estimates that he’s tried to call Scottish Power 150 times over the intervening months to no avail.

Official figures published yesterday show that he is one of 3.2 million customers whose smart meter does not function as it should.

Money Mail’s postbag is stuffed with letters from readers who, try as they may, simply cannot persuade their energy supplier to fix their faulty meters.

Some have been left for months on end with broken smart meters, with no way of knowing how much gas and electricity they are using until a bill lands.

Others say their gadget is stuck in ‘display mode’. This means it has not been configured and is therefore not connected to their account and does not show how much energy they are using.

Source of data and images: dailymail