Move your gas or electricity meter

You might be able to have your gas or electricity meter moved if you’re:

• finding it difficult to read or access your meter

• doing building work

Who can move your meter depends on the work that’s involved. You can’t move the meter yourself - it’s illegal. Usually your meter is owned by your current supplier and you’ll have to ask them to move it.

If you can’t reach or get to your meter

You can ask your supplier to install a smart meter - smart meters automatically send meter readings to your supplier, so you don’t need to reach your meter to take readings. You don’t have to pay to have a smart meter installed, check how to get a smart meter installed.

If you have a prepayment meter

If you have a non-smart prepayment meter, your supplier can install a smart meter in prepayment mode. Check what you can do if you have problems getting to or topping up your prepayment meter.

Being on prepayment might not be safe or practical for you, check how to move from prepayment to paying by credit.

If your prepayment meter needs moving and you’re on the Priority Services Register, your energy supplier should move your meter for free. Check if you're eligible to sign up to the Priority Services Register.

Check if your energy supplier can move your meter

Contact your supplier and tell them you want to have your meter moved. They'll tell you if they can do the work. This depends on:

• where your meter is now

• how far you want to move it

• the type of connector if it’s a gas meter

• why you want to move it

They might not be able to do the work if your meter is outside or you want to move it longer distances, for example to another room. Most suppliers have information on their website about what they can and can’t do.

If they can do all the work then your supplier will give you a price for this. Prices vary, so you should also get prices from other suppliers and compare them.

Only your current supplier can move your meter. If you want another supplier to do it you have to switch your supply to them first. This will change your prices for gas and electricity, so check that it’s worth it overall before you switch. See our advice on getting the best deal by switching supplier.

If you own your meter

You can arrange to have your meter moved but you can’t do it yourself legally. Talk to your supplier to check what rules you should follow when you have your meter moved.

If you’re not sure if you own your meter, check with your supplier.

Book an appointment for your supplier to move your meter

Your supplier should offer you an appointment as soon as they can. This depends on how urgent your appointment is and how busy they are.

Appointments are usually within normal working hours. Working hours usually means between 9am and 5pm. You usually have to choose a time slot between 2 and 4 hours.

If they offer an appointment that doesn't work for you, ask for a different date and time. Your supplier should say yes if they can.

Your supplier must pay you compensation if they:

• miss the appointment

• change the appointment without your agreement and with less than 1 working day’s notice

• send someone without the right qualifications or tools to do the work

They’ll pay you £30 compensation within 10 working days. If they haven’t paid within 10 working days, they’ll pay you another £30.

If your energy supplier can’t move your meter

You must contact your local electricity or gas network operator to do the work. They’ll usually charge at least £400 for the work, but it could be over £1,000 - it depends on how much work needs to be done.

Find your local gas or electricity network operator using the Energy Networks Association website.

You might still need a registered electrician or gas engineer to do other work - for example, preparatory digging, fitting a meter box or reconnecting your supply inside your home. You should get a number of different quotes before choosing a registered electrician or gas engineer to do this.