Overview

• Lin Lawler, a 70-year-old holiday let owner in Norfolk, was slapped with a £24,010 energy bill for a property she occupies just over 100 days a year.
• Engineers deemed her smart meter faulty in October 2024 and replaced it in March 2025, after which her monthly charge fell from £1,675 to £183.
• SmartestEnergy has cancelled her new fixed-rate contract, installed a prepayment meter and is demanding repayments of £2,022 per week under threat of disconnection.
• The Energy Ombudsman, which initially found insufficient evidence of over-recording, has agreed to revisit her complaint following the meter replacement.
• Broadland and Fakenham MP Jerome Mayhew has pressed SmartestEnergy for a thorough investigation and vowed to support Lawler until the dispute is resolved.