General Chat

Has anyone changed from a Key meter to a bill one?
I believe prepaid is more expensive per unit, ...Is that right?

Daughter has recently moved into her house, where electricity is on a Key meter. She has been told that she will have to be in the house for 1 year and build up a credit rating before the meter can be changed. She previously been living in a rented flat just a short distance from there and paid her bills by direct debit.

Any advice or comments would be welcome please.

Hi Gwyn,
when i lived in my flat just about 1 1/2 yrs ago now
i had a prepayment meter....and yes it is more expensive .. but....
i found it good because you can buy as much credit as you want ..ie...
£10 ..£20 £ 40 .. or what ever you can aford to buy... the lowest you can buy is £5 ,
but since ive been in my bungalow i pay by direct debit ..
Hazelx

If the current supplier is the same as her previous one where she paid by DD it would be worth having a word with customer services direct. She shouldn't be financially penalised by previous tenants and their credit history.

Sue x

I had mine changed from pre-paid soon after I moved in, but it was my second property and i was an existing customer with credit history ..................dunno if that helps lol

LOL " Credit History"LOL

My OH has the bank account from which Most bills are paid...however because she has never owed anybody anything, her credit history is ...well.......... History..........she wanted to buy from a magazine some damart stuff.......

but was refused, for a bad credit rating.......

Bob

Thanks for your helpful comments.
My O.H. had checked online for the best rates, but think they may not have been with her previous supplier. Perhaps she'd better stick with previous supplier for now, as they know her record.

Just trying to keep costs down, but it's not always easy!

Gwyn

That is an advantage Stella.
She'll have to see how it all works out.


Gwyn

if she goes to a different supplier, they might change the meter free, even tho she hasnt been in long coz they want her custom hun

Gwyn

when we moved in here it was on pre payment and we changed over straight away.

Mine was a prepaid key meter when I moved in. It was changed, no problem. the fact that they couldn't actually get out to change it for a few days after we moved in, meant that they came out and gave us an extra £5 to last us until they did.

Hi Gwyn,
Slightly different situation, but when I moved into my previous and current (council) houses, both had money meters.
When they refused to change them - (they are MUCH more expensive!) I wrote them a letter stating that I was not prepared to be responsible for their money in my house - and they were changed, on both occasions within the week.
If your daughter had a good credit rating with the energy company - ie paid on time- which if it was DD she must have done, the company would be fairly ureasonable to object.
She could always go to the ombudsman.

My nieghbour is on a prepayment meter with the same company as mine,which I pay DD. When she asked for help understanding her bill,I was amazed at how much more she payed per therm than me.

I believe the government are looking into this discrepancy. After all,it is the poorer amongst us that use pp meters,so they should be paying less if anything.

The property I rent out has a pre pay meter - covers me as the land lady but are a little more expensive for tennants to run. However can be a convenient way of bugeting a shop is two mins round corner from property that credits them.

Personally in our home we have paperless billing by dd and have one of the cheaper deals around - I often check on the money expert sites to make sure I am not overpaying.

Hi Gwen

Your daughter should avoid a pre-payment meter at all costs. The price of electricity via a pre payment meter is exorbitant.

Below a quote from CAB :

"Most customers will have a credit meter and receive regular bills.However, in some circumstances the electricity supplier may refuse to supply until you have provided suitable security.The electricity supplier should first ask you to agree to a prepayment meter being fitted .Only if you refuse a prepayment meter should the electricity supplier ask for alternative security, but will normally ask you to do one of the following:-

•join a regular payment plan
•pay by direct debit
•provide a guarantor
•make a cash deposit "

My advice to your daughter - refuse a prepayment meter. And, by the way, her landlord/lady has no rights at all.

Link http://www.adviceguide.org.uk/index/your_world/gas_and_electricity/electricity_supply.htm

Hope this helps

Sue x

I am overpaying my bills, but it's in my tenancy agreement that we do not change provider. But it's coming down again at least for a while.

However, when I moved in here to find we were on a prepay meter, my landlord did his nut. The previous tenant had not told him she had the meter fitted, and clearly she hadn't paid the bill previously.

Again it's in our tenancy agreement that all bills are to be paid up to date, and promptly. (I think he has the old-fashioned idea that an address is black-listed through debt.)

Hi Suzian

I am sorry to disagree with you but the landlord does have rights. I have rented out property for many years now and also have a letter with all the utility companies that only I have the right to change suppliers / tariifs.

This was drawn up with a solicitor and does hold water - in fact it was the way I had to get rid of a tennant once when eviction didnt work (I had the eviction order but he still refused to budge), but I had the legal right to turn off all utilities by this letter which all the utilitie co's have, which I did and the tennant soon moved on with no gas, leccy or water.

I appreciate the hassle as a tennent but landlords also have rights and not being ripped off for utilities is one of them.

You obviously know better than me, Maddie

Sorry if I've misled anyone - I was quoting from the CAB, as you can see.


Sue x

Suzian No need to apologise - your probably right in most cases if the landlord dosent protect themselves :0) The CAB offer some valuable information- and are a good place to seek advice. Unfortunatly they are not always right (but are most of the time).

Just because I disagreed with you dosent mean I dont value your view and would have probably quoted the same thing if I didnt know from experiance its not always the case :)

Hi Maddie

Thanks for the generosity of your reply. It speaks volumes .

I can only see things from the perspective of my daughter who rented property for years during her student/masters/doctorate time. She was stuck with prepayment meters she neither wanted nor asked for - and which charged her exorbitant rates. All of this with tatty furniture, dodgy electrical equipment etc etc - for which she was paying, of course

Maybe there should be a website "decent landlord seeks decent tenant"?


Sue x

Sorry not to have replied earlier, ...I was out last night.

Thank you for all your valuable advice.
Daughter was in a rented flat, but has now moved in to her own house ( well, it will be one day ! )
One would have thought that if she could be accepted for a mortage, she'd have enough 'standing' to be able to pay her bills, judging by her past record of payment.
I'll tell her of your experiences and advice.
Many thanks.

Gwyn