Not allowed to switch

kcraighead · 20 June 2008 at 10:08AM

I went through the process of trying to find the cheapest supplier and found Scottish Power were the guys for me. I then signed up and everything seemed to go smoothly. They even went as far as taking the first direct debit. Then, out of the blue, they sent a letter saying that my meter/supply was "incompatible" with them and said they would have to transfer me back to my previous supplier.

Has anyone else had problems transfering? What do they mean that my meter/supply is incompatible?

My apartment is only 3 years old and is electricity only. The meter is economy 7. All of the other suppliers are far more expensive so I really want to switch to a fixed deal with Scottish Power but they won't let me!!!!

What can I do?

Thanks in adavnce for the advice!

kcraighead · 20 June 2008 at 10:53AM

I called Scottish Power to get an explaination of why I couldn't switch.

When the apartment block was built the electricity meters were put in by EDF and they setup a charging system that was DELIBERATELY incompatible with their main competitiors in the area (Yorkshire) so that people were tied in and couldn't switch. So until Scottish Power setup a compatible charging system then we can't switch. In fact we may not be able to switch to anyone.

This doesn't sound legal to me? If it is, it shouldn't be! It wouldn't be allowed in the telecoms sector so how can this be allowed in the power sector?

So beware - if you have moved into a new build home you may not be able to switch and you will be at the mercy of your current supplier.

Belnahua · 20 June 2008 at 10:56AM

Can you claim that the meter makes a loud buzzing noise, and you're sure you smelt burning and get the meter replaced?

owain.davies · 20 June 2008 at 1:05PM

Hard to know without details, but at a guess, you will have electric heating and be on an E7 Heatwise meter, or something similar (warmwise, heat saver...). This is a two meter point (MPAN) tariff, which is only supported by a couple of suppliers (E.On and SSE mostly). These are host legacy meters, but they are still requested by developers - the power companies won't put them in unless specifically asked to.

This is most often because the electric heating in the property is designed to work with this 2 MPAN arrangement, which should theoretically reduce your bills. You could request a meter change, but this might be expensive if it requires internal wiring changes, and you may find out you're paying more for your heating.

miggiwoo · 20 June 2008 at 4:00PM

owain.davies wrote: »

Hard to know without details, but at a guess, you will have electric heating and be on an E7 Heatwise meter, or something similar (warmwise, heat saver...). This is a two meter point (MPAN) tariff, which is only supported by a couple of suppliers (E.On and SSE mostly). These are host legacy meters, but they are still requested by developers - the power companies won't put them in unless specifically asked to.

This is most often because the electric heating in the property is designed to work with this 2 MPAN arrangement, which should theoretically reduce your bills. You could request a meter change, but this might be expensive if it requires internal wiring changes, and you may find out you're paying more for your heating.

Had the same thing last Week.Am with EON and was fed up with the continual cost of increasing D/D's so said that i wanted to change supllier etc. and was told that due to E7/Heatwise meter(s) couldnt just swap to any old supplier.Even said some EON tarriffs might not be ab=vailible to me.

Lilybee_2 · 29 June 2008 at 5:38PM

We have this same problem. We tried to switch twice (first to Scottish Hydro, then to Npower) and both times the switch was denied by ScottishPower due to us having this two mpan arrangement.

Our meter was put in for the previous residents in the year 2000. This is a two bedroom flat heated by the original 1970s clunky storage heaters. In the winter our electricity bills top £120 per month. For a two bedroom flat with no tumble dryer?!

Curiously, the latest Npower salesman who came to our door (do all the power company salesmen have a rota?) claimed that they can now switch dual mpan meters to a non-Scottish Power supplier. But having tried twice to switch and failed, I don't have the energy to go through the process again based on the word of a door to door sales representative.

I deeply resent being stuck with this arrangement, having no choice in our electricity provider, no choice in our tariff, and massive and costly home renovations (including ripping out the meter) being our only option. As kcraighead has said above - surely there must be some sort of recourse for those of us stuck with a Soviet electricity sytem?

Lilybee_2 · 30 June 2008 at 4:28PM

I should have mentioned in yesterday's post that two years ago, after the second thwarted attempt at switching, we got the BBC to come to our flat to interview us for a story which aired on the 1 PM news. (Our local curtain twitchers brigade must have thought Christmas came early, what with the BBC News van in front of the building.)

The angle of the story at that time (July 2006) was that a lot of people were not taking advantage of the ability to switch suppliers, but as a side story they noted families like ours who are barred from switching. In the story, which sadly is no longer available to view online, they noted that something like 236,000 households in Scotland have these meters installed and are therefore in the same predicament.

If you figure an average of three or four people in a household, that means that nearly one million people in Scotland, or nearly 20% of the population, are stuck with a monopoly power meter with no choice in tariff. At the very least, 236,000 is 10% of all Scottish households. That's 10% too many. If those numbers were transferred to the whole UK, there would be outcries all the way to Parliament!

The public sector loves to toss about the term "social exclusion", but what do you call it when 20% of the populace are smugly told to grin and bear the former state monopoly with no choice of tariff or service provision?

The worst part is, nobody cares. The BBC never got back in touch (they wanted a quick and cheerful human interest story, not something that would require investigative journalism and thought); the local media aren't interested (I've tried); and no politician is going to go up against ScottishPower.

This isn't the Soviet era and this isn't the 1970s, except for those of us saddled with a meter we never chose and a supplier we can't stand. When is SOMEONE going to sit up and take notice of this situation and do something about it?

Joyful · 1 July 2008 at 9:36PM

If you have 2 MPANS you can move supplier. You just have to make sure they take over both. As this is not able to be billed correctly companies will put you on a best fit tariff which means you may lose out,

owain.davies · 2 July 2008 at 2:05PM

Joyful wrote: »

If you have 2 MPANS you can move supplier. You just have to make sure they take over both. As this is not able to be billed correctly companies will put you on a best fit tariff which means you may lose out,

Unfortunately, while most companies could take your supply, most will not and will undertake an ET procedure (no, not an alien, but Erroneous Transfer) so you end up back where you started.

The only light at the end of this particular tunnel is that in 2-3 years full smart meter roll out should start, and when then completes, everyone should be compatible with every supplier! Good times.

Lilybee_2 · 5 July 2008 at 2:43PM

Thanks for the input - unfortunately there still is no set date for the smart meter rollouts - see

http://news.scotsman.com/uk/Inside-the-environment-Smart-way.4177032.jp

and there are a lot of electricity bills to be paid in the meantime.

Also, if smart metering forces ScottishPower to lose a monopoly over customers who have the least financial leeway, expect them to fight it.

kcraighead · 23 July 2008 at 2:46PM

Seems I have started something here!

It's weird - I was actually looking to swap over too Scottish Power (rather than away from them!) as they had the best tariff for us.

I am based in Yorkshire (although I am actually from Scotland originally) so the same issue does occur in England. At least it does for us!

I guess I need to phone round suppliers to try and find out who will accept dual meters?

Then I need to find out what tarriffs I can get as it looks like prices will be going up alot. I really, really want to cap but I am not allowed to. I wonder how many this affects nationally?

Not allowed to switch

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