Pre pay gas meter, I want it out!

cashcow_4

Hi,

We currently have a gas meter due to a few mistakes several years back.

I checked last night and noticed that the outstanding amount is now only £54, which is easily paid off.

As the meter is a complete rip off and makes our gas bill about £20 per week, plus the added messing about of going out to buy credits for the gas on the gas card, I would like to get rid of this annoyance asap.

Does anyone know what the procedure is?

I can pay the amount to british gas, no problem, but do I then have to pay for the meter to be removed? If so, how much?

Anyone know anything about this?

Thanks

cosmile

i had a pre-pay meter a few years ago,it drove me mad ,about once a month we would have no gas as the battery in the meter just went off,had to call transco every time.i complained to british gas to get it removed as i had no debt,and they said no they do not like to take them out once they are in.so in the end i had to change supplier,and it was done straight away.

i hope this helps.

amboy

You are entitled to have them removed, you must be adamant about it though. The fact that they dont like to take them out does not mean you cannot insis they remove it.

It stands to reason that they dont like to remove them as they make more money and there is no chance of bad debt.

I think you should paythe arrears off first then make the request to have it removed, if they give you hassle then tell them you will have to switch supplier then get them to move it.

HTH

diamondcatz

I had new build house and it took over a year to accept we exsisted so had arrears-been clear 3 years but british gas have demanded £116 each for deposit before removing gas+electric card meters due to bad credit rating they say they do credit checks. Does this mean all suppliers do so have to stay on prepayment?

lizzie666

British gas do a most indepth credit check. most don't bother unless you already have another account in debt (ie.moving house)
Once the debt has been paid off, call them you should be able to get your meter changed straight away and there is no charge.
If you still have a small amount of debt outstanding you could offer to set up a direct debit.

Having your meter changed to a credit will save you lots of money but make sure that when your meter is changed they update their information quickly. Always keep a note of when the meter was changed, what the readings are when the meter is removed. And what the readings on the new meter are (they are not always installed on 0000!)
This will save time and telephone bills in the future!

cashcow_4

It seems daft to me that they install these meters to people's houses when they have problems paying a bill or have just refused to pay etc.

Surely the kind of people that can't pay their bill shouldn't be burdened with a more expensive way of buying gas. I am all for making sure people pay and the meter's good for that (as it was when I rented out my property), but if I was someone struggling to pay for my gas and they chucked this in the extra charges it puts on top would probably see me ill due to the excess cold in the winter when I couldn't afford to buy the gas I needed.

The debt I was left with on my bill was due to some tennants doing a runner on me when I rented out my house. I didn't cover myself and as such was left with a bill. I had the meter installed when they kept refusing to pay their gas bills at the suggestion of British Gas who said it was that or they cut it off completely. Since I moved back in after stopping renting the place out, it's cost me a hell of a lot more to buy gas that anyone else that I know and I am not someone that has the heating on 24/7 either.

I think I'll also be looking for the cheapest supplier once I've got rid of the meter, may not stay with British Gas as I am considering remortgaging soon and don't want to have any credit checks on my file that I can avoid.

BBB

Just ring British Gas, explain that you want a Credit meter rather than a pre pray meter and they'll put you through to the relevant department and there is no charge

black-saturn

I had a pre pay meter when I first moved here and had it changed. I had to ring Transco to arrange it rather than the gas supplier and I had to wait about 6 months to have it done. If your in a rented house you will need a letter of consent from the owner too.

boogiemaster

I rang British gas and they said they wanted £116 for each metre as a deposit and I would get it back after 12 months of payments.
I don’t owe them any money and I paid the dam debt off over three years ago, but they won’t exchange it till I pay the dam deposits.
If you look on every gas and electric company web site about token metres it says, “We will do a credit check before exchanging metres”
So it looks like they have you by the balls I’m afraid, it costs us over ten pound a week gas and over ten pound a week electric.

lizzie666

If you change to a new supplier they will be able to change your meter after 6 weeks.
(although they say they do credit checks, BG is the only one who really does an in-depth check, the rest do not usually bother)