British gas will NOT take pre-paid meter out

woodess

My daughter in law telephoned British gas yesterday to ask to have her pre-paid card meter out as it is costing her a fortune and she is on benefits
they said they had done a credit check and they couldn't take it out
She has a 4 year old daughter and a new born baby and the housing association house they live in is really cold and costs a fortune to heat
Has anyone any suggestions as to what they can do
thankyou in advance

KimYeovil

First she can check if there are other cheaper prepayment tariffs available from British Gas and other suppliers.

If she does want to change meter she can shop around suppliers to see how much they will charge - anything from £0 to £50 to change the meter and £0 to £300 as a returnable deposit.

The savings from a credit meter may be more modest than hoped, though, if it is the house that is structurally difficult to heat.

kippen_noedel

most companies will change the meter for free if you swap to them, they will however do a credit check. If you fail the credit check you will almost certainly be asked for a deposit.

Now what others have said about the savings by changing from payg to credit meters isn't actually correct, although the standard rates are pretty similar on both types, it is quite easy to get a £100 discount over the year buy paying with DD. That isn't the major benefit though, once on credit meters, other tariffs become available and then you can easily save another 10%+

also tell her to get on touch with the Energy Savings Trust, they might be able to help insulating the home,

Dr.Shoe_2

Insulation is probably the way forward actually. We save money by wearing another layer of clothing around the house and the heating goes off at night.

jackieglasgow

If she is on certain benefits she can apply to go on Essentials tarrif which is the equivalent of DD unit prices. Get her to call and ask about applying for it, she needs to be on particular benefits but they can assess her over the phone and she will need to send in some sort of proof of award. 08000480303

PNPSUKNET

speak to energy efficency would be my advice first, see where energy is been waisted. I didnt have a problem when I moved into a bg supplied house with a ppm been removed. They do credit check but removed it free for me, dont blame them in a way about the meter though as if she cant afford to top it up with one of these you know how much you are using, with a normal meter you dont keep an eye on it, I know I didnt.

Plushchris

Just remember to tell her that the bills need to be paid if the prepay meter is taken out, otherwise she will end up with the prepayment meters being put back with a debt on them to reclaim too.

woodess

Thanks to everyone for your posts
She is going to switch to another provider but has to keep the pre payment meter with them for 28 days then they will take it out
:T

PNPSUKNET

a new supplier wont change them straight away, as they said to us the reason for this was people change to get a meter removed then leave

kjsmith7

Another thing to note is that there is no difference between the prepayment prices and standard tariff, so make sure if she goes onto a credit meter she pays via direct debit to take advantage of the discount and as above mentioned either Essentials tariff (credit or otherwise) or onto an Online tariff

Also, it's not a case of moving supplier and waiting 28 days for them to switch the meter, it's a case of waiting for the details about the meter to be sent across to the new supplier, which can take up to 28 days but is usually a lot faster. Then it's a case of being credit checked and a meter exchange appointment being booked

clayre6173

I don't understand why she has changed supplier? If BG credit checked and she failed how is she gonna pass with another company?