looking at renting - question about coin meters

kragen_ironfist

hi looking at possibly moving to new flat

currently am paying £325 a month for a room in a shared house bills included, the only extra I pay for is my own internet connection.

however things are not all hunky dory and I want to move sooner rather than later, looking around I decided that a one bedroom flat is going to be too expensive as I would be looking at a rent of at least £500 per month + council tax, water rates, gas/electric, TV license etc.

However I have seen and am going to view a 2 bedroom flat which is listed at £675 per month including water rates and central heating! Electricity is on a coin meter so all I have to worry about is council tax.

Before you yell "but you couldnt afford a one bedroom how will you pay for two" one of the guys I share with at the moment is also looking to move and as we get on ok we thought that looking for a 2 bed property would be more cost efective.

as it stands for this property halving the rent between us is only £12.50 per month more than we pay now with only council tax and electric to find for.

my only real concern is that the elctricity is on a coin meter and I have a couple of questions about this.

1> I have only experienced key meters for elctricity before and I've heard that that coin meters are more expensive - is this true or are they the same as key meters.

2> Speaking to the lady in the letting agency, she said that she empties the meter every 5 or 6 weeks and takes about £60 is this good value?

Jimbo333_2

£60 every 5/6 weeks is over £40 a month. That's a lot for a 2 bed flat IMHO. Not obscene, but more than it should cost. I think Coin meters do make money for the key holder.

musey

I am certain it is illegal for a Landlord/Letting Agent to make a profit from "re-selling" electricty or gas to you. I'm at work now but I know I have something at home that explains why this is not accpetable, I'll post when I find it.

musey

http://www.econtrols.co.uk/downloads/MRP%20-%2015th%20Jan%202003.pdf

This is a bit wordy but the main points are below.

Maximum Resale Price
In January 2003 The Office of Gas & Electricity Markets (Ofgem) introduced new legislation governing the maximum resale price (MRP) of electricity and gas. Only suppliers of energy to commercial premises (i.e. shops, offices & factory units) are exempt from the new law. The basic principal of the new legislation is to establish a "cost pass through system" of reselling electricity. In simple terms this means that a reseller must only charge per unit of electricity what they themselves actually pay for it.

Multi-rate Tariffs: Your electricity supplier may bill you according to various different tariffs for peak/off-peak periods of the day, week, month or season etc. If this is the case you can either discuss multi-rate programming options for your meters with Energy Controls or you can exercise your right under the new legislation to estimate an average tariff for the year. If you do estimate your tariff however and subsequently make a profit of more than £5 per consumer you will need to either refund this overcharge or make it good the following year.

Standing Charge: If you pay a Standing Charge to your supplier (also known as a Daily Availability Charge) you can only recharge this by dividing it equally amongst your consumers. Energy Controls' prepayment meters include an option for recovering the Standing Charge separately from the pence per unit tariff.

Service Charge: In revising the Maximum Resale Price legislation Ofgem's primary aim has been to eliminate overcharging. However, Ofgem appreciates that electricity resellers incur other costs in relation to the operation and maintenance of their electricity supply infrastructure. For this reason the new legislation allows for these costs to be recovered separately as a "Service Charge". It is up to the reseller to determine the level of Service Charge to be applied; it is not subject to MRP legislation but values must be justifiable to the consumer.

Hope that helps

Molanole

I once had one of these all in deals and I had to pay with a coin meter. The problem for me as that while I could control the electricity, I had no control over when the gas was on (it was controlled by the landlady who lived upstairs) which meant that most of the time I would freeze as she only allowed the heating on for half an hour in the morning and an hour in the evening. :mad: Not good.

I think coin meters do generally come out more expensive but for me the biggest drawback was continually having to make sure I had a supply of one pound coins to feed it with.

Jimbo333_2

musey wrote:

http://www.econtrols.co.uk/downloads/MRP%20-%2015th%20Jan%202003.pdf

This is a bit wordy but the main points are below.

Maximum Resale Price
In January 2003 The Office of Gas & Electricity Markets (Ofgem) introduced new legislation governing the maximum resale price (MRP) of electricity and gas. Only suppliers of energy to commercial premises (i.e. shops, offices & factory units) are exempt from the new law. The basic principal of the new legislation is to establish a "cost pass through system" of reselling electricity. In simple terms this means that a reseller must only charge per unit of electricity what they themselves actually pay for it.

Multi-rate Tariffs: Your electricity supplier may bill you according to various different tariffs for peak/off-peak periods of the day, week, month or season etc. If this is the case you can either discuss multi-rate programming options for your meters with Energy Controls or you can exercise your right under the new legislation to estimate an average tariff for the year. If you do estimate your tariff however and subsequently make a profit of more than £5 per consumer you will need to either refund this overcharge or make it good the following year.

Standing Charge: If you pay a Standing Charge to your supplier (also known as a Daily Availability Charge) you can only recharge this by dividing it equally amongst your consumers. Energy Controls' prepayment meters include an option for recovering the Standing Charge separately from the pence per unit tariff.

Service Charge: In revising the Maximum Resale Price legislation Ofgem's primary aim has been to eliminate overcharging. However, Ofgem appreciates that electricity resellers incur other costs in relation to the operation and maintenance of their electricity supply infrastructure. For this reason the new legislation allows for these costs to be recovered separately as a "Service Charge". It is up to the reseller to determine the level of Service Charge to be applied; it is not subject to MRP legislation but values must be justifiable to the consumer.

Hope that helps

Well. I learnt something today.:o

musey

I only know it as 1 of the properties I let has coin operated meters in it. I see my tenants every quarter to show them the bill and my calculations for how many units their £1 should buy them. They then watch me set the meter and we're all happy. They understand that I only increase the rate when the price per unit I pay increases. I also use the price checking websites twice a year to see if I can get a cheaper deal for them.

kragen_ironfist

thank you musey, can you tell me roughly what I should be looking at in pence per unit?

anniecave

Kragen_ironfist - electricity charges vary depending on what areas of the country you live in. Do know what the "default" electricity supplier for your area is? What supplier everyone in your area was with before the market deregulated and changing suppliers became possible? Your prices will be be based on their tariffs, possibly the pre-payment tariff. If you don't know what the default supplier is, send me a PM with the first part of the postcode where you're moving to, and I'll tell what company it is.

£40 per month doesn't sound too bad to me, but it depends if that's an average or whether that's just in the summer!

clutton_2

you are perfectly entitled to change your energy supplier/type of meter at your discretion, and to change your method of payment - a quarterly bill, in joint names, will mean that you are both legally responsible, (but if one clears off, the other has to pay it all !)

musey

The amount per unit will depend on who the supplier is, different suppliers charge different amounts.

clutton is correct you can change the method of payment to the supplier but in doing so the tenant would make themsleves responsible for the entire bill. In the case of the property I mentioned this would not work as it is a large old house divided into 3 self contained flat, there is only 1 electricity suppply to the property but there are 4 different circuits running off it. 1 each for the flats and also the landlord's circuit (this powers the lighting in communal areas, exterior lighting, emergency lighting and mains powered fire alarm system). The bill for the entire property is in my name and I pay this by way of tenant contribution via coin meter and paying the rest myself. I find that by being totally transparent in my dealings with my tenants on the matter of eletricity means this arrangement works well for all.

My tenants are aware of how this works from the outset, in saying that they are all long term tenants, all of whom have lived in properties of mine for a number of years.