Standard meter is now a pre-paid meter...but why?

C_Mababejive

Utilities can force fit PP meters by warrant if necessary. If no one is in,they can enter but they dont boot the door down,they bring a skilled locksmith who simply picks the lock,lets them in,then re-locks the door. You should find a "Milk Tray" man style calling card inside..

skint-student-nurse

C_Mababejive wrote: »

Utilities can force fit PP meters by warrant if necessary. If no one is in,they can enter but they dont boot the door down,they bring a skilled locksmith who simply picks the lock,lets them in,then re-locks the door. You should find a "Milk Tray" man style calling card inside..

ive heard of this happening! the tenant requested the new meter but npower didnt say why,only that it was fitted in september 2009, and we all know that PPM's cost a little bit more so of course the supplier wont say no! i just feel sorry for the poor person at npower who will get the stroppy side of my OH on monday....:o

C_Mababejive

They wont give details of your ex tenants accounts. Chances are,they got behind with the bills and had to have it fitted. Thats what happens in the vast majority of cases. The wrecked door is probably to do with your ex tenants erm...personal life.

skint-student-nurse

C_Mababejive wrote: »

They wont give details of your ex tenants accounts. Chances are,they got behind with the bills and had to have it fitted. Thats what happens in the vast majority of cases. The wrecked door is probably to do with your ex tenants erm...personal life.

yep,thats what the police said! :eek: the lady at npower was very keen to get a forwarding address for our tenant so that was the conclusion i came to - she got them to put the PPM in before they forced it upon her.

PNPSUKNET

skint-student-nurse wrote: »

ive heard of this happening! the tenant requested the new meter but npower didnt say why,only that it was fitted in september 2009, and we all know that PPM's cost a little bit more so of course the supplier wont say no! i just feel sorry for the poor person at npower who will get the stroppy side of my OH on monday....:o

If you pay their £60 meter exchange fee Im sure they will assist. However been abrupt with them or any company wont get you anywhere.

specialsparky

Hi,
Supply of electric and gas is between the tenant and the supplier and had nothing to do with the Landlord or owner of the Property. The probable reason that the PPM was fitted was because a debt dhad built up and either your tenant asked for it to be fitted of it was force fitted under Warrant (granted by the magistrates court). Your tenant would have had many opportunities to pay the account or come to an arrangement with the supplier before a PPM was force fitted.
It is pointless getting upset with npower or any of their staff, the contract to supply was with your tenant and not you. It is also pointless saying that fitting a prepayment meter is againt the tenancy agreement, how would your supplier know thta. If you want to be in control of the meter then you will need to pay the bills.
If I was you I would leave the PPM in and then you are unlikely to have this problem again.
Good luck and may I suggest your next tenant pays a big deposit to cover any possible damage to your property

anniecave

I lived at my previous flat for 5 years. It was a house converted into flats. When I first moved in, almost all the meters were credit meters. By the time I left, I think there were only 3 credit meters left, the other 12 flats had all been changed over to pre-payment. I know two of the tenants asked for prepay to be fitted, one of them had built up a debt, the other one just prefered pre-pay, and for both of them they found it easier to budget with pre-pay.

For people who understand at least to a basic level what all the charges on a bill mean, and are prepared to monitor their usage, change supplier and can manage their payments, then credit meters make sense. For people who like convenience or don't understand their bills, pre-pay will always be the preferred option, even though it does work out more expensive.

Andy_WSM

skint-student-nurse wrote: »

i just feel sorry for the poor person at npower who will get the stroppy side of my OH on monday....:o

Why would he do that? As previously stated, it's not your call. I's between the supplier & the tenant. It's not your meter, you do not own it. You could have possibly stated in the T&Cs that the cost of reverting back to a credit meter will be deducted from any deposit held (as damage to the door should be also), but I'm not even sure that would stand up legally.

SwanJon

skint-student-nurse wrote: »

we all know that PPM's cost a little bit more so of course the supplier wont say no!

You'll probably find that the price on the PPM is very close to the price for a quarterly bill (to the customer). They are more expensive for the supplier to run though.

However, paying through a PPM is more expensive than not paying a quarterly bill