changing from card meter to normal meter

in_my_wellies

My son is moving into a student flat next week with three others. It has a card meter. The landlord said it was changed two years ago and they could change it back if they wanted to.

Would this be a good idea, ie would it be much cheaper?

If they decide to change to a normal meter will they be charged and who do they ring?

Thank you for any advice.

newMS

ring the provider, a credit check will usually be done and checks to ensure theres no arrears.

in_my_wellies

How would he know who the provider is? Thanks

Gal

Landlord should be able to tell him - You need to search this site for the M Number hotline - This number will confirm who the supplier is.

In regards to whether its a good idea. It depends on whether your son trusts the people he is moving in with to pay the bills jointly - My advice is to make sure that if he swaps the meters - To make sure his suppliers puts all tennants names on the account so it comes on the bills - Otherwise it would mean only one person would be responsible for them - Should there be a debt arising on the account they would only chase the named account holder for payment.

Just a quick bit of advice but would be well heeded in this situation especially

justtoclarify_2

Usually pre-payment tariffs are more expensive than credit tariffs. Ask the landlord who the current supplier is and compare costs. You could consider changing the supplier rather than the meter, Equigas for is one the few (possibly only) supplier to charge the same rate to all customers regardless of payment method. The current gas charge is 2.55p per kWh (including VAT) as of 1/9/06.

Equigas also has no standing charge (although the FAQ on their website has a complicated explaination of how they get round this if your meter is configured to collect a standing charge automatically).

If your son will not be resident in the property for a full 12 months he and his co-sharers may not benefit from the all the discounts available for credit customers. The biggest advantage of the prepayment meter when you are sharing is that the gas will be paid for as you go along. Also if someone leaves the heating on all day by accident, the expense will be capped to the credit in the meter. Under these circumstances it would be advisable not to put more than a couple of weeks use on the card meter. It should also mean that when they leave the property there will be no suprise bills.

If your son decides to keep the card meter, you should check that there no outstanding amounts being collected via the meter. Pre-payment meters can be configured to collect outstanding debts incurred before switching to a card meter.

If you do end up switching back to a credit meter, make sure whoever is responsible for paying the bill by whatever means does so promptly for the prompt payer discount. If paying monthly by DD make sure the amount collected is sufficient to cover the winter fuel bill over length of the letting agreement if it is less than 12 months.

Unfortunately even if everybody is named on the bill, if someone decides not to pay, all the named parties may still be chased for any outstanding amount, even if they have paid their share.

HTH