Can I cancel installation of pre pay metres

kevandkeira

Hi,
I am paying british gas quarterly at the moment, so when our bill finally comes it is high.
I rang them up & asked to have pre payment metres installed, which are due to be installed this wednesday.
I have since thought about this & really don't want pre payment metres I would rather just change to monthly billing.
Is it possible for me to cancel the installation or will I be tied into it now.
Thankyou.

SwanJon

It all depends on how soon in the follow up process you requested the meters.
Give them a call and ask - be prepared that they will ask you either to pay the bill or make arrangements to do so.
If you can do this, go onto Direct Debit. Monthly billing may not be the best deal for you - it is not available on the cheapest tariff - websaver.

KimYeovil

You can pay monthly when you are on quarterly billing - just make monthly payments as you go along using any of the payment methods. You do not need to formally change to a monthly payment plan (if you do you lose the flexibility of occasionally missing a payment and the flexibility of choosing how much you pay each month.) Of course, the MDD online plans are cheaper - but if you are only choosing between the other three (quarterly, prepayment, monthly plan) they tend to be the same price.

kevandkeira

Do you get charged more for pre payment compared to quarterly?
If not then I think i'll just go ahead with the install.

JasX

kevandkeira wrote: »

Do you get charged more for pre payment compared to quarterly?
If not then I think i'll just go ahead with the install.

Not sure about quarterly but they're certainly MUCH more expensive than paying monthly by DD.

If you want to cut your bills get a good idea of your annual useage in KWH and plug that into a comparison site (you can compare for quarterly this way too but my money would be on monthly DD working out quite substantially cheaper), although recent regulatory changes prevent pre-payment meters being any more expensive than 'standard' tariffs those 'standard' tariffs are still just about the most expensve way to pay for your electricity/gas.

For an extra saving do the above to find a competative tariff, then use a cashback site when you switch for an extra £60-£120 one off payment.

t0rt0ise

British Gas's prepayment meter tariff is the same as their quarterly standard tariff. But more expensive than their internet deal paying by monthly direct debit. But some don't have the option of setting up direct debits. I'd suggest finding out where your nearest top up shop is so that you can be sure you can get credit on the meter easily.

kevandkeira

I cancelled the pre payment metres & have applied for websaver 9, so I guess its just a waiting game now.
Does anyone know how long british gas usually take to process applications??
Thanks

JasX

*deleted

....

mattcanary

Goo ddecision I'd say - you'd find it extremely difficult to get the prepayment meter removed in future. Mind you, BGas are rather more accommodating with this than say EON

PNPSUKNET

dont think any supplier likes removing including scottish power

nickyhutch

t0rt0ise wrote: »

British Gas's prepayment meter tariff is the same as their quarterly standard tariff. But more expensive than their internet deal paying by monthly direct debit. But some don't have the option of setting up direct debits. I'd suggest finding out where your nearest top up shop is so that you can be sure you can get credit on the meter easily.

You don't need to top up at a shop anymore - you can do it online. I love my meters - we spend far, far, less then we used to because we're far, far more careful with how much gas and electricity we use.