New house - Gas & Elec on pre-pay meters - npower won't let us change..

pzq071

Hi,

I'm looking for some current advice..

My girlfriend and I have recently purchased our own home (Sept 2010) having lived together in rented accommodation for the past 3 years...

We've always paid for Gas and Electricity via DD, and have never been late with a single payment (neither of us have any bad credit at all either) but when we moved into the new place (that currently has pre-payment meters fitted for both) and rang the existing Gas and Elec supplier (npower) to get the pre-payment meters removed so we could go onto DD, they told us that they wouldn't be able to swap them over until we'd been in the house for at least 12 months, and that it would cost £50 to change each meter?!

At the time we had a million other things to sort out (as is generally the case with a new house) and so grudgingly we've been using the pre-payment system for the past 3 months.

Now that I finally have some time to dedicate to the issue, i wanted to know exactly where i stand before calling npower again.

I've read lots on these forums and others about changing pre-payment meters, and although the majority of the posts I’ve seen are informative, they are almost always a few years old now (not sure if anything has changed over the past few years with regards to any legislation covering the removal of prepayment meters?) so i wanted some up-to-date advice on where we stand.

Ideally we want both the electricity and gas pre-payment meters removing, replaced with the standard meter used for when paying by DD.
As neither of us have any bad credit, I do not see why this cannot be done straight away - and I’m also loathed to pay to have them swapped. So am hoping there are suppliers out there that will indeed swap them for free?

Any and all advice greatly welcomed.
Thanks in advance,
Adam.

davidgmmafan

"not sure if anything has changed over the past few years with regards to any legislation covering the removal of prepayment meters?"

I'm not sure with regards to the law but I believe suppliers have become very picky about removing prepayment meters. See if they will waive the charge, if not try to find someone who will. I would suggest speaking to your previous supplier, they may be happy to change them free of charge as they can see you have paid regularly in the past.

pzq071

Previous suppliers cannot provide a service whilst we're on pre-payment meters - as they do not use them (apparently).

davidgmmafan

Strange, who are they? Not that its relevent I suppose.

Ok then best bet is to speak to other suppliers, see if any are happy to remove the meters if you go to them. Failing that its a case of finding who has the best rates for prepayment, or weighing up if its worth paying to get them out.

Tupperware_Queen

I have just had the same issue, I was with Eon previously, moved with BG prepayment, have changed back to Eon and they are coming next week to change the meters :T

If I were you I'd ring a few suppliers and see if they would be prepared to do this for you - I have been told that BG are most likely to do it for free - they did offer to do it for me, after I told them I was moving to Eon, but tbh I wanted to stay with Eon.

Tupperware_Queen

the other thing is that it may be worth paying, depending how much you are likely to save, and if they will put the charge for changing onto your bill. If you agree to set up a DD, they may be more inclined to do this.

Freddie_Snowbits

I would tell NPower to go forth and talk to monkeys, go straight to USwitch and move, I have been on Scottish Power for so long I bought the ...

DaveF327

Now if people just paid their bloody bills on time, there would be no need for prepayment meters. A few years back, you hardly heard of them.

Tupperware_Queen

DaveF327 wrote: »

Now if people just paid their bloody bills on time, there would be no need for prepayment meters. A few years back, you hardly heard of them.

thats not really very helpful is it, either to the OP, who did not ask for prepayment meters, or people who use them as a way to manage their bills.
As my Nanna would say, if you can't say anything nice, don't say anything at all.

And frankly, I remember as a young girl my Nanna saving all her 50p pieces to feed the 'leccy.....is that not prepayment??

t0rt0ise

OP, phone round and ask. British Gas changed mine for me for no charge.

spinningsheep

Surely your previous supplier would swap the meters for you if your history with them was good?