Help Getting Electric on Prepay Electric Meter

Superman1992

Dear all,

I have recently purchase a property with prepay meter.

However, one of our joiner who do flooring for us request electric for his tools and he only can do it this week for us.

But this is where the problem start, I never use a prepay meter before, either i do not know how they work.

The previous owner have £251 debt on the meter.

So i contacted British Gas to change it to credit meter and switch over to them. However British Gas require 4 to 6 weeks time to process.

Therefore in the mean time i require to use the prepay meter to use electric.

Talk to the previous owner's electric provider, they told us to send an self complete letter from estate agent, so they can clear off the debt and send us the new key, otherwise the debt will carry over to us.

But the new key takes 7 to 14 days.

So i explain to them i need to use the electric this week and cannot wait 7 to 14 days for new key with cleared debt.

So they suggest me to use the previous owner's key and top it up to use it and keep the recept, so they can refund back later.

However i now have topped up £20 from the previous owner, the balance on the meter have drop from £251 to £231. But still have no electric.

So i phone them again, explain the problem, they now told me i have to top up another £20 again in order for it to work. However I have concern about this, but they say i don't have to clear that previous owner debt before can use the electric in the mean time.

Hope someone can explain to me how it work on pre-pay meter and how to get electric at the mean time without clear up the debt from previous owner.

I am totally confuse on the pre-pay meter, espeically for a first time buyer. >_<

P.S. Don't want to ring the supplier again, if possible, due to I am currently at work, can only access to them via mobile and 0844 number cost 25p per min and they keep put me on hold for 15 to 20min. Currently already spend £30 just to phone them on 0844. >_<

Superman1992

Now i top up another £20 as suggest, which bring the total of £40 and still have no electric! >_<

Superman1992

Now totally top up £40 using previous owner key as suggested from the supplier.

Still no electricity. Contact the Energy Team on supplier, now they told me different story, saying i need to keep topup until the debt is clear in order to use it.

!!!!!!! If they told me early on, i won't even top up that £40. and they keep told me i can always claim the amount i topup back. But as everyone know, for company to refund the money, it tooks couple of months or years before they can refund money back.

Completely wasting my time and phone bill.

spiro

There is a debt on the meter that is being collect at £x per week. If you put the key in the meter and scroll through the display you will find out £x. Before the elec is turned on you will need to 'catch up' on the missing weeks debt payments, how many weeks this will be depends on how long the property has been empty. May be simpler to go to the local hire shop and rent a generator for a week for the chippie to use.

Superman1992

yeah, atm i just don't brother topping it up. Its not my debt, its the previous owner's debt, in the mean time, i need to reclaim my £40 back anyway.

Currently we are planning is use the car electric compressor and get it fully charged, and then connect it with a electric invertor, and then connect to the tools to give 2 to few hrs of electric.

The house been empty at least 12 weeks or even more from previous owner. So it takes quiet lots to catch up the weeks. >_<

Even though the supplier say they can refund back all the top up we make, but its still alot of trouble to do. >_<

mattcanary

You shouldn;t have to. They should reset the meter. It is scandalous that you are paying back someone else's debt.

Onbce you have faxed proof of you having bought your home to BGas, they should be able to send out a key first class in the post for you to use,.

spiro

Phone BG again and ask if new tenants can use the 'Remote Token Issue' facility which they use for lost keys, they may say it costs but you can always ask about claiming it back. Explain about the workmen and the fact you are not prepared to put several hundred pounds in the meter to get the power back on.

Joyful

The op is not supplied by British Gas. If he was they would have his meter reset within a few hours. It looks like he wants to change to BG which is where the 4- 6 week t/s comes in. A key from the other supplier should certainly not take as lond as usually the timescale for posting is 3 days.

mattcanary

Ah yes, I misread the OP's post. Sorry!

What are the odds that the current supplier is NPower. Pretty high, I'd say...

seafarers_wife

if it were npower they would ask for proof of ownership to be faxed over to them, then once they had received and accepted the proof they would provide the 8 digit pin code to reset the electric meter as we had to go through this with them when we bought our new house.

bengasman

Have you tried the EMERGENCY CREDIT setting?