E-ON credit check- offered meter or leave them deposit

bornjoyful

I just went thru Uswitch and changed to E-On .
3 years ago I had a bankruptcy which was discharged after one year and my credit score is still poor however I have had no problem switching utilities before nor getting phone contract and i am not in any debt and pay my utilities by direct debit in full.

E-On just called me and said that they could only offer me a pre pay meter or I pay them a £400 deposit (£200 each utility)

Needless to say i cancelled and am not switching.

They say they have had this policy in for ayear and all companies will be following suit.

Has anyone else had this happen?

can they do this?

i am not about to search every company to find out which ones have this policy in place or not...seems like another way to make people with no money pay more.

really cheesed off

bornjoyful

i do not need a meter I am with scottish power.
I have been for over 3 years without a problem and am not in debit with them...all i wanted to do was change supplier...but seemingly E-On do not want my £1400 a year

macman

But you are asking for a credit meter and say that you have a poor credit rating...the fact that other companies will give you some credit is not really relevant. A credit meter is (theoretically at least)) open unlimited credit.
Normally the deposit will be held for a year, and if your payments have been OK then it will be returned.

chanz4

suppliers have done this, in history people have got IVAs, Bankrupcys etc leaving them to pickup your debts

TIMMY85

Energy is one of the things we can get on credit with no credit agreement and is also interest free. If a company thinks you might not pay for what you have used they can put conditions on you or not grant you credit. I have had to explain this to customers who have not passed a credit vet and as an ex-bankrupt myself know what it's liktfor company a to say one thing and company b to say another. No point arguing about it!

bornjoyful

in which case I will either stay with Scottish Power or try every cheaper company to see if they have the same stupid policy as E-ON . I have never had a pre pay meter, have no intention of getting one nor giving an energy company £400 credit for a year when their prices are so high already . i have been paying Scottish Power every month for over 3 years by direct debit and am usually in credit with them .

spiro

bornjoyful wrote: »

try every cheaper company to see if they have the same stupid policy as E-ON .

Two points:
1) I would check your credit report to try and see why they require a deposit, and
2) The more credit checks that are done is not good for your rating.

E.ON_Company_Representative:_Helena

Hi bornjoyful,

This a policy that E.ON has had in place for a little while now.

Basically if E.ON don't have any credit history for a customer they may perform and external credit check for customers that want to change over to us.

Depending on the results of the credit check, you may be asked to have a pre-payment meter/pay a deposit or pay a specific way.

Every customer will be looked at on an individual basis.

I'm sorry that you have been unhappy with the outcome.

Hope this explains things a little.

Helena

bornjoyful

EDF accepted me with no problem with a £250 savings ...silly really as the £1600 a year would have gone to E-ON as it was £10 a year cheaper tahn EDF but £260 cheaper than my current supplier.

jonnyguitar

E.ON_Company_Representative:_Helena wrote: »

Hi bornjoyful,

This a policy that E.ON has had in place for a little while now.

Basically if E.ON don't have any credit history for a customer they may perform and external credit check for customers that want to change over to us.

Depending on the results of the credit check, you may be asked to have a pre-payment meter/pay a deposit or pay a specific way.

Helena

This would be fine if you knew how to do credit checks correctly.

I have a perfect Experion credit rating but I just 'failed' one of your so-called credit checks after the CSR asked me for my previous address (where I lived for little over a year) and no other info. I know to run a check they need at least 3 years address history but your CSR was unable to process this.

Off to southern electric who actually want my business AND know how to run credit checks correctly. Bye.