Get rid of pp meter

consultant31

My daughter and her husband got inot difficulties with their gas and electric bill shortly after they moved into their first home. In order to sort it out, Powergen (their provider) put them in a pp meter and they had to pay loads every month to cover the old bill and the current usage.

They are now straight, have grown up a bit, lol, and are on top of their finances. Since they put about £100 a month in the meter (for both fuels) I'm sure they could get itcheaper with another supplier and without the meter.

Am I right in thinking it costs every month just to have the meter? They were told at the beginning that if they want the meter out they will have to pay for it's removal (£100+). If they change suppliers, would they stil have to pay for the meter removing?

Any help would be appreciated. Thanks.

ancasta_2

Hi.... hope i can help.

Pre payment meters (called Quantums) do cost more as they have a higher charge per unit, plus standing charges etc worked in to them.

Usually companies will charge to do a meter exchange but if you have the gift of the gab , you say your going to leave to go to another company (blag this bit if you want) as they have offered you a free meter exchange upon completion of change of supply process... see what their reply is. Can only say no.

In that case your daughter could either pay for the meter exchange, or ring round competitors for quotes to see if and how much they would charge for them to transfer & change meters.

Try out uswitch.com also to see if their provider is the best they can get, for their prepayment utilities.

Hope thats clear.

I work for npower (not biased, i promise) so hope to be some help.

tripled

Provided the account is clear of debt, it shoouldn't be a problem changing supplier. With regards to the fee, most companies don't actually charge to remove a pp meter. However, because it was fitted due to outstanding debt that may be why they are charging. The other possibility is the money they want is a security deposit, if this is the case they would get it back after they have demonstrated they can manage the account responsibly.