Anyway of avoiding charge for changing to normal meters from prepayment?

ClaireLR

I'm currently with NPower on prepayment meters for both my gas and electricity. Contacted them over the weekend to enquire about changing my meters over so that I can pay by direct debit. However they have informed me that there is a charge of £60 per meter which I cannot afford at the moment.

Does anyone know if there is any way around this charge or anyway to get it cheaper? We have no disabled people or people over 60 living here (this was one thing the person I spoke to checked, think if this was the case the charge may not have applied or a lesser charge may have applied).

Any thoughts?

Richie-from-the-Boro

ClaireLR wrote: »

I'm currently with NPower on prepayment meters for both my gas and electricity. Contacted them over the weekend to enquire about changing my meters over so that I can pay by direct debit. However they have informed me that there is a charge of £60 per meter which I cannot afford at the moment.

Does anyone know if there is any way around this charge or anyway to get it cheaper? We have no disabled people or people over 60 living here (this was one thing the person I spoke to checked, think if this was the case the charge may not have applied or a lesser charge may have applied).

Any thoughts?

- not a subject I know a lot about, but British Gas seem to be more willing than most to change them without charge !
- others will come along and give you their opinion later

pukkamum

When i had mine changed i was told that unless you requested them from the company you are with now or were put one in due to non-payment you didn't have to pay to change to 'normal' meters.

ClaireLR

pukkamum wrote: »

When i had mine changed i was told that unless you requested them from the company you are with now or were put one in due to non-payment you didn't have to pay to change to 'normal' meters.

I have requested them myself - as direct debit comes out a lot cheaper than prepayment.

borders

Think it varies from one company to another but my daughter got charged for getting rid of a pre-payment meter when she moved into her flat. Got the money back 6 months later once she had become an established customer/payer.

t0rt0ise

As another poster said, British Gas are the best to try. They changed mine when I moved in. You shouldn't take this as read though, give them a call and ask them. They will carry out a credit check and that needs to be passed otherwise they will want a rather large returnable deposit.

chanz4

npower is 12 months history then £60 a meter, bg is free subject to credit check, spower charge also. This is due to it been none essential meter work, some people used to change supplier get there meter changed and then move to which suppliers caught on to as it costs them

undaunted

Some suppliers will do it for free so if you are free to do so you can swap / threaten to do so. If the meter was put in through no fault of yours I fail to see why the next consumer should pay to swap it back again personally.

Alternatively Ebico rates may be worth a look at - they charge the same however you pay so if competitive in your area you wouldn't necessarily need to change the meter.

TAF

I had this issue when i bought a house, it had n power pre paid. Npower wanted £30 per meter if i remember right to change..changed to edf pre-pay for about a month?? (cant remember exactly) then edf changed my meters for free... im still with them at the moment best to shop around but i only found edf where willing to do it free.

chanz4

Its because it costs them to, why change something thats not broken...

Airmike23

SSE. will potentiall echange ppm to cred meters free, not sure of criteria, but worth giving them a call. Any company you get to do it for free, if possible, make sure of the terms, as your contract is a rolling 28 day one, regardless of type of meter or tariff you have with an energy company. I have heard in the past, as part of a new customer acquisition some power co's will do the exch free, but if the customer leaves within a certain time frame, they'll then be charged full cost of meter exch. You'll probably find that the companies who will do the free exch, are not necessarily the cheapest for you to get the bills from, even with the change to paying by mdd, and once got credit meters in then worth looking who's the cheapest to get energy bill from.