Changing prepayment meter for gas to post payment

dreamer12

Hi,

I have recently moved into a 1 bed flat and found it a bit strange that the electricity meter is post paid whereas gas is prepayment. Both supplied by british gas.

Its awfully expensive as the gas meter alone has already consumed nearly £25 in 10 days (dreading how the month's gona end).

I rang british gas yesterday, the person on phone did a credit check which I unfortunately failed. The person on line did give me an option to put a £300 deposit which I would get back after 12 months but my contract at this house is only for 6 months and I won't get anything back if I leave before 12 months.

Just wondering whats the best course of action. I have to switch the meter to post paid before winter gets worst and possibally switch supplier as well to get better rates.


Thanks

devilsadvocate88

Its tough because you'd possibly have to have a credit cheque wherever you go to if you want to switch meters. Plus, if you switched supplier now you wouldn't be with the new company until the new year and then it might take a further 35 days until they can agree to switch the meter for you. So unless you can't get anywhere with BG it might be February/March by the time it comes to getting that meter changed.

Might be worth speaking to them again and asking if you can pay by direct debit and see what they say to that.

t0rt0ise

Unfortunately if you fail a credit check then you won't get the meter changed. Best option is to use a comparison site to find the best prepayment supplier and change.

spiro

dreamer12 wrote: »

Its awfully expensive as the gas meter alone has already consumed nearly £25 in 10 days (dreading how the month's gona end).

Have you checked that any debt owed by the old tenant has been removed from the meter. My understanding is that this takes a couple of vends after you receive your own card.

SwanJon

dreamer12 wrote: »

The person on line did give me an option to put a £300 deposit which I would get back after 12 months but my contract at this house is only for 6 months and I won't get anything back if I leave before 12 months.

I'm sorry, but you've got duff information. If you move out you will get your deposit back when they close your account down. I'm not sure if that will affect your decision.

The PAYG meter charges at the same rate as a quarterly bill, so the cost would be the same but you avoid a big bill in one go.

As above DD is definately cheaper - for gas and electricity. Changing supplier can take 6 weeks plus time to swap the meters (although it should be quicker than 35 days after you join them). Check first that they will swap the meter and what the cost would be.

You can check if the meter is taking for a bill by looking at screen 27. For newer meters you need to have the screen showing your current credit and the card out then press and hold the red A button. The screen will change to screen 27 0 - GD remaining.
If you have an older meter the process starts the same, but the screen will be 00 - Last credit. From here each time you press and release the red A button the number will increase until around screen 24 it will ask you to put the card in. Do so and then press the button again to screen 27.

British gas has some PAYG help on their website, but it's not the easiest to find:
https://www.britishgas.co.uk/HelpAndAdvice/LookUp/?SXI=4,CASE=3596,USETEMPLATE=sublanding_2.tem
Eon lists some more of the meter screens:
http://www.eonenergy.com/At-Home/ExistingCustomers/Understanding-Prepayment-Meters/Useful-Information-Gas-Prepayment-Meters.htm?WT.mc_id=Gas_Prepayment_Meters&WT.svl=8

dreamer12

SwanJon wrote: »

I'm sorry, but you've got duff information. If you move out you will get your deposit back when they close your account down. I'm not sure if that will affect your decision.

I specifically asked twice but I was told I will not get anything back if I leave the house before 12 months.

My landlady took the reading and as soon as I moved in I got a letter from British gas with a new card so I suppose its a new account with no outstanding payments.

I did mention during the call that I would setup a direct debit straight away to pay a set amount every month but that didn't help. I will try to give another ring over the weekend, If I don't get anywhere I would have to go down the route of changing supplier and moving to a cheaper prepayment service.

SwanJon

dreamer12 wrote: »

I specifically asked twice but I was told I will not get anything back if I leave the house before 12 months.

It sounds really big headed to say I know I'm right and they were wrong, but...

The deposit is there as a security against you running up a bill and doing a flit.
If you have closed your account, you are no longer have credit from the company so they don't need the deposit, and have no right to hold onto it (if you have paid your bills!).

I suspect the issue is that the PAYG teams are only involved in taking the deposits and swapping the meters. They are never involved in returning deposits as by then you are not PAYG so are not as knowledgeable about the process.

Make sure you are calling on the freephone number (0800 048 0303) or if from a mobile 0330 100 0303 might be cheaper. Stick to your guns on this.