Getting off prepayed metered gas/electricy

captshiznit

Currently i'm with "utility warehouse" I recently moved into this house and it's metered and i've heard metered can be up to 30% more expensive which is rediculous!

I don't know how to go about switching or who to go with. Its 4 bedroom house 4 guys living together. We previously lived in a 2 bed with EDF and I was considering just going with them again but i've heard you can save alot looking for right suppliers.

dude89

captshiznit wrote: »

Currently i'm with "utility warehouse" I recently moved into this house and it's metered and i've heard metered can be up to 30% more expensive which is rediculous!

I don't know how to go about switching or who to go with. Its 4 bedroom house 4 guys living together. We previously lived in a 2 bed with EDF and I was considering just going with them again but i've heard you can save alot looking for right suppliers.[/QUOTE

I presume by metered you mean prepayment meters (with a key/card) instead of credit meters where you receive a bill and pay by dd etc.

To switch from prepayment meters you will need to contact your supplier who will perform a credit check. Depending on the result of the credit check you will either have the meters changed with no issue, have to pay by their terms or pay a substantial deposit which you would have returned in 12 months subject to you meeting there t & c's.

Companies prepayment charges are the same as the companies standard credit meter charges. Though with credit meters you have the option of going onto discounted tariffs and paying by different means which may result in receiving more discount.

The best thing to do, is to go onto a comparison website, enter your details and predicted yearly usage. (Bear in mind that the average for gas is 16500kwh and elec is 3300 kwh) I know you wont know exactly how much you use so be realistic when predicting this (i used to always sligtly over estimate to be on the safe side).

chanz4

utility warehouse is owned by npower not sure if you know since 2004, they will charge for a meter exchange.

captshiznit

dude89 wrote: »

captshiznit wrote: »

Currently i'm with "utility warehouse" I recently moved into this house and it's metered and i've heard metered can be up to 30% more expensive which is rediculous!

I don't know how to go about switching or who to go with. Its 4 bedroom house 4 guys living together. We previously lived in a 2 bed with EDF and I was considering just going with them again but i've heard you can save alot looking for right suppliers.[/QUOTE

I presume by metered you mean prepayment meters (with a key/card) instead of credit meters where you receive a bill and pay by dd etc.

To switch from prepayment meters you will need to contact your supplier who will perform a credit check. Depending on the result of the credit check you will either have the meters changed with no issue, have to pay by their terms or pay a substantial deposit which you would have returned in 12 months subject to you meeting there t & c's.

Companies prepayment charges are the same as the companies standard credit meter charges. Though with credit meters you have the option of going onto discounted tariffs and paying by different means which may result in receiving more discount.

The best thing to do, is to go onto a comparison website, enter your details and predicted yearly usage. (Bear in mind that the average for gas is 16500kwh and elec is 3300 kwh) I know you wont know exactly how much you use so be realistic when predicting this (i used to always sligtly over estimate to be on the safe side).

Yeah prepayed meter using a card / stick etc

Thanks for the advice

chanz4 wrote: »

utility warehouse is owned by npower not sure if you know since 2004, they will charge for a meter exchange.

What so they'll charge us for getting off metered?! .... I seriously cant be bothered with all this hassel....

HappyMJ

captshiznit wrote: »

Yeah prepayed meter using a card / stick etc

Thanks for the advice



What so they'll charge us for getting off metered?! .... I seriously cant be bothered with all this hassel....

Then switch to a company that won't charge. Ring your supplier (UW) and ask them. UW won't allow you to switch to a credit meter if you are in a rented property. They have a policy of targeting homeowners as customers so switch to a cheaper supplier first then switch to a credit meter if they will let you then switch again to the cheapest fixed, online rate that suits your tenancy length.

As an example let's say you are with UW and using the average for both elec and gas for a 4 bedroom house with 4 adults the average for such a large house and/or high usage is 23,000kWh of gas and 5,100kWh of electricity according to ukpower. Your current bill would be about £1,839 per year. You could be topping up an average of £35 per week or maybe about £25 in summer and £50 in winter.

Now you could switch to the cheapest prepayment meter tariff with (let's say) EDF and you could save £120 per year at £1,719 per year or £33 per week.

Once with EDF you can request a meter change then if approved switch again to EDF's Fix for 2012 tariff (as an example in my area-East Midlands) and it would then cost you £1,465 per year saving you £7 per week but you have to monthly in advance costing £122 per calender month.

If you don't intend to stay in the property that long then just switching to EDF's standard plan would cost £1,616 per year if paid monthly by direct debit. If you want to pay cash quarterly on receipt of bill it will cost £1,719 per year with EDF which is exactly the same as the prepayment meter but in arrears rather than in advance. Your winter bill would be around the £800 mark. Can you find that much within 14 days? It is not any more expensive by having a prepayment meter and so much easier on the budget collecting small amounts from all the resident adults on time rather than asking for £200 in one hit. What if someone hasn't been saving for the bill?

If you can't be bothered with all the hassle then just stay with UW.

I hope I've given you enough tariff options and information. If you know your annual usage then put that into UKPower and look for yourself then switch using a cashback website to the best deal for your usage and area.

captshiznit

HappyMJ wrote: »

Then switch to a company that won't charge. Ring your supplier (UW) and ask them. UW won't allow you to switch to a credit meter if you are in a rented property. They have a policy of targeting homeowners as customers so switch to a cheaper supplier first then switch to a credit meter if they will let you then switch again to the cheapest fixed, online rate that suits your tenancy length.

As an example let's say you are with UW and using the average for both elec and gas for a 4 bedroom house with 4 adults the average for such a large house and/or high usage is 23,000kWh of gas and 5,100kWh of electricity according to ukpower. Your current bill would be about £1,839 per year. You could be topping up an average of £35 per week or maybe about £25 in summer and £50 in winter.

Now you could switch to the cheapest prepayment meter tariff with (let's say) EDF and you could save £120 per year at £1,719 per year or £33 per week.

Once with EDF you can request a meter change then if approved switch again to EDF's Fix for 2012 tariff (as an example in my area-East Midlands) and it would then cost you £1,465 per year saving you £7 per week but you have to monthly in advance costing £122 per calender month.

If you don't intend to stay in the property that long then just switching to EDF's standard plan would cost £1,616 per year if paid monthly by direct debit. If you want to pay cash quarterly on receipt of bill it will cost £1,719 per year with EDF which is exactly the same as the prepayment meter but in arrears rather than in advance. Your winter bill would be around the £800 mark. Can you find that much within 14 days? It is not any more expensive by having a prepayment meter and so much easier on the budget collecting small amounts from all the resident adults on time rather than asking for £200 in one hit. What if someone hasn't been saving for the bill?

If you can't be bothered with all the hassle then just stay with UW.

I hope I've given you enough tariff options and information. If you know your annual usage then put that into UKPower and look for yourself then switch using a cashback website to the best deal for your usage and area.

Thanks, I really appreciate the effort and advice!:beer:

spiro

Whilst you will save money if you go onto a tariff which requires you to pay by DD then you will need a bank account for the DD to be drawn against and everyone will have to pay in their share every week/month. What happens when someone says 'cant pay until next week' and DD is due in a couple of days.

Personally I would stick with PPM as this removes all of this because if you dont top up you dont get fuel so no chance of getting into debt because you fail to check bills when they arrive (i.e. estimating readings).