Scottish Power - Changing From Prepayment Meter

smudger499

Hi all

I am hoping to buy a flat which is all electric(Econmy 7 Storage Heaters). The flat is already empty as I believe it is a repossesion, so checking details of previous utility suppliers is proving difficult.

The Electric Meter is a prepayment type with a key slot, currently showing £50 debt, I believe the meters/ electric supply is provided by Scottish Power as their labels are all over the Meter cupboards.

How would I go about getting this Meter changed to a standard meter via Scottish Power , how long would this take and is there a charge.

If anyone has gone through this process I would be grateful for any tips.

thanks

gentlebloke

Once you've actually bought the place ring Consumer Direct or MPAS (Google them) to find out who current supplier is - may not be Scottish Power. Inform supplier and meter will be re-set - only credit with small amounts initially.

Supplier is not obliged to remove PPM and will charge, unless it's British Gas. May also ask for a security deposit. Timescale depens on how busy they are.

Note also that switching with Economy 7 is usually ok - if it's a little bit more esoteric (Economy 10), not all suppliers will take.

Neil_Jones

Existing debt on meter isn't your problem so don't worry about that - it'll get reset. Supplier will tell you how to do that, typically go to the local PayPoint shop, give them a code, put some credit on the key they give you, shove it in the meter and press the blue button. Just because it has SP stickers on it doesn't mean anything. Many meters are reconditioned and go through copious suppliers in their life.

If you pass a credit check, you may get them swapped out, as stated, but may be chargeable. My swapout to credit wasn't charged but that isn't universal practice.

smudger499

Neil Jones / gentlebloke

Thansk for your advice

When I complete on the flat I'll ring Scottish Power and take it from there