when can I refuse a prepayment meter

meercatsunited

I own a property that I let. the tenants had arrears with the gas and electric supplier and have been doing their best and making extra payments to repay it but the utility Co. said they are not paying enough and want to install a prepayment meter.

I have refused to allow the meter to be installed, can the utility Co. insist on it being fitted?

when the tenant leaves I will be left with this meter and it will cost to remove it.

jolfc

meercatsunited wrote: »

I own a property that I let. the tenants had arrears with the gas and electric supplier and have been doing their best and making extra payments to repay it but the utility Co. said they are not paying enough and want to install a prepayment meter.

I have refused to allow the meter to be installed, can the utility Co. insist on it being fitted?

when the tenant leaves I will be left with this meter and it will cost to remove it.

i cant answer your question, but is it not a plus that having a meter means no un paid bills will be left on your property with future tenants you rent to, as not everyone pays their bills.
i had to have a meter installed 16 years ago, i would never change it now i love not getting bills every quarter.:D

VfM4meplse

jolfc wrote: »

i had to have a meter installed 16 years ago, i would never change it now i love not getting bills every quarter.:D

When looking to buy a place, an electricity meter would actively put me off buying. Apart from the sheer inconvenience of having to top it up, it screams out poverty.

jolfc

VfM4meplse wrote: »

When looking to buy a place, an electricity meter would actively put me off buying. Apart from the sheer inconvenience of having to top it up, it screams out poverty.

i must be a bit thick, lol, why does it say poverty, you still have to pay for the electric? edf asked us if we wanted to get rid of ours and we said no, it is not because we have arrears ( though i did when it was installed all those years ago, ) i just prefer it.
i suppose different things for different people.

fightyfish

it depends on how far the debt process has gone with your tenants. If their not on an official payment plan with the company and the debt has been outstanding for a long time they will apply for a warrent and enter the property regardless.From the point of view of the company they need to see the money owed to them being paid back.
Your tenants need to speak to the company and come up with a payment agreement they can stick to which covers their current consumption and the debt they owe. If they feel the company is unreasonable in doing this they need to raise an official complaint.

adamantine

as far as i know they cannot "force" you to have a pre-payment meter installed. i was offered one when i went BR last year and i flat out refused as its one of the most expensive ways to pay for gas and leccy and i was not in arrears with them. maybe checking the house making sure its properly insulated, pipes are insulated too etc can help the tennants get the arrears paid up?

HappyMJ

VfM4meplse wrote: »

When looking to buy a place, an electricity meter would actively put me off buying. Apart from the sheer inconvenience of having to top it up, it screams out poverty.

Even though it's only going to cost £50 to replace it with a credit meter? The sellers might be in financial difficulty and are having to sell to raise funds. It wouldn't bother me when buying but it would when renting as the property has to be returned in the same state as at the beginning of the tenancy so I wouldn't want to pay £50 to replace the meter at the beginning and another £50 to replace it at the end of the tenancy.

seafarers_wife

the utility company can go to court to get a warrant to fit a prepayment meter and there is nothing you can do about it unfortunately as the meter is not your property.

If the utility company has to go to court to get a warrant they will add those associated costs onto your tenants debt. I would allow the meter to be fitted as its going to get done by warrant if the debts not paid and come to an agreement in writing with your tenants that they pay the cost of having the meter removed when they move out.

VfM4meplse

jolfc wrote: »

i must be a bit thick, lol, why does it say poverty, you still have to pay for the electric? edf asked us if we wanted to get rid of ours and we said no, it is not because we have arrears ( though i did when it was installed all those years ago, ) i just prefer it.
i suppose different things for different people.

If you have a busy working life, who has time to go out to your nearest retailer and top it up? I keep the bare minimum of cash on me, and can think of nothing worse of than running out in the middle of the night with no means of turning on the heating, a light, a kettle, not being able to operate the power shower etc. I'm not wasteful of energy, but would not want to monitor it all the time. Meters are Victorian inconvenience IMO.

jolfc

VfM4meplse wrote: »

If you have a busy working life, who has time to go out to your nearest retailer and top it up? I keep the bare minimum of cash on me, and can think of nothing worse of than running out in the middle of the night with no means of turning on the heating, a light, a kettle, not being able to operate the power shower etc. I'm not wasteful of energy, but would not want to monitor it all the time. Meters are Victorian inconvenience IMO.

lol, everyone is entitled to their thoughts,

me and my partner both work, but have never run out at strange hours, we just stick £20 a week on when we go and put our lottery on, each saturday morning. but may be some people are not as organised as me that have them,

Premier_2

meercatsunited wrote: »

I own a property that I let. the tenants had arrears with the gas and electric supplier and have been doing their best and making extra payments to repay it but the utility Co. said they are not paying enough and want to install a prepayment meter.

I have refused to allow the meter to be installed, can the utility Co. insist on it being fitted?

when the tenant leaves I will be left with this meter and it will cost to remove it.

Theres little you can do if the supplier is adamant that they want to install a PPM; they'll go to court and apply for a warrant if necessary.

I guess if you were to repay the debt in full and guarantee the future payments of your tenants bills, then the utility company may rethink their stance, but I guess you don't want to do this anyway.

Remember, the tenant is under an obligation to return the property to you at the end of the tenancy in the same condition as it was originally let, save for fair wear & tear. If they don't then you are entitled to claim the cost of restoring the property to that condition from the tenants, and hopefully you are holding (under the usual rules) a security deposit just for this purpose