Changing back from pre-Payment Meters

DSmiffy

Hi All, Just wondered if anyone had any previous experience of this.
I moved into a new house in September which has pre-payment meters for both Elec and Gas. Scottish Power told me that if I wanted to go back to a "normal" credit meter, I would have to pay around £200 for both for the new meters and installation.

Just wondered if anyone out there had experience of this and whether I could get them to change them for free if I asked for it to be done with a new supplier as a condition of changing to them?
It's just that I understand that's it's dearer on a pre-payment meter but I don't want to waste money on paying out for new meters installed.
Any help appreciated
Thanks

tori.k

EDF change our's for free when powergen (E-on) wanted to charge us if that's any help

macman

It's normally around £50 per meter, they may also ask for a returnable deposit against the credit meter.
PPM's are no more expensive than the supplier's Standard tariff-this is an oft-repeated urban myth. They are only more expensive than the online discount tariffs which you then can't access-4-6% more approx.
Certainly worth trying to get them for free from another supplier.

split_second

i got quoted £200 by s.p 3 years ago, with combined bills of £700 there seemed no point, we only use gas for anything more than hot water/baths for 6 months of the year

Terrylw1

Wow, £200 for a change of 2 meters. Not as sure on the gas but I can tell you its only 20-30 minutes to do the job and suppliers pay nowhere near £100 for an elec job from my experience. A large amount if that fee sounds like profit since the call centre just need to raise a job to transmit a data flow to their appointed meter operator...taking perhaps 1-2 minutes!!! Booking gas is just as quick and i really can't see £100 for that being paid!

SwanJon

I've got this link at the top of the page...

http://www.moneysavingexpert.com/utilities/switch-prepaid-gas-electricity?utm_source=forum&utm_medium=clicks&utm_campaign=resourcebar

Scottish_Power

Hi Everyone

Just wanted to let you know ScottishPowers charges for removing Prepayment meters are:

£150.00 security deposit required for each fuel (refundable after 12months) and the cost of the job itself £45.91 for electricity and £62.90 for gas

if i can be of any further help please email me at [EMAIL="onlinecomplaints@scottishpower.com"]onlinecomplaints@scottishpower.com[/EMAIL] as each case can be reviewed on an individual basis

Thanks
Lee-Anne

Terrylw1

OP another thing to consider when it comes to security deposits, switch and you get it straight back. I would however go for a supplier who will do it free but ensure they are what you need for your bills. You can also switch constantly if there are no lock in fees hence yo can switch away and switch back fairly quickly.

Isn't it curious how you can move into a property with a credit meter and pay no security deposit but you have to pay for one when you move into a PPM property due to a previous occupiers debt issues? The PPMs may have not even been for debt, oh and, can you change between 1 and 2 rate metering without a charge? Suppliers started charging unfairly for these years ago and they are happy to penalise anyone who moves into these properties.

mac.d

Would Scottish Power still charge for removing a prepayment meter if I had previously been a customer of Scottish Power with a standard meter and had no debt in that time?

I can understand the need for a "security deposit" for an 'unknown' customer, but if you have a solid credit history.... well as Terrylw1 posted, the easy answer is to leave Scottish Power and switch to a company that will do it for free.

macman

Yes, because there is still a cost for a new meter and the labour involved, however good your credit is.

Terrylw1

macman wrote: »

Yes, because there is still a cost for a new meter and the labour involved, however good your credit is.

The supplier pays for all meter operator visits whether fitting/removing meter fuses, investigating issues that turn out to be nothing or needing work, fitting tails following rewire (connect additional load), changing E7 to stand and vice versa.

Suppliers have "chosen" to target PPM removal and they treat all customers the same as the bad debtors they were fitted for. This is wrong. They cant argue risk since any new credit meter customers poses the same risk and they can't say its due to meter operator charges when all the above jobs cost the same in the contracts I've experience.

The only isdue is that they can argue they need to pay more regular fees to fit and remove them, but a new customer shouldn't be paying the price for a previous customer. Its a misguided strategy since that new customer will just change supplier and have a poor opinion of you.

Then you can switch to one who does is free and be back with a registration date 90 days further forward with the one who wanted to charge you. So, they've had to pay their star to do the CoS activities.