We'd like to remind Forumites to please avoid political debate on the Forum. This is to keep it a safe and useful space for MoneySaving discussions. Threads that are - or become - political in nature may be removed in line with the Forum’s rules. Thank you for your understanding.

Pre-Payment Elec Meter Help

MissMiki
MissMiki Posts: 13 Forumite
Hi Guys,

Just looking for a bit of advice from those in the know?

We have just moved into a new rental property, and aside from the fact I am annoyed we were not told the property was on pre-payment meters before we moved in (yes we did ask) I have a couple a bit of an issue.

I have never been on pre-payment before, always monthly DD therefore I was a complete novice at what I should have been doing. The lettings agent told us to take the key (that they gave us) and call e.on (our supplier) who would give us a code on the phone to a) start our new account and b) wipe the meter from the previous tenants.

So we did this, inserted our key and the meter cleared to £0.00 and then started on emergency credit (as we had to wait 1 hour from clear down before adding any of our own credit).

When we put £10 credit on this showed on the meter minus the money we had used from the emergency credit, a simple matter of pence... ALL GOOD.

However, I have just registered online with e.on to manage our Gas bills as this is not on meter. When I have logged on it is showing that our pre-payment electricity meter is in excess of £90 in debt. Now, when we registered our new account they did say the meter was in debt and we explained this was from previous tenants which they seemed to accept.

We can't phone them today to sort as it seems all gas/elec companies are closed on Sundays but could anyone help? Are we now liable for this debt even though it is not ours?? (Even though we told them on the phone!) and will this debt have a bad affect on our credit rating even though it is not ours? will it be possible to clear?

After doing a bit of research on the internet I see that you should NOT use a prepayment key used by previous tenants due to this BUT I was not aware of this at the time and only found out once I had access to the internet (which was after we arrange the electric)....we were simply doing what we were advised.

Any advise or insight welcome.

Comments

  • samrw18
    samrw18 Posts: 33 Forumite
    No, the debt is not yours, so you will not be liable. I was in this situation, they sent me out a new key and told me to just use the emergency credit from the old key until I recieved the new key, as the new key would wipe out the debt. It seems it is standard practice that no debt payment is taken while the meter is in emergency credit.

    Ring your supplier tommorow to confirm. There should be no impact on your credit file.
  • MissMiki
    MissMiki Posts: 13 Forumite
    Thanks very much, will request a new key tomorrow and confirm.
  • samrw18
    samrw18 Posts: 33 Forumite
    No Problem :)
  • chanz4
    chanz4 Posts: 11,054 Forumite
    Part of the Furniture 10,000 Posts Name Dropper Xmas Saver!
    if they gave you an rti this should overight without a new new key.
    Don't put your trust into an Experian score - it is not a number any bank will ever use & it is generally a waste of money to purchase it. They are also selling you insurance you dont need.
  • macman
    macman Posts: 53,128 Forumite
    Part of the Furniture 10,000 Posts Name Dropper
    Your agent is clueless...
    No free lunch, and no free laptop ;)
  • Terrylw1
    Terrylw1 Posts: 7,038 Forumite
    You don't owe anything.

    You need a new key, which you can get from the pay point.

    Did you take a reading when you moved in? Get that onto your account with the date you moved in, then explain you paid on the old key and they will see the date/time stamp is after your move in date. They will then transfer over the payments do your account becomes balanced.
    :rotfl: It's better to live 1 year as a tiger than a lifetime as a worm...but then, whoever heard of a wormskin rug!!!:rotfl:
This discussion has been closed.
Meet your Ambassadors

🚀 Getting Started

Hi new member!

Our Getting Started Guide will help you get the most out of the Forum

Categories

  • All Categories
  • 348.6K Banking & Borrowing
  • 252.3K Reduce Debt & Boost Income
  • 452.5K Spending & Discounts
  • 241.3K Work, Benefits & Business
  • 617.8K Mortgages, Homes & Bills
  • 175.8K Life & Family
  • 254.5K Travel & Transport
  • 1.5M Hobbies & Leisure
  • 16.1K Discuss & Feedback
  • 15.1K Coronavirus Support Boards

Is this how you want to be seen?

We see you are using a default avatar. It takes only a few seconds to pick a picture.