British Gas/Economy 7 & Switching

Miiri

Argh.. just moved in to my new flat and found that the current electric account is Economy 7 with BG. The meter appears be able to be set to different rates and show the total units. Its a digital display.

I was hoping to be able to switch to a different provider and I definitely don't want the economy 7 rate. Whats the best order to do things in.. switch and tell them I want Standard or get BG to reset as standard first?

Thanks
Miiri

Bark01

Miiri wrote: »

Argh.. just moved in to my new flat and found that the current electric account is Economy 7 with BG. The meter appears be able to be set to different rates and show the total units. Its a digital display.

I was hoping to be able to switch to a different provider and I definitely don't want the economy 7 rate. Whats the best order to do things in.. switch and tell them I want Standard or get BG to reset as standard first?

Thanks
Miiri

You probably don't need a meter swap. Most suppliers can just bill both register at the same rate.

[Deleted User]

May be not that straightforward as I have seen on here that some suppliers cant just switch you to single rate, and it would have to be a meter exchange which they may charge you for. B.G. I know can start billing you single rate tariff, I believe they may try and charge you some money for the privelidge approx £40. most likely your meter will be set for rate 1 day, rate 2 night, ignore "T " for total, but could be other way round, see which rate advances in the day

amiehall

Why does the flat have an E7 meter? How is it heated? how do you heat water? You don't want to swap out the E7 meter and then pay a premium for these.

Miiri

Thanks for the replies - its now gas heated (combi boiler) although I suspect it has had storage heaters in the past hence the rate.

Miiri

amiehall

Your supplier should change the meter for free, ask them to do it and see what they say. If they want to swap tariff without swapping the meter, take care they register this properly otherwise you won't be able to switch supplier without problems.

there's no real reason not to swap the meter as the property is unlikely to ever switch back to E7

Terrylw1

Be very careful, Bgas are known for adding registers together without considering the available Market Domain Data (MDD)...and when you switch, your new supplier can't do it as its a non compliance and they should gave changed the meter.

Ask them to confirm that your Standard Settlement Code (SSC), which confirms what your meter can do, is available on Profile Class (PC) 1 & 2. Many only work on PC2 which means you can't change it to single rate charge and must change the meter.

If you are unsure, get your SSC and post it on here and I can check it for you. The SSC & PC data items are generic so they don't identify you and cannot be used to switch you so its safe to post them.

Since its been changed to gas, I suggest you ask previous owner or landlord didn't change the meter? Perhaps they saved on doing the meter charge by making it your problem, which is unfair so perhaps get them to pay (if the supplier wants to charge...since they can as they have to pay to send an engineer out)