HELP, New home has prepaid gas and electric

Andyph

Evening all,

Hope someone can help me out, we have just moved into a new bungalow which we are renting, We have found out that the gas and electric is on a prepaid meter.

Electric is on southern electric and the gas scottish power, when i topped up £10 yesterday on the gas it took £2.68 for debt even though there was already a positive balance!

Do i have to deal with the above companies or can i get edf ( who i used to be on DD at my old house to come take the meters out and take over the account?

If i have to use the above companies do they charge to remove the meter and if so is there away round this?

thanks in advance

newbie1980

you need to get in touch with supplier and get a new customer account what you are doing is prob paying off last customers debt from when they had monthly dd

[Deleted User]

Firstly register with the suppliers and get a new gas card and an electric meter key in your name, as newbie1980 says you are paying off the gas debt ( seen on screen 27 ) and possibly on electric also. If you want credit meters you will be credit checked and mayby charged approx £50 ish or a repayable bond needed.
Personally I would ask landlords permission in changing any meters even though you may have the legal right to do so

macman

You can only commence a switch after you have registered for an account with the existing suppliers.
PPM's cost the same as the supplier's Standard tariff (once you stop paying for the previous tenant's debts).

chris1973

As you are renting the property check with the LL / Letting agent that you are ok to change the type of metering installed, as most fit prepayment meters in order to stop bad tenants from running up debts.

Most Tenancy Agreements contain a clause which state that you must return the property in exactly the same condition (fixtures and fittings) as it was handed over to you, so its possible that if you do change to a credit meter, you'll need to pay to have a prepayment meter refitted again at the end of your tenancy.

This was taken from the OFT ruling (i.e you must put everything back to what it was at the time of taking over the property)

The tenant should have the choice of supplier although he may be required to keep the landlord informed of any change and to return the account to the original supplier at the end of the tenancy.

This thread also highlights one of the reasons why LL's don't like Tenants switching from a pre-installed prepayment meter to a credit one

http://www.landlordzone.co.uk/forums/showthread.php?49726-meter-changed-by-tenant

hotpot1000

I bought a house with PP meters with scottish power, vendor said it would take 2-3 days for scottish power to change the meters over.
I was issued new PP cards eventually and still one meter was taking debt money even thoough scottish power said it wouldnt.

I have no debt or outstanding credit whatsoever and they wanted £150 for each meter to be changed in July this year.
I had to change suppliers and wait for them to take over-about 4 wks or so and then apply to change the meters.

HappyMJ

chris1973 wrote: »

As you are renting the property check with the LL / Letting agent that you are ok to change the type of metering installed, as most fit prepayment meters in order to stop bad tenants from running up debts.

Most Tenancy Agreements contain a clause which state that you must return the property in exactly the same condition (fixtures and fittings) as it was handed over to you, so its possible that if you do change to a credit meter, you'll need to pay to have a prepayment meter refitted again at the end of your tenancy.

This was taken from the OFT ruling (i.e you must put everything back to what it was at the time of taking over the property)

This thread also highlights one of the reasons why LL's don't like Tenants switching from a pre-installed prepayment meter to a credit one

http://www.landlordzone.co.uk/forums/showthread.php?49726-meter-changed-by-tenant

Sorry but that isn't true. It's an unenforceable clause in a tenancy agreement. You have to return the landlord's property back in the same condition....however, the gas, electric and water meters and the choice of supplier has nothing to do with the landlord. The suppliers own the meters and the tenants can request the supplier to change them or add them (including water meters) at the request of the tenant. The landlord cannot ask for any money to change them especially in the case of a water meter as they can never be removed once installed.

macman

chris1973 wrote: »

As you are renting the property check with the LL / Letting agent that you are ok to change the type of metering installed, as most fit prepayment meters in order to stop bad tenants from running up debts.

Most Tenancy Agreements contain a clause which state that you must return the property in exactly the same condition (fixtures and fittings) as it was handed over to you, so its possible that if you do change to a credit meter, you'll need to pay to have a prepayment meter refitted again at the end of your tenancy.

This was taken from the OFT ruling (i.e you must put everything back to what it was at the time of taking over the property)

This thread also highlights one of the reasons why LL's don't like Tenants switching from a pre-installed prepayment meter to a credit one

http://www.landlordzone.co.uk/forums/showthread.php?49726-meter-changed-by-tenant

Meters are not 'fixtures or fittings'. They're the property of the meter operator or DNO, and do not belong to the landlord.

Scottish_Power

Hi Andyph, as the supply is already with SP you will need to register with us initially but there is nothing to stop you switching after that if you want to. We normally charge to remove prepayment meters and may ask you for a refundable security deposit as well (normally £150.00 per fuel). If you need any help please e-mail details to [EMAIL="onlinecomplaints@scottishpower.com"]onlinecomplaints@scottishpower.com[/EMAIL] Thanks David

Wywth

Only your current supplier can change arrange to change your meter.

But you could switch supplier even with your PPM, then they would be your current supplier
(As mentioned by the SP rep, if you have not yet registered with the supplier, you must do this first before anything else)

Lots of good info on how the major suppliers handle such a request to change here:

http://www.moneysupermarket.com/c/news/how-to-switch-from-a-prepayment-energy-meter/0014939/

Wywth

HappyMJ wrote: »

Sorry but that isn't true. It's an unenforceable clause in a tenancy agreement. You have to return the landlord's property back in the same condition....however, the gas, electric and water meters and the choice of supplier has nothing to do with the landlord. The suppliers own the meters and the tenants can request the supplier to change them or add them (including water meters) at the request of the tenant. The landlord cannot ask for any money to change them especially in the case of a water meter as they can never be removed once installed.

But they could deduct from the security depost the cost (if any) of putting the property back to the condition it was originally let (fair wear & tear excepted) if the tenant fails to do so by the end of the tenancy agreement.

The best way is often to simply ask the landlord for permission before any change takes place. Unless the LL has reasons othewise, they will probably not care if PPMs are removed and replaced with credit meters ... or even wlcome it.
It actually often improves the lettability of a property let under an ASTA if it is fitted with credit meters