Am I legally allowed to phone British Gas and switch from meter to normal bills?

Pat_Butcher

I am one of three students living in a small ex council flat in east london. Ever since we moved in we have had to top up a meter to get electricity, and over the four months we have lived here the bills have been phenomenal.. We're running a few light bulbs, a fridge/freezer, a couple of stereos, we charge our phones, laptops etc.

We have had to top this meter up every couple of days, ten pounds each time and its costing a hell of a lot of money when added up. I have several other friends in different flatshares that all seem to pay a total of 20 pounds per month between all of them. It's got to the stage where none of us can afford our bills, so I phoned up British Gas and asked what was going on.

I was expecting them to tell me that our landlord has been taking a cut of what we're paying or that we've been paying off someone else's debt, but apparently neither of those were the case.

They told me that in December alone we used £99 worth of electricity, and £133 in november! This is an obscene amount, as we don't even heat this flat as none of us can afford to with these rates.. Also, one of us is rarely here as he often stays at his girlfriend's flat.

The guy on the phone said that I needed to give them my details so that they know who is currently living in the flat, so now it is technically in my name.

I have been wondering what would happen if I call them again and ask them to take us off this meter and let us pay cheaper monthly bills like normal households? Is my landlord likely to kick up a fuss and could he evict us/ get me into trouble? He has been very controlling over it so far, and has instructed us to use two new top up keys that he has given us over the time we have lived here (Its this that made me suspect he was making money out of us somehow)

Any advice would be greatly appreciated.

Ich_2

AFIK there should only be one top up key for the nominated supplier for the flat. If you have put it in your name BG should issue a new key to you

Pat_Butcher

When he gave us new keys we stopped using the previous one each time. But am I able to call BG and request to pay monthly bills instead of using a key? Its so much cheaper that way.

Ich_2

I doubt it would work as they may charge to change the meter

david39

Surely your landlord would need to give permission for this change to his/her premises.

I don't think it's a legality question, it's dependent on your landlord and whether BG are prepared to put a credit meter into a short term let property.

torbrex

First thing that you need to do is find out what is using all the electricity as no matter what kind of meter you are using, it will still be racking up the units.
I stongly suspect that it will be all the things that you have on charge (phones, laptops etc)

If you have changed the responsibility for the meter to your name, I hope you realise that it now makes you responsible for any underpayments incurred on the meter.

jd87

£100-130 per month electricity for 3 fairly high usage people in a presumably electric heated (hot water too) flat in the middle of winter.

Sounds about right to me.

Focus on your studies. Fighting this utility war isn't going to save you much money. Life is just expensive I'm afraid.

victor2

I'd agree with jd87 that it isn't an unreasonable amount. It's unlikely to be things left on charge, they use a tiny amount of power. Do you have an electric shower? You must get hot water somehow. Maybe one of the residents has a little fan heater he uses on the quiet to keep warm.
Basically, anything that generates heat uses a lot of electricity. Check your meter at different times of the day to get an idea of what your usage is. That may point you in the direction of ways to save.

dogshome

Beyond the few lights, laptops. phones and the fridge, how are you heating the water? And what about cooking ?

It would help to know what type of meter you have - If this heating that you don't use, is Storage radiators, then you probably have an ECO7 meter that delivers CHEAP power overnight, but EXPENSIVE power during the day

In all-electic dwellings, a BIG user is the Hot Water cylinder - On an ECO7 meter this heats water up overnight on cheap rate, but they also fiitted with a 'Boost' switch if more hot water is needed during the day - If this Boost switch is left on 24/7 it will eat money

SwanJon

If you pay the bills you can choose to change the meter - the landlord has no say, but it would be a courtesy to let him know you are doing it.

British Gas don't charge to change the meter, but will do a credit check before they agree to swap it. (MSE Article)

Prepayment meters are the same price as paying the bill quarterly. Direct Debit & Online tariffs are a little bit cheaper, but I'd recommend regular readings to monitor your consumption. (£60/mth may not be covering the usage in the other flats).

As above, the biggest savings will come from energy efficeincy which means all three of you will need to buy in. Find out if you have E7, and if so make sure you are getting the best out of it.

Good luck.

macman

It's a myth that PPM's cost vastly more than credit meters.A PPM costs the same as the supplier's Standard tariff. No more than 6% more than an online discount tariff.
Post your actual kWh consumption figures from the meter or supplier and some meaningful help can be give, ££'s spent tell us nothing.
You say you don't heat the flat, so how do you provide hot water? Do you have an immersion heater switch left on 24/7 maybe?
Normal meter change coast is around £60 per meter, and you will be credit checked.
Generally, speaking, taking on a credit account in student flat can be a recipe for disaster, as you will be jointly and severally liable for the entire debt, not just your share of it.