Meter changes

tpook82

HI all

please help

my mother in law currently lives in house with pre payment meter fitted for both gas & electric. the meter was already in the house before she moved in as previous owner obviously had issues with payment.

for ease of use the mil left meter in and has carried on paying however as prices going up its ridiculous how muchshe is paying

she spoke to eon previos supplier to get prepayment meter removed and new standard meter fitted but they said no, so she has changed to british 'rip off' gas who are a bit cheaper but again has asked and they will charge £200 each to remove and reinstall new meter.

is there anyway she can get meters changed for free? play each supplier off each other or is there a law now that suppliers are supposed to help us get cheapest deal?

Joyful

British Gas change meters for free if a customer passes a credit vet so it looks like this is not the case here.

smj43

EDF do it for free no credit checks

macman

PPM's cost the same as the supplier's Standard credit tariff, so don't expect any great reduction in the bills. The most she will save on an online discount tariff is about 6%.

SwanJon

British Gas used to offer a security deposit if the credit check was unsuccesful, and that could have been £200, but this is no longer the case.

It might be worth trying again if that was the answer she had a year ago (when that policy was still around).

Wywth

tpook82 wrote: »

HI all

please help

my mother in law currently lives in house with pre payment meter fitted for both gas & electric. the meter was already in the house before she moved in as previous owner obviously had issues with payment.

for ease of use the mil left meter in and has carried on paying however as prices going up its ridiculous how muchshe is paying

she spoke to eon previos supplier to get prepayment meter removed and new standard meter fitted but they said no, so she has changed to british 'rip off' gas who are a bit cheaper but again has asked and they will charge £200 each to remove and reinstall new meter.

is there anyway she can get meters changed for free? play each supplier off each other or is there a law now that suppliers are supposed to help us get cheapest deal?

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

Do understand the difference between a charge (which is obviously not refundable) and a security deposit (which is refundable with interest). Ageering to pay monthly by DD sometimes means the supplier will not ask for a security deposit, where they may otherwise do so (subject to status)

Wywth

macman wrote: »

PPM's cost the same as the supplier's Standard credit tariff, so don't expect any great reduction in the bills. The most she will save on an online discount tariff is about 6%.

Now that is somewhat misleading isn't it.

An average user could easily be spending £1300 per year on a suppliers standard tariff on a credit meter paying on receipt of bill. (As you correctly say, a PPM often charges the same as a suppliers standard tariff where the customer elects to pay on receipt of bill). Savings of £250 can often be achieved by switching to the lowest tariff. (according to MSE)
That equates to about 20% saving.

What you are confusing is that typically a supplier will give say a 6% discount for agreeing to pay monthly by DD ... but that is not the only saving available. There are many, many more alternative tariffs available to those with a credit meter compared to those with a PPM (where most suppliers often only have 1 or possibly 2 tariffs to choose from)
It is some of those alternative tariffs that are fundamentally cheaper than the suppliers standard tariff where the savings often come from.

Wywth

SwanJon wrote: »

British Gas used to offer a security deposit if the credit check was unsuccesful, and that could have been £200, but this is no longer the case.

It might be worth trying again if that was the answer she had a year ago (when that policy was still around).

Presumably that means British Gas no longer offers a credit meter to those customers who marginally fail a credit check?

If so, and the OP's MIL failed the credit check previously, presumably she will fail again (assuming nothing has changed ... which of course it may have done)