Are British Gas collecting previous tenants debt off my pre payment meter???

tederndotivy

I wonder if anyone can help???
I have lived in my property for over 5 years and have pre payment gas and electricity meters,both supplied by british gas. These were already here before i moved in... i understand there is a daily service charge fr having the meters and have been told they collect this back when i put credit in. I have noticed it will often say it is taking few pence- pound but says for debt! Is it meant to say debt???? Is this simply just the servic charge or is there any chance they may also be collecting someone elses old debt through my machine???

bob_bank_spanker

When you moved in did you phone BG and let them know you were the new tenant, and give an opening meter read?

rochja

npower have this to say:
We may install a prepayment meter to recover an outstanding debt. We’ll agree with you a weekly
amount to repay what you owe, taking into account what you can afford to pay. If your household is in
receipt of benefits, the debt recovery rate would not normally be set above the minimum Fuel Direct
level of £3 per week (Fuel Direct is a support service for those on benefits or low income, who struggle
to pay for their energy). We’ll review this weekly amount if you tell us that your circumstances have
changed. The meter will be set to collect the agreed debt recovery amount each week, plus the daily
standing charge, from the credit you put into the meter.
But if you are paying back somebody else's debt then you cannot have registered the account properly with your utility provider. This is what needs checking. You are free to change provider and you are also free to replace the prepayment meter with a standard meter with the agreement of your provider

spacey2012

They have been caught at this more times than the village panty sniffer.

bob_bank_spanker

spacey2012 wrote: »

They have been caught at this more times than the village panty sniffer.

Who has been caught at what?

molerat

Scroll through the screens and see if there is any debt on the meter.

00 The most recent amount of credit transferred to your meter
01 Amount of credit that was last allocated to any outstanding debt to your meter
02 Amount of credit used to repay emergency credit you’ve used
03 Amount of credit allocated to your gas supply
10 Price per unit of gas
17 Daily standing charge (collected at 2am every day)

You will need the card in the meter for the following:

25 The minimum debt repayment you’ll pay in a week
26 The maximum debt repayment you’ll pay in a week
27 The amount of debt to be repaid. This will reduce each week if you add enough credit to your meter

SwanJon

You can check if there is currently a debt on the meter as molerat says - but I'd be suprised if there was one there 5 years on.

Does this appear after you have been in emergency credit or the credit has run out for a bit? If so it is probably the meter catching up on the Tier 1/standing charge from those days it didn't take it.

tederndotivy

Sorry not logged on a while, I think my meter may have been read said i have lived here, i have also had new meters fitted in the time i have been here. I feel it may just be catching up every time with its daily charge but i shall certainly check this out via the method from molerat. Thanks for the help guys!!!

[Deleted User]

The Electric prepay will display standing charge debt on screen "A" , it shows the word debt, or a minus sign against the value of the standing charge owed. Debt which has been loaded onto the meter and the weekly repayment charge is on screens "S " and " T " ,only viewable with your key inserted

lemontart

the meters may have been read but have you actually told bg that you moved in and gave them the readings when you did. also did they reset or clear the meter or send you a card in your name?

unicorn17gas

So my Meter says 27 £486.86 remaining ,does that mean there is a debt on this meter?