New home - prepay meter

stevetuk

I wondered if anyone can give me some advice. I'm a first time buyer and am in the process of buying my new home - complete at the end of the month fingers crossed.

The property I am buying has a prepay meter in supplied by Scottish Power. I'd post a link to a picture of it only I'm a newbie so I can't.

I don't want to have to use a prepay meter - how do I change it to a standard meter? Can I just change supplier and have the new supplier remove it? Will I be charged?

TIA for any help

DragonQ

Scottish Power charge ~£50 to replace prepayment meters with standard ones. Alternatively, you could switch to E.On, British Gas or EDF, who all replace them for free. Of course it will be impossible to know which supplier will be the cheapest for you until you have some consumption figures at the new property - all you can do is guestimate based on your consumption at your current property and what type of heating system the new property has.

macman

You don't have to change supplier, but it may be cheaper to do so.
A PPM costs the same as Standard tariff.

stevetuk

Ok, fantastic - thanks for the information. I wondered if they'd be a charge - so if it's around £50 then it might be cheaper to switch for a year than to pay that even...will have to factor that in. What happens to the old meter out of interest? Would British Gas return it to Scottish Power, for example? Or, would I have to arrange that? Is it the new supplier that actually comes to remove it?

Edit: sorry, one more question! Would I need to let Scottish Power know that I'm the new home owner and that I'm switching supplier, so that any debt from previous owners/tenants is cleared?

Wywth

stevetuk wrote: »

Ok, fantastic - thanks for the information. I wondered if they'd be a charge - so if it's around £50 then it might be cheaper to switch for a year than to pay that even...will have to factor that in. What happens to the old meter out of interest? Would British Gas return it to Scottish Power, for example? Or, would I have to arrange that? Is it the new supplier that actually comes to remove it?

Edit: sorry, one more question! Would I need to let Scottish Power know that I'm the new home owner and that I'm switching supplier, so that any debt from previous owners/tenants is cleared?

You may find this link helpful.
http://www.moneysupermarket.com/c/news/how-to-switch-from-a-prepayment-energy-meter/0014939/

On completion day, you will need to contact Scottish Power, provide a meter reading, and probably arrange a new top-up card. This will also allow any existing debt on the meter to be removed.

Scottish_Power

stevetuk wrote: »

Edit: sorry, one more question! Would I need to let Scottish Power know that I'm the new home owner and that I'm switching supplier, so that any debt from previous owners/tenants is cleared?

Hi if we can help e-mail us at [EMAIL="social@scottishpower.com"]social@scottishpower.com[/EMAIL] and we can give you a call. Thanks David

stevetuk

Thanks David, will do!

[Deleted User]

You need a new key from Scottish Power in your name, this will clear any debt and standing charges which have built up on the meter.weekly standing charges for electric prepays ( BG rates ) now seem to be around £1.10 a week. Once you have your new key you can check screen "S " ( scroll through with key inserted by pressing blue button ) to see if all is ok and no debt on the meter.
All suppliers will credit check you first before removing a prepay. Getting rid of the prepay will save you 6% on the prepays "standard " tariff and all the inconvenience of watching the meters credit. Online top ups are available with BG, EON, and I think Scottish Power

chanz4

The meter exchanges are carried out by the meter asset manager, no mater who the supplier is you are not authorised to remove the meter.

stevetuk

chanz4 wrote: »

The meter exchanges are carried out by the meter asset manager, no mater who the supplier is you are not authorised to remove the meter.

I don't think the suggestion anywhere in the thread is that I remove it. I think the suggestion is that another supplier can/could remove it, or the existing supplier if I ask them to do so.

Former_E.ON_Company_Representative:_Malc

sacsquacco wrote: »

Online top ups are available with BG, EON, and I think Scottish Power

Just a quick heads up sacsquacco. At the moment, we don't do online top ups for prepayment meters. It is something we're looking at but no time frame yet, I'm afraid.

Thanks.

Malc