Moving to a flat with pre pay meter, tried changing supplier before I moved in cant

confusedLG

Situation is I signed a tenancy agreement and paid a deposit for flat and the day I signed it I did a online application knowing I wouldnt move in for 3 weeks giving it time to transfer(but knowing it may take longer was prepared to do a temporary sign up with old supplier)

I was about to move in and got a email saying old supplier has refused transfer so I phoned them and was told they thought old tenant still lived there(which is fair in some ways) but still refused to let me transfer and wouldnt open a new account for me unless I emailed them my passport and tenancy agreement!!! I do not want to do this as its a pre pay account and feel what right do they have to see my private documents.

What can I do as they refuse to even open an account for me or let me change. I think they assume something dodgy is going on since they mentioned the meter had error codes being transmitted as its a smart meter so I feel they think I am lying and tampered with it.

Nada666

It is likely the previous tenant has not communicated and has a debt. As such it is surely a good thing a supplier wants a copy of evidence that there is a new tenant - otherwise existing customers with a debt would just phone up claiming to be someone new. Would you rather pay higher prices to cover the costs of even more absconders? If anything you should be happy about this 'intrusion'.

confusedLG

I actually know for a fact there was no debt on the meter as I viewed the flat twice when ex tenant was there, there was no debt on the meter but a week or two later it was replaced as key didnt work, I know this as the tenant was a friend of a friend so I knew they handed in notice and wanted to move, I even checked the new meter after new one was installed that said zero debt and LL said they also rang utility company to tell them person had moved, utility company even admitted they had been told someone had moved out a few weeks earlier

HappyMJ

On change of occupier the debt on the meter is cleared anyway so I wouldn't worry about any existing debt on the meter. They just want to know there really has been a change of occupier.

As the previous occupier has left the name on the account has probably been switched back to the landlord who may or may not have existing debt with the supplier. Landlords are supposed to pay standing charges on the utility accounts between tenancies but as they (the bills) are so small they don't always pay and suppliers can't be bothered chasing small amounts of money. The suppliers are now wanting their money.

SwanJon

If the gaining supplier knows you are a new tenant, they can flag the exchange which should make things smoother - if you do it online I'm not sure if they give you the chance to tell them this.
As Happy says, the old supplier needs to know about you. You have the tenancy agreement as proof of when you took over, so offer them a copy (fax, email) to get them to open the account.
Go back to your chosen new supplier and give them a call to say what you want to happen. As it is a bit more manual they should be able to flag it for an easier transfer.

Feel free to name the suppliers - you mention samrt meters and that can add an extra hurdle.