Forced to have payment meter, what about wanting to switch?

LunarJewels

Firstly, my finances are in absolute ruins. So much so, I am nearing completion of a debt relief order application with the help of step change.

Today however I was broken into by british gas, who then changed my electricity only residence over to a meter. This scared the heck out of me as I am a nervous wreck in my own home already thanks to relentless baliffs and phone calls.

I have been planning to switch to a cheaper supplier/tariff once the d.r.o has gone through. Now it will be pointless because I will not be able to get off this stupid meter even with a new company unless I first pass a credit check, which I won't.

Is this right in as far as future switching hopes (or lack of them) go?

matelodave

If you've managed to run up a large debt with BG and haven't been paying it off what do you expect them to do, they can't keep extending credit when there's little evidence of you sorting it out.

You can still switch, but just to another pre-pay unless you can prove that you've got a good credit rating - which it appears that you can't.

Even having a DRO would probably preclude you from having a credit meter with another company so you probably aren't any worse off. In fact you can still switch if you've got a debt on a pre-payment meter (up to £500) as it can be transferred to the new supplier.

You won't be able to do with it a debt on a credit meter - the releasing supplier can block your switch until you've paid the debt off in full

C_Mababejive

It would have been better to voluntarily agree to fitting of the prepayment meter to avoid further costs which will now likely be applied to your account.

[Deleted User]

If you check screen S on the meter you can see the total debt you owe, with the weekly repayment amount on screen T which can be a maximum of £16. you can haggle them down a bit if they ve overdone it.If they have been forced into employing a locksmith expect an extra £100 on the debt together with the cost of the warrant which is around £100

energyworker

You can switch supplier once the debt on the meter is less than £500.