Changing Electricity Meter and supplier?

redrose59

We will be moving into a property at the beginning of May. At the moment there is a pre paid meter in situ. The house has storage heaters. The supplier is EON and the network operator is SSE.

We want the meter changed to a standard one. We are also going to have gas central heating installed ( at present there is no gas supply in the property).

Has anyone got experience of this process, how easy is it to get the two companies to co-ordinate and ensure a smooth change? I believe that they both need to be involved in the process as they each "own" a different area of the supply. We will be having lots of work done at the property and do not wish to be without a supply as this will hold up the tradesmen.
Many thanks.

[Deleted User]

Register with Eon with your start readings , they will be on screens H (day ) and J (night) on the electric meter when you take over the property. Don t attempt to contact SSE ( Scottish and Southern Energy ) , Eon will organise the meter removal if you pass their credit check. Eon even credit check on a credit meter for new customers. Costs vary from free to over £200 per meter ( Scottish Power ) .Once you have gas central heating installed you will need the eco 7 meter changed to a single rate meter. Its preferred to get a standard single rate meter rather than get the supplier to total the two reads as some of the big suppliers offer to do. You need to have access to all suppliers on the market with a standard single rate meter . Once again, the costs each supplier charge for this is nt standard, could be free, could be £60 .

mrsp1987

What do you mean by "the network supplier is Scottish Power"?

As to changing from PPM to credit meters some companies will charge you and some will do it for free if you pass their credit check. I know British Gas will change them for free subject to passing the credit check and I think another company will (can't remember which one it is though).
Once you've switched to a credit meter you can then compare and find the cheapest deal for you. If you change to British Gas in order to get free installation make sure that any tariff you sign up to has no exit fees seeing as you won't want to be tied in for a long time.

As mentioned above once the GCH is installed you'll want to ensure you're no longer in an E7 tariff.

footyguy

mrsp1987 wrote: »

...
As mentioned above once the GCH is installed you'll want to ensure you're no longer in an E7 tariff.

Not necessarily true, unless the OP doesn't mnd payimg more than they may need to.

We've had GCH since the house was built, and E7 too, and we've never lost out because of this.

I would advsie the OP that come the appropriate time, they consult a comparison site with their revised anticipated annual usage figures to see what works out best for them.

If the OP is planning on staying with Eon, then they are one of the few suppliers that will supply a single rate tariff despite having an E7 meter installed.

Former_E.ON_Company_Representative:_Malc

redrose59 wrote: »

We will be moving into a property at the beginning of May. At the moment there is a pre paid meter in situ. The house has storage heaters. The supplier is EON and the network operator is SSE.

We want the meter changed to a standard one. We are also going to have gas central heating installed ( at present there is no gas supply in the property).

Has anyone got experience of this process, how easy is it to get the two companies to co-ordinate and ensure a smooth change? I believe that they both need to be involved in the process as they each "own" a different area of the supply. We will be having lots of work done at the property and do not wish to be without a supply as this will hold up the tradesmen.
Many thanks.

Morning redrose59

As sacsquacco says, as the supplier, we'll deal with this for you. We'll change the prepayment meters to credit free of charge provided you pass an external credit check and there's no debt involved. As you're not taking over until May, the debt situation shouldn't apply.

Make sure you let us know all the details when you take over responsibility. We'll send a device to set up the meter for your use and make sure any debt that may have been left by the previous occupant is cleared. You can either phone our specialist prepayment home moves team or use the form on our website.

Once you have a live account, we'll be happy to see about changing the meter. If you've a two rate Economy 7 meter, often used with storage heaters, you can either have a similar type or go for a single rate meter. It depends on how much electricity you anticipate you'll use during the cheaper off peak periods at night. Going to gas will probably mean using less than now. Alternatively, you can have a single rate meter.

As footyguy says, with us, it doesn't make a difference if you've a two rate Economy 7 meter but want a single rate tariff, we just add the day and night usage together and charge at the one rate. I don't believe all suppliers do this, though, so having a single rate meter will be better for changing supplier.

Hope this helps redrose59. Let me know if you need any more information as happy to help.

Malc

matelodave

If you do decide to go for a single rate then get the meter changed and registered as a single rate meter.

Although some suppliers will add the day & night readings together most don't, and it will become a pain if you wish to swap suppliers in the future as the meter will be registered as a two-rate meter.

We had to do it in two bites several years ago from E7 pre-pay to E7 credit and then E7 credit to single rate credit. The swap to single rate was a simple software change on the meter but the supplier insisted that it had to be done with a second visit.

Since then it's been easy to swap suppliers

redrose59

Many thanks for all your replies. We're hopefully getting our heads around this issue now. It's no wonder so many folk are reluctant to swap suppliers.
I have also noticed that the EON credit check leaves a hard footprint on your credit score, not that we have anything to worry about there thank goodness.
We have made arrangements to get a gas supply to the property. Once everything is settled we will be able to compare tariffs and then make sure we are on the best deal.

Former_E.ON_Company_Representative:_Malc

Glad the information was useful redrose59. You know where I am if you need any help.

Malc