British Gas discriminating against me because of previous owner

rtho782

Yup, credit score is an irrelevant number, British Gas don't even know what it is.

OP seems to think the credit score matters, as he is asking "what score he would need to get a meter", when it does not matter.

Experian may decide to start the score at 999 and only reduce it when there are negative factors, meaning people with no credit history have a good score. British Gas may take the opposite view. Who knows. Two people can look at the same thing, and one person like it, the other dislike it.

Switch suppliers, then move to a credit meter.

paul1964_2

rtho782 wrote: »

OP seems to think the credit score matters, as he is asking "what score he would need to get a meter", when it does not matter.

Please excuse my ignorance regarding credit scores - this is the first time I have had to look into anything like this.

My main issue is that the ONLY reason that I am not given credit by British Gas is that there are existing prepayment meters at the property - if there was a credit meter in situ, I would not have this problem.

Incidentally, I was supplied by BG at my previous 2 properties - i.e. for the past 6 years. During this period, I had credit meters and paid by monthly direct debit with no problems.

When I purchased the new property, I phoned BG to ensure that I would have gas/elec from day one and asked whether I would be able to move to credit meters. I was told that this would be ok subject to a credit check. I see no reason why I was eligible for credit with BG prior to moving, but am not currently. I have no outstanding mortgage and pay off the rest of my bills (inc. credit card) in full by DD. There appears to be nothing in my credit report that should cause a problem.

Obviously, BG can do whatever they feel like and I have no choice but to move suppliers, but it is still annoying that my current supplier is not willing to offer its best rates to me purely because the previous owner was in financial difficulty and had to move to prepayment meters.

[Deleted User]

Ok, if BG dont want a good credit worthy customer then its time to move on to EDF as a first choice to get the switches underway. They changed my mums prepays free after a few weeks switching to them.It is a strange policy by BG and others that any old serial debtor can happily move into a property and help themselves to free energy for the couple of years it takes suppliers to get serious and get court orders and warrants of entry to force fit a prepay.The last tenant could well have been in that position. I know one woman who moved two doors down in order to keep helping herself to free energy, from EDF to Scot Power. Suppliers are quite stupid in this respect.
If BG are guilty of deliberately keeping you on a higher tariff , potentially 33% and more higher than a credit meter fixed tariff then its a serious complaint of profiteering or sharp practice, maybe good enough for an ombudsman complaint. That actually may scare BG into action if you say you will escalate this higher.
The fact that you were with BG on credit meters for previous 6 years with no problems is worthy of escalating this complaint.

stator

British Gas are useless with new customers! Just switch to a new provider who will then allow you to switch to a credit meter for free.

British Gas run a credit check on you, but their credit system always gives you a lower score because you've just moved house. Most of the time they don't trace your previous address properly so you end up with a really low credit score. (Ignore your experian credit score, it's not what british gas use).

About ten years ago I moved into a house and phoned up British Gas to set up an account on the existing credit meter. They refused and wanted to install a PPM. I refused and switched to npower who were more than happy to have me as a customer.

I've just moved into a new house with a credit meter. Phoned up BG to setup an account until I switch. They ran their useless credit search and passed me through to a ridiculous woman who asked me all sorts of intrusive questions about my finances. They clearly thought I was poor and struggling with my bills because their credit scoring system is so stupid. Santander didn't have a problem lending me over £100k for the house but British Gas get all worried about £100 worth of gas. Eventually she agreed to allow me to use a credit meter but I will be switching to another provider ASAP.

British Gas are useless. I could also tell you about another experience with them where they couldn't set up an account because of their incompetence reading meter numbers, but I shant bother.

paul1964_2

sacsquacco wrote: »

Ok, if BG dont want a good credit worthy customer then its time to move on to EDF as a first choice to get the switches underway.

That's exactly what I will do! Just going to run down the credit on the meters for a few days to make things simpler. The EDF "blue" tariff seems pretty good, so I may well stay with them if they sort out the meter change efficiently.

undaunted

Unfortunately no one - including the Energy Ombudsman - can oblige British Gas to offer you / anyone credit.


You could look at whether Ebico offers a competitive quote in your area - they operate a flat rate system regardless of payment method.


Alternatively you need to find a supplier who is both more competitive and willing to offer you credit meters. Ringing around them is the only way I can see of you knowing whether a supplier is likely to do so I'm afraid.