My first Gas/Electricity Meter, advice before I move in...

Andaah

Hey all,

I'm a student moving into a new student flat in Wales with 2 other people.

Our electricity works on a meter system. I would like any advice people have on the dangers of these or whether they are bad news and a rip off.

I'll give some more info on my situation; there are 3 of us living on the house. We will try and save where we can but a lot of the time we will be using computers and the like for uni work. Added to this, the flat is quite lacking in natural light so we may have to have lamps and other things on.

I can't tell you the provider at the moment but I have a few more questions:

- Are these sorts of systems better or worse than paying bills?
- Is it possible to change provider for a better deal?

Any general advice would be greatly appreciated by an unexperienced student (at least I have this site to guide me! :T ). Thanks in advance.

- Andy

wowsavings

Hello

As a general rule, you will pay more with a prepayment meter. Generally the best deals are to be had with a credit meter paying by Direct Debit.

You would struggle to change to a cheaper supplier and ask them to change the meter. My advise would be to contact your current supplier and ask them to change the meter to a credit meter. After this has been done, you can then look at changing supplier to a cheaper tariff.

Good luck with it all.

Andaah

Thanks very much!

How easy would it be to change the system? Also, would the landlord have any say in this? Does he benefit in any way from having a meter?

Also, the setup for heating is a storage heater and it can take in electricity overnight when it is cheaper. Does this work?

:T

rjm2k1

Personally, although it costs a little more there's no issue with your mates !!!!!!ing off leaving you with a huge bill to pay or a CCJ for not paying. Make sure you ALL buy the same number of cards to fill the thing with at the same time.

Andaah

Hehe. That won't happen since I am sleeping with one (not always a guarantee I know) and the other I have lived with for 2 years and no issues

Terrylw1

Hi,

The landland generally has no say as you guys are the customer to the supplier. However, if they have to do any drilling to sort it, it would. It's worth making sure your tenancy agreement has nothing in there about it and just inform your landlord.

One piece of advice I would give you is to all keep a copy of the tenancy agreement with your joint names on it and tell your Supplier to add all your names on the bill. Those on the bill are liable for any debts and it takes a while to sort things like this with tenancy agreements later.

Just be aware that Suppliers expect payment and don't care if one of you can't afford it one month as you are al liable to them and it would be a third party dispute.

Also, take your readings every quarter and get your bill amended each time to get it accurate. Take any readings when ay one of you leaves as you will need to get your bill amended or a new account with your supplier generated.

If you are every unsure, post on this site as you've got a wealth of knowledge on here and it's independant!