Credit Meters - Asking for a relative

Raxiel

Got talking to a relative over the weekend, they bought a house last year with pre-payment meters. The previous owners had lots of debts (which shouldn't be relevant AFAIK, but the pre-pay meters were installed because of some of them), and while my relative didn't have a bad credit rating themselves, they didn't have a great one either due to never having had credit cards or finance (other than student loans). The mortgage was the first time they'd borrowed.

There was a deemed contract from British Gas, who refused to give them credit meters, so they've been feeding the meter ever since. It took the best part of the year before they actually moved in because so much work needed doing on the property, so usage was low, but now they do live there its starting to bite.

I've been trying to encourage him to sort the meters out, but he thinks it will be a big hassle.

Not having much experience with pre-pay myself I don't want to set him on a difficult route

Should he ask BG to fit credit meters, then switch to a cheaper supplier, or should he switch and ask the new supplier to fit them. Will smaller companies replace meters in this situation?

Do energy companies have any obligation to fit credit meters for customers who've given no indication they'll run up big bills and then default?
Thanks

GingerBob_3

Raxiel wrote: »

Got talking to a relative over the weekend, they bought a house last year with pre-payment meters. The previous owners had lots of debts (which shouldn't be relevant AFAIK, but the pre-pay meters were installed because of some of them), and while my relative didn't have a bad credit rating themselves, they didn't have a great one either due to never having had credit cards or finance (other than student loans). The mortgage was the first time they'd borrowed.

There was a deemed contract from British Gas, who refused to give them credit meters, so they've been feeding the meter ever since. It took the best part of the year before they actually moved in because so much work needed doing on the property, so usage was low, but now they do live there its starting to bite.

I've been trying to encourage him to sort the meters out, but he thinks it will be a big hassle.

Not having much experience with pre-pay myself I don't want to set him on a difficult route

Should he ask BG to fit credit meters, then switch to a cheaper supplier, or should he switch and ask the new supplier to fit them. Will smaller companies replace meters in this situation?

Do energy companies have any obligation to fit credit meters for customers who've given no indication they'll run up big bills and then default?
Thanks

Switch straight away to EDF then ask them to replace the meters. I think it's free and there are no credit check issues with EDF. Also, a big bonus is that they don't report accounts to the CRAs.