British Gas Smart Meter

SevenOfNine

My FiL died recently & we are currently waiting for probate & then finalise the house sale.

I spoke with BG bereavement customer services regarding temporary suspension of the a/c & change of name/address to one of the executors. All done, still using limited power at the property & bills will be settled when sale is finalised.

In general I haven't found the bereavement service at BG particularly helpful, they've already implied that even after the final meter reading on sale of the property, we'd still be responsible for approx 50p per day charge for the Smart equipment until such time as they remove it.

We cannot let them into a house we'd no longer own to take their equipment so can't see how that can work!

Do we have the right to insist it's removed now? They are being very obstructive & unhelpful so I'd rather revert to the old style meter reading method sooner than later, leaving the new owners able to choose their own supplier.

Any advice?

System

SevenOfNine wrote: »

My FiL died recently & we are currently waiting for probate & then finalise the house sale.

I spoke with BG bereavement customer services regarding temporary suspension of the a/c & change of name/address to one of the executors. All done, still using limited power at the property & bills will be settled when sale is finalised.

In general I haven't found the bereavement service at BG particularly helpful, they've already implied that even after the final meter reading on sale of the property, we'd still be responsible for approx 50p per day charge for the Smart equipment until such time as they remove it.

We cannot let them into a house we'd no longer own to take their equipment so can't see how that can work!

Do we have the right to insist it's removed now? They are being very obstructive & unhelpful so I'd rather revert to the old style meter reading method sooner than later, leaving the new owners able to choose their own supplier.

Any advice?

My condolences. Surely, the Executor of the Will has the necessary powers to allow access. That said, why do want to have the meter removed? It might just be the small thing that puts any potential purchaser off buying the property.

As far as liability is concerned, the new owner becomes responsible for all bills from the date of the completion of the sale.

If energy usage is going to be minimal, then surely the Executor also has the right to switch suppliers. Look for a tariff with a low standing charge.

House_Martin

I was in the same situation so yes you are liable for normal standing charges until exchange of contracts(not completion ). Its around 58p dual fuel, a day and very similar to most suppliers give or take 10p to 20 p a day, some suppliers are dearer than BG.
I do remember an Eon rep on here saying that they will not apply standing charges if there is zero use of the meters in vacant properties
Their bereavement dedicated line also works very well as I found out. A plus point for the UKs best run supplier ! .
If you think the exchange of contracts could be a long drawn out affair as any house sale can be then the .
alternative is to do a switch to Ebico zero who do not apply any standing charges, or any other supplier who runs a no standing charge tariff. House sales can easily fall through on the last few days as I found out a couple of times when I was executor.
With BG it was around £15 a month standing charges so if the sale takes 6 months or so its worth doing.
Do not get involved with capping or removing meters .There could be added charges to have an engineer out.

Robin9

Just what equipment are you trying to get BG to remove?

The Smart bit is integral to the meter.

SevenOfNine

Thanks.

Hadn't anticipated a charge to remove the meters! I found BG bereavement line more interested in maintaining the supply to whoever the buyer might be further down the line.

We had some concerns that a family member was quietly planning to move in with FiL if he was released from hospital. Got a home assessment done, hospital bed delivered & started refurbishing one of the spare rooms, mis-using his PoA of the old guys finances, whilst telling NO-ONE else in the family.

Turns out poor old FiL died & scuppered their plan, but we still had worries that they might move in anyway (would have been 1 of the executors).

Spoke with BG about possibility of closing the account altogether if absolutely necessary, but she INSISTED that in spite of husband being the other executor, we would definitely not be able to do that.

After much arguing it turns out we could do that, but then she moved on to say we'd have to continue paying the daily meter charge regardless!

I gave up at that point because it felt like BG's interest only really lay with the potential to snag the buyer as a new customer. But it's left me wondering if we might have a problem when the time comes to close the account if the meters are still there.

Thanks both for advice.

Former_E.ON_Company_Representative:_Malc

House_Martin wrote: »

I do remember an Eon rep on here saying that they will not apply standing charges if there is zero use of the meters in vacant properties

Just to confirm the situation from our end House Martin. In situations where energy hasn't been used, there might be no need to pay a daily standing charge. It depends on the circumstances. The moment energy is used or a contract is accepted either verbally or online, standing charges need to be paid.

Usually, where a customer is on our standard tariff, hasn't formally accepted a contract and has used no electricity or gas, we'll waive the standing charges. Also, with dual fuel accounts, if only one fuel is used but not the other, standing charges for the second unused one will be removed.

As above, this is how we handle such situations. Other companies may well take a different approach. Hope it explains.

Malc