Rental property- Electricity on Key payment system

pinklady21

Hello
About to rent a property, where the previous tenant has the electricity on a key payment system.
The landlord did not know this, and has topped up with £20 (which immediately registered as £18). L/L suggested that I contact SSE to get the electricity transferred to me and put on a better payment arrangement.

I have no previous experience of key payments, and am asking the MSE Hive Mind what I might need to know about them please.

I would rather be on the lowest available tariff, and I suspect a key meter is more expensive.
I also suspect that the previous tenant may have been in financial difficulty, so may be in debt to SSE, hence the 10% reduction in credit. I am not prepared to get involved with paying that for obvious reasons!

How do I get the elec transferred over, is it a simple phone call to SSE, or is it more complicated than that?
I could not see any way of reading the meter, it simply read the amount of cash left available.
Thanks all!

Carrot007

SSE will need to come out and reset the meter and remove the old debt.


The old key should not have been topped up as it is linked to the old account. You should get the debt repayment back but by topping up and using the old key you have made life hard (you got involved already sorry!). (A new tennant with a key meter would have been an urgent visit I believe, but not sure which timeband).


There will be a button to scroll though displays. It will work differnetly with the key in or out.

allypally26

Once the account is in your name ask your LL if you can get the meters changed to a credit meter.

Some providers do this for free, some charge and some do credit checks. Switch to the provider who does it for free and then you can switch to the cheapest provider.

pinklady21

Thanks for that - sounds like I am right to be worried about this!
I have not taken up the tenancy yet, it was the landlord who topped up the meter.

I am best phoning SSE myself, or should I insist that the L/L does it?

My Tenancy agreement is clear about it being my responsibility if I have changed it over to a prepayment meter and that I would have to change it back. relevant paragraph copied and pasted below:

However, I am not sure what the previous tenant had to do.
Thanks all

18. UTILITIES
The Tenant undertakes to ensure that the accounts for the supply to the let property
of [gas/electricity/telephone/internet/TV license/broadband/internet] are entered in his or her name with the relevant supplier. The Tenant agrees to pay promptly all sums that become due for these supplies relative to the period of the tenancy.
The Tenant agrees to make the necessary arrangements with the suppliers to settle all accounts for these services at the end of the tenancy. If there are any sums outstanding at the end of the tenancy incurred by the Tenant, the Landlord can apply for these costs to be deducted from any deposit paid by the Tenant.
The Tenant has the right to change supplier if he or she pays the energy supplier directly for gas or electricity. This includes if the Tenant has a prepayment meter.
If the Tenant allows the meter to be changed from or to a pre-payment meter during the tenancy, the Tenant is responsible for the cost of changing the meter back over at the end of the tenancy.

HWG

Without wishing to be unduly discouraging, I've lived in a flat with pre-payment meters, and I'd never consider it again.

Ours was breathtakingly expensive - in the winter we'd easily burn through £10 per day in our two-bed flat - and we were being as frugal as possible with the heating and electricity, with ice on the inside of the windows every morning.
It was also erratic - with random sums going missing quite often, and phantom charges when the flat was empty.

It sounds like it was the previous tennant's duty to pay for removal of the meter, although I suspect it'll be difficult to do this, as you'll have to convince your landlord to enforce it.

I'd definitely try and insist the landlord do it - you should be able to hold them to the terms of your contract, which state that the pre-payment meter should have been removed prior to you moving in (assuming the previous tennant's contract said that too, of course).

Robin9

pinklady21 wrote: »

I am best phoning SSE myself, or should I insist that the L/L does it?


.......................
18. UTILITIES
The Tenant undertakes to ensure that the accounts for the supply to the let property
of [gas/electricity/telephone/internet/TV license/broadband/internet] are entered in his or her name with the relevant supplier. The Tenant agrees to pay promptly all sums that become due for these supplies relative to the period of the tenancy..

You've answered your own question ... it's down to you

pinklady21

No - it is not down to me at the moment, as I am not the tenant!
I will contact the landlord and see what they say.
Interestingly, SSE said that the payment rates for pre-payment meters are actually very similar now, if not slightly cheaper than the usual tariffs.

I had also assumed it would be more expensive to pre-pay.
Thanks all!

HampshireH

If the LL didnt know it had been installed its a little harsh to ask you reinstate one at the end if they are giving permission to change it.

Most utilities will charge for that as its an unnecessary inconvenience for them

allypally26

Although they may be similar there are less companies that offer them.

Also and annoyingly you are always checking your credit or you energy runs out whilst in the shower after putting shampoo in your hair. How close is the nearest shop to top up?

With prepayment you can’t spread your costs over the year eg in the summer you over pay and in the winter you under pay which helps with budgeting.

Try and get the LL to change them back if no joy get a supplier who will. I think there is a page on the main site that lists the requirements for each provider.

ripplyuk

allypally26 wrote: »

Also and annoyingly you are always checking your credit or you energy runs out whilst in the shower after putting shampoo in your hair. How close is the nearest shop to top up? .

Only if you’re topping up by very tiny amounts! I add enough to last 3-4mths. It only takes a couple of minutes to top up online.

The pre-payment rates can be cheaper than bill pay. Mine is.

allypally26

Depends on the key I didn’t have the option to top up online.

Also I didn’t put tiny amounts on but also not 3/4 months worth as I was getting the meters changed. As it happened the engineer had forgotten to note down the remaining credit so I had to get that added to my account.