Switching to credit meter

Denno666

We've just brought our first house which is on a pre-payment meter with British Gas. We want to move to a credit meter and change to a different supplier. I've been told that to switch supplier we'd have to be on a credit meter already so we're not sure whether we should just switch to a pre-payment rate with another supplier and then change to a credit meter with them?

[Deleted User]

Hi,


woah, you've just moved in, no panic, for the sake of a month or two it's not going to make a big difference to bills, especially as you're probably not using heating just now.



Take your time and research, you say BG, is that for gas and electricity, what heating do you have?

Smodlet

Be aware few suppliers will swap out a meter for free these days. I believe npower do but don't take my word for it. I would do as the *wonderful Frugalmacdugal suggests and do some research first. If you find a supplier who does this for free and has tariff(s) you like, I suggest you switch to them first then ask them to change your meter(s)

Congrats on your move and good luck in your new home.

* Thank you again for your patience with my haplessness that time, Frugal; most would have taken the pee but you did not. :A

Denno666

Thank you for your replies, and yes, its for both gas and electricity. We have gas central heating and admittedly are a bit confused by it all! There's so many things to try and get our heads around ����

Smodlet

Denno666 wrote: »

Thank you for your replies, and yes, its for both gas and electricity. We have gas central heating and admittedly are a bit confused by it all! There's so many things to try and get our heads around ����

You are in a good place if you are here, Denno666. There are some great people on this forum.

[Deleted User]

All meter exchanges from prepay to credit were changed by OFGEM in 2014 to be free of charge but suppliers can protect themselves from bad credit risks by imposing a bond repayable after a certain time.
Scottish Power were the worst, they would charge over £200 per meter, £400 for the pair to move from prepay to credit meters. . This fact alone stopped the majority of customers from switching meters so they stayed stuck on expensive prepays so sensibly OFGEM outlawed this restrictive practice
Suppliers will do a credit check on customers and will refuse if they don`t reach their criteria .Some suppliers like EDF and Spark Energy are supposed to be more lenient than the others.
No problem in switching suppliers with prepayment meters.

Smodlet

Just found this

HTH.

macman

It's hardly unreasonable to credit check before issuing a credit meter, since the customer then has potentially unlimited credit.

Skools_Out

Denno666 wrote: »

We've just brought our first house which is on a pre-payment meter with British Gas. We want to move to a credit meter and change to a different supplier. I've been told that to switch supplier we'd have to be on a credit meter already so we're not sure whether we should just switch to a pre-payment rate with another supplier and then change to a credit meter with them?

You can't do both at the same time. It's up to you which order you do things.

Either stay with BG and ask them to fit you credit meters. Once fitted, you can switch to another supplier.

Or

Switch to another supplier onto their PPM tariff, and once switched, ask the new supplier for credit meters

dogshome

Yes, you have the right to have the meters changed, but the suppliers have the right to refuse if a credit check isn't 5*****


BG are very pernickity, some others less so - Try EDF by phoning them to discuss a Switch, making it clear that you want the meters changed and keep a note of the conversation.
The Switch itself will take a few weeks and EDF will need chasing up for the meter change

Skools_Out

Worth remembering that almost all suppliers that offer you credit will credit check you first, even if you already have credit meters fitted.
(and perhaps ones that don't are best avoided)

So unless you have good credit, perhaps best not to ask for credit as refusal (or in less serious cases, a request for a hefty security deposit) often offends.

I'm sure none of this will affect the OP, but I add this simply for the benefit of any lurkers who may find it useful