What on Earth is an "Exotic Meter"

ewandougie

So I have moved into this apartment. It turned out that the previous Tennent did a runner (i.e just packed up and left without any contact with the Agent) and left all their bills, accounts open.

Since I would have been on the awful standard tariff I wanted to switch to a price frozen, found a supplier and things appeared to be okay, however the old supplier objected so it didn't happen.

The supplier I tried wouldn't tell me the name of the old supplier so I had to get it from Northern Powergrid and it turned out to be SSE.

Called SSE to tell them I am a new tenant and I want the account set up so I can go and switch and they told me it was an "exotic meter" and they have to call me back since there is some special thing they have to do with them (still haven't actually got back to me yet)

What on earth are they talking about? how is a meter in anyway exotic?

[Deleted User]

I think the call centre means that you have a "restricted " or "complex "meter..One that only maybe one or two suppliers can handle .EDF have a meter which only they can make use of and Eon and SSE/Npower also have forms of metering only those suppliers can use

ewandougie

So I have no right to switch around then?

Hasbeen

ewandougie wrote: »

So I have moved into this apartment. It turned out that the previous Tennent did a runner (i.e just packed up and left without any contact with the Agent) and left all their bills, accounts open.

Since I would have been on the awful standard tariff I wanted to switch to a price frozen, found a supplier and things appeared to be okay, however the old supplier objected so it didn't happen.

The supplier I tried wouldn't tell me the name of the old supplier so I had to get it from Northern Powergrid and it turned out to be SSE.

Called SSE to tell them I am a new tenant and I want the account set up so I can go and switch and they told me it was an "exotic meter" and they have to call me back since there is some special thing they have to do with them (still haven't actually got back to me yet)

What on earth are they talking about? how is a meter in anyway exotic?

Did you give your deemed contract supplier your readings when you moved into your flat.

If not you will be paying the previous tenants bills so you will be in arrears preventing a switch.

Hasbeen

Might be better contact here:
SSE Hi

We do have other tariffs that are available to you, although these aren't displayed on the website.

If you can please complete some details we can contact you to discuss this: https://www.sse.co.uk/forms/social-media-form#q1

[Deleted User]

ewandougie wrote: »

So I have no right to switch around then?

only to the one or two suppliers and they will be top price also
. My friend up in North of Scotland has a restricted meter which virtually only SSE can handle and he s paying through the nose.
He would have to pay a charge to either the supplier or an electrician to convert his metering set up to a standard Eco 7 meter where there are many suppliers in competition enough to get some of the cheapest rates in the UK.
Any attempt to switch would end in failure a few weeks later and would be a waste of time trying.

Hasbeen

From a previous post compliments of Wolf3


What you have described and the tariff description you have given will most likely be dual MPAN meter, ie a seperate supply number for each part of the meter, a single rate meter for your normal electric usage and an off peak meter for your heating and hot water, which only charges at certain hours of the day.

So whilst you have 2 readings, you do not have a standard E7 meter to be able to switch to these alternative tariffs. The term "exotic" will be SSE and possibly other suppliers way of describing your meter setup.

It will be difficult, if at all possible to switch to other suppliers as well with this meter setup. If you did want to broaden your options you could inquire with SSE to change your meter to an E7, however this might be at cost, I've no idea if SSE charge for this exchange and will most likely mean the time your heating charges for will be reduced. AFAIK most off peak meters run for between 10 and 15 hours, this you should be able to check with SSE aswell.

ewandougie

Yes I did. The LA gave me them and I checked them myself

How is this even legal ???

molerat

ewandougie wrote: »

How is this even legal ???

You may be able to switch to one of the major suppliers but a) you will be on a single rate tariff which is not economical for electric heating and b) you will have to contact each one by telephone and ask for their specialist metering department to quote you on a tariff. Getting an E7 meter installed is likely your best bet.