prepay gas meter has debt from previous owner

ForzaFifer

Hi,

i just bought a flat a few weeks ago, i found out who the energy providers were and had them put in my name while i decided who to switch to, that was easy enough. But its been hard work since then.

it turns out that the previous owner left about £50 of debt on the gas prepay meter, so i cant change to a credit meter meter until that is cleared. i need to find the exact amount of the debt, phone up British Gas for them to give me a code, which i then provide to the shop when i go to get a card, so i can finally get some gas.

is that how this is done? is there no way for them to just clear the debt so i can start using it, its not my debt after all. And apparently if they ran a credit check right now it would show up as my debt....

I tried to switch to EDF but they wouldnt let me until British Gas changed my meter, and also my gas meter is registered to the wrong address so they wouldnt let me switch until that is resolved too...

Has anyone else been in this situation?

AndyCF

What type of meter is it ? Card / token or Smart ?

If its a card meter you can get it to the screen with the amount of credit on then hold one button down on that screen for about 5-10 seconds until it bleeps then use the same button to look at each screen in turn. Generally speaking S27 is the total "long term debt" screen, this would in theory drop a bit weekly depending on the repayment rate. S25 and S26 are the min/max "how much I can eat for debts" per week, usually these are the same number though.

There will be a total debt shown on that if it was set to a weekly payment. This is not to be confused by just pressing the button quickly (not holding it down) and it going through three readings only:

> Meter Reading > Credit/Debt > Owing

The latter is not a long term debt/repayment thing all that one is is what is due now if the E.Credit has been used and/or if its not been fed enough to topup the longer term debt.

Need to see a pic of the meter type ideally, unless you can find the instructions via Google etc, but what i have posted above does tend to apply to the most common type of "gas prepayment card" meter's I've seen.

The biggest source of confusion is by pressing hte button a few times it only cycles though those three screens I indicated just above, and the Owing here is *not* what is due longer term repayment only what is due right now as in E.Credit repayment etc.

Can sometimes be annoying to get it to go to the other set of screens, but you should be able to do it, only tends to work on the owing or credit screen not on the meter reading screen. You do *not* need the card for this, I can view all mine without, only need to use the card to activate E.Credit at least I do.

D_M_E

The debt is nothing to do with you, it's the responsibility of the previous occupier.

Get on to the supplier and tell them you are new occupier and you want your own account and a new key or card or however the meter is charged in order to pay for your own energy use, not someone else's.

If whoeveritis don't comply and start moaning, tell them you want a complaint opened and you will take it to the ombudsman.

Also put your complaint in writing and send a letter - it's not right they expect you to pay someone else's debt.

Talldave

You need a new card that isn't configured to reclaim a debt. When you get the card I believe you pair it to the meter first before going to top it up.

AndyCF

Yes I should of said the obvious, the debt is not yours to pay! But I can see possibly why the supplier wants to know how much it is, mind you if the meter is accessible for them (outside?) they should send someone around to read it, its up to them to chase down the previous owner/occupier for those monies.

Correct with the new card, you -must- place it in the meter for a short period before going to the shop with it, this is to initially initialise it to that meter. Do not place other cards in your meter or your card in another meter (this will cause much problems)

Generally instructions for new cards tend to say something like "leave it for 30 seconds or until it bleeps" , I tend to (and have done for others, without issues) just leave it in for at least -two- minutes, then take it out and to the shop. I'd not recommend leaving it in for hours though ( ! ) as it will run the battery down.

Would suggest upon visiting said shop to only put a little bit on it then feed the meter, to see what you have. Finally if you feel inclined go through those screens mentioned (S25 and S26 are important!) to make sure it is not going to carry on eating previous client's debt.

Might sound stupid but if the debt was not wiped, then if you paid £2 and it ate 1.80 for it, you'd be annoyed but not angry, where as if you put £10 on it and it ate £9 of it, you would be. This is highly unlikely however I *have* had similar happen with B.G where they did not change the GD (S25/S26) ,required another shop visit as that's the only comms the meter has with them aka via the card. It carries 'message data' each time you get it swiped in the shop then than info is transferred to the meter, same the other way aka readings can go back to the supplier that way too.

ForzaFifer

Thanks all.

Its a card operated reader.

Apparently i need to to press button A to show how much debt is on the machine, then phone British Gas and tell them how much debt there is, they will give me a code, which i then have to take to the shop that supplies card readers, tell the shop owner the code, and the shop owner will give me a card that will somehow wipe the debt.

Thats what British Gas have told me anyway. It just seems ridiculous that im having to do all this

[Deleted User]

Don t forget OP you became responsible for the approx £2 a week standing charges on both the prepayment meters the second you became owner of the flat, Not when you moved in, so possibly a chunk of that £50 is yours to pay.
Its possible to purchase a property and not actually live in it for months, or even years .
As AndyCF has said, the true "debt " and the weekly repayment s are on screens 26/27 of the gas meter.hold down the red button till it beeps to see these screens.
The first screen after waking the meter up will show credit and debit. If the occupants have not been crediting the meter then it will show the standing charges building up as a debit.This is not a debt.
Prepay electric meter needs the key inserted to see the debt and weekly repay screens on screens S and T. Same thing applies for the first screen which will show a debit if weekly standing charges are not paid.
Landlords are responsible for the weekly standing charges in between tenants if the place is empty.

ForzaFifer

when I got home from work today I got access to the meter reader and got in touch with British Gas who walked me through it all.

I pressed button A twice to show a screen that said owed £48.40 - screen 27 said GD £0.00

Anyway, they are sending out an engineer tomorrow to reset the machine, I can then add some credit to keep me going until I get the credit meter installed.

BG had never sent me out a card so they had to generate a code for me to take to the shop and pick up a card.