Changing gas/electric supplier when moving to new rental.

seashore22

This is the situation:

Daughter moved from one rental to another with one month overlap.
Old property was with British Gas.
She used a concierge service to change her gas and electric to Octopus for the new address.
Octopus contacted her after she moved in to say that previous supplier for the new address was blocking the change.
Contacted new landlord and old supplier to the new address is Pure Planet.
Landlord was supposed to be doing something about it, but nothing so far.
Sorry lots of new/olds there.

Should my daughter be doing anything different?  Pure Planet are very, very difficult to get hold of.  Stupidly I thought changing utilities was a simple process, but It's not something we do as much as we should.  Any help would be appreciated.

MWT

seashore22 said:

Should my daughter be doing anything different? 

... using a service that actually knows what they are doing springs to mind...

... or preferably not using a service at all as it is easy if you do it right.

She should have been registered with the existing supplier at the new address first, then once that was set up she can then switch elsewhere.

If you try to switch without first registering with the existing provider the switch will usually get blocked.

So is she now properly registered with 'Pure Planet' or is that where you are stuck now? ... and what is this 'concierge service' doing to put things rigt for her as presumably they have been paid for their 'service..' ?

This is not something for the Landlord to be sorting out either, if the bills are to be in her name then she needs to sort it.

Talldave

Hopefully daughter didn't offload the task of reading and photographing all meters to someone else?

frugalmacdugal

Hi,

when you move into a new address you are deemed to be a customer of the existing supplier at that address.

You then need to contact that supplier with opening meter readings.

Once signed up, you can then initiate a switch to your chosen supplier.

seashore22

Concierge service not paid for.  It came as part of checks and contract signing, which was obviously free to her.  They were useless though in more than just this issue.

Meter reading was done by her on the day she moved in.  Not that daft.

The landlord lived in the property prior to my daughter moving in and is a personal friend.  That is why she was contacting them.  Obviously she wouldn't normally be doing that.

Anyway thanks for the advice and she will now register with PP.  They are so difficult to communicate with, so she will definitely be changing to a more available company. 

Robin9

Once she untangles this mess - a lesson for the future - NEVER, NEVER let any concierge, caretaker, landlord, estate agent, best mate - get involved in any aspect of changing suppliers or reading meters.

Did she read the meters at the old rental ? Has she had her final bill ?

matelodave

As Robin says, this is something you have to do yourself. and not delegate to someone else (unless it's your Dad or Mum who you can trust implicitly)

Read the meter(s) at your old place when you cease to be a tenant/owner (*not necessarily the day your move out) and inform your supplier to formally close the account (take photo's if possible). Then read the meter(s) on the day that you become responsible for the new place (*again not necessarily the day you move in) - take photo's if possible and immediately set up an account with the existing supplier at the new address (you automatically become their customer when you move in and don't want to end up pay the previous tenant's outstanding arrears).
Once you've done that you are free to start the process of swapping suppliers. Doing anything else will just cause problems for you in the future.

*Note: if there's an overlap when you are still paying for both premises then you are still responsible for the energy and water rates until your tenancy contract ends or starts so make sure your readings are those on the first or last day of your contract.

Get into the habit of sending in readings once a month, checking bills once a month (even if you've got a smart meter) and make sure that the readings and bills are accurate - then most important, download a copy (PDF will do) and save them. The most important bills to save are the ones from your old supplier especially the final one together with proof that you've paid it. I

IMO it's worthwhile saving copies of your bills and readings for several years (just look at the grief that some people experience if a company decided to chase for outstanding bills and you haven't got your own records) 

frugalmacdugal

Hi,

excellent advice matelodave, clear and concise, should be stuck at the top of the board.

Keep a copy of it, no doubt it will be needed again.