How best to switch from prepayment electricity meter to credit meter

reheat

Trying to help my son who moved into a rental property a few months ago, which is electric only, Economy 7 and has night storage heaters. The landlord is OK for the meter to be changed.

The meter is a ACE9000 KBD, which I've checked and is a dedicated prepayment meter. The provider is Spark Energy and the plan is Move in Saver v9.  The meter is always in credit and there should be no problem with credit references.

The problem seems to be that other providers, even the big 6, are not interested in taking my son on as a credit customer unless the meter has been changed first. And Spark Energy will only change the meter for a hefty charge (not sure what that is though at the moment). So my son seems to be caught in a catch-22.

Any advice on how best to sort this please?

macman

So, if you don't know what it is, how do you know it's hefty? A single meter change used to be around £60, which is already heavily subsidised. 
Has he researched cheaper PPM tariffs?

reheat

macman said:

So, if you don't know what it is, how do you know it's hefty? A single meter change used to be around £60, which is already heavily subsidised. 
Has he researched cheaper PPM tariffs?

He cannot move to a PPM tariff on the current meter, because it is a dedicated prepayment meter. But I'll try to find out what the charge for changing the meter is. The definition of "hefty" is subjective, and dependent on circumstances.

macman

You can switch to another supplier on a PPM, why do you think you cannot, unless there is substantial debt on the meter, which you say is not the case?
I'm not asking for a definition of hefty, just to know what sum has been quoted. If the cost is £x, and the annual saving is £x+, then it's worth paying to switch it.

reheat

macman said:

You can switch to another supplier on a PPM, why do you think you cannot, unless there is substantial debt on the meter, which you say is not the case?
I'm not asking for a definition of hefty, just to know what sum has been quoted. If the cost is £x, and the annual saving is £x+, then it's worth paying to switch it.

My son says that when he has rung other companies and wanting to go onto PPM they say they are not interested whilst he has a prepayment meter. Will have to try and understand better I think. And yes the equation is straightforward as you say.

macman

That's because PPM's are unprofitable. But there's no physical restriction on switching with a PPM, check online.

t0rt0ise

He needs to change supplier with the prepayment meter and then ask to change to a credit meter. I used EDF, they did mine but I didn't tell them I wanted to change meters until I was with them.

reheat

macman said:

That's because PPM's are unprofitable. But there's no physical restriction on switching with a PPM, check online.

Confess I'm confused. The physical restriction surely is that a different meter is required. Sorry if I'm being dense.

t0rt0ise

You do seem confused. PPM is a prepayment meter, so changing to another company, they use the same meter.

reheat

t0rt0ise said:

You do seem confused. PPM is a prepayment meter, so changing to another company, they use the same meter.

Oh! I was assuming it meant Pay Per Month, as in direct debit  . OK, I'll reread.

reheat

macman said:

Has he researched cheaper PPM tariffs?

Now I've been set straight on what PPM means, the tariff he is on is not bad. But the PPM payment model is a real pain when you don't need to be on it. He wants to be on a normal tariff, without having to keep topping up a card.

t0rt0ise said:

He needs to change supplier with the prepayment meter and then ask to change to a credit meter. I used EDF, they did mine but I didn't tell them I wanted to change meters until I was with them.

That sounds like a good suggestion.