Prepayment meters

pjharris84

Hi,

Can someone help me understand something.

I am taking over the rent on a new build house, it has a standard credit meter at the moment but I know I will not sufficiently pass a credit check with a supplier to get a credit account without hefty security deposits which I cannot afford.

My question is, at the point I take over the rent can I sign up (say with british gas) and ask for a prepayment meter to be installed as a new customer?

Thank you.

MWT

pjharris84 said:

Hi,

Can someone help me understand something.

I am taking over the rent on a new build house, it has a standard credit meter at the moment but I know I will not sufficiently pass a credit check with a supplier to get a credit account without hefty security deposits which I cannot afford.

My question is, at the point I take over the rent can I sign up (say with british gas) and ask for a prepayment meter to be installed as a new customer?

Thank you.

Firstly, your new house will already have a supplier so you must sign up with them before trying to move anywhere else (if you want to...).

Secondly, if it is a new build the meter will be a smart meter and that does not need to be replaced as it can be switched to Pre-pay mode remotely.

Lastly, not all suppliers do credit checks, so unless you really want a pre-pay meter wait and see what they say...

Thriftmaster1973

Can't see problem with getting a prepay meter as these are often given to people with "financial problems".

I have prepayment gas and electric meters myself - smart ones, I don't have any financial problems but I prefer pre pay as I know where I'm at - even if they do cost slightly more.

pjharris84

MWT said:

pjharris84 said:

Hi,

Can someone help me understand something.

I am taking over the rent on a new build house, it has a standard credit meter at the moment but I know I will not sufficiently pass a credit check with a supplier to get a credit account without hefty security deposits which I cannot afford.

My question is, at the point I take over the rent can I sign up (say with british gas) and ask for a prepayment meter to be installed as a new customer?

Thank you.

Firstly, your new house will already have a supplier so you must sign up with them before trying to move anywhere else (if you want to...).

Secondly, if it is a new build the meter will be a smart meter and that does not need to be replaced as it can be switched to Pre-pay mode remotely.

Lastly, not all suppliers do credit checks, so unless you really want a pre-pay meter wait and see what they say...

Thank you so much for your really swift reply!  This is making me feel better already.  The current supplier is british gas, so I'd have to sign up with british gas, and they will credit check me as part of that process though won't they?

Right, so if it's a smart meter installed, they can switch it automatically to a prepayment meter, that's good to know as well.

pjharris84

Thriftmaster1973 said:

Can't see problem with getting a prepay meter as these are often given to people with "financial problems".

I have prepayment gas and electric meters myself - smart ones, I don't have any financial problems but I prefer pre pay as I know where I'm at - even if they do cost slightly more.

This is actually why I want one, so I can't get into debt and I know exactly what I am using and I can control my budget better.