Moving to new build - current supplier being unreasonable

CatLadyJo

Hi.  I need some advice please.
My parents are both disabled and have to move home because their current property can't be adapted for their needs.
They have finally been allocated a new build council home (VERY lucky!) that is able to meet their needs.  The problem is with moving the gas and electric.  They currently have prepayment meters and are with E.  When they called E, they wanted £600 PER METER to install prepayment ones in the new property, when we enquired about DD or pay monthly, they wanted £300 per fuel up front.
No one in the family has got this kind of money, so I don't know what to do!  I tried looking at USwtich, but I can't seem to get any kind of tariff/quote.
Is this common? I don't know what to do or where to turn.
Any help/advice would be appreciated.
Thanks, Jo.

Netexporter

Who is the supplier at the new property? Can you not just ask them for a pre-payment tariff? If it is a new build it will almost certainly have a smart meter which can be changed to pre-payment mode remotely.

Keep_pedalling

When they move in they will be on a deemed contract with whichever supplier is currently supplying the house the day they move in so first off I would ask the LA who that supplier is.

marcia_

 CatLadyJo said:

Hi.  I need some advice please.
My parents are both disabled and have to move home because their current property can't be adapted for their needs.
They have finally been allocated a new build council home (VERY lucky!) that is able to meet their needs.  The problem is with moving the gas and electric.  They currently have prepayment meters and are with E.  When they called E, they wanted £600 PER METER to install prepayment ones in the new property, when we enquired about DD or pay monthly, they wanted £300 per fuel up front.
No one in the family has got this kind of money, so I don't know what to do!  I tried looking at USwtich, but I can't seem to get any kind of tariff/quote.
Is this common? I don't know what to do or where to turn.
Any help/advice would be appreciated.
Thanks, Jo.

It is normal that you leave and close your account with your current supplier when you move out. 

 Then you open a new account with whichever energy supplier supplies the new house.

 As mentioned above they should definitely be smart meters so no need for a new meter. 

molerat

I tried looking at USwtich, but I can't seem to get any kind of tariff/quote.

The comparison sites are no longer working, there are very few suppliers that are willing to pay the referral fees and all suppliers are pretty much the same on charges.  The only way to compare any fix prices is to get a quote from the supplier themselves.

Firstly, the property will have a supplier already, the ones who installed the meters, so they will have to sign up with them in the first place then move later if they wish.  Do you know who that supplier is ?

Generally smart meters can be converted to pre pay remotely at the press of a button - that is what all the fuss was about a while back - so I am surprised that their current supplier would need to change the meter.

Brie

Why do your parents want prepayment meters?  They are generally known to be more expensive then normal smart meters which would likely have been installed in a new build.  If they haven't then all they need to do when they move in is ensure the supplier insists on smart meters or move to a supplier that does (eon does I believe).  It might take a while but it will all be at the supplier's cost.  

And as far as I'm aware no supplier can legally shut off any gas or electric without good cause.  Moving in is not a good cause.  They'd need to take it to court and justify the situation which I just can't see happening in this case as described here.

Ayr_Rage

@Brie prepayment will become the cheapest option in April !

Brie

Ayr_Rage said:

@Brie prepayment will become the cheapest option in April !

Thanks - good to know!

So if that's the case then presumably it will become an option to switch if one is on smart meters.  

Netexporter

So if that's the case then presumably it will become an option to switch if one is on smart meters.

Yes, although if you have a smart meter there are cheaper options than even the new pre-payment rate.

lohr500

For info, we switched from monthly fixed DD to pre-pay last autumn with EDF because the pre-pay version of our ECO20:20 tariff worked out cheaper. We had a working SMETS2 smart meter.

The switch happened within a few hours of me requesting it and went smoothly.

Scot_39

Firstly there is a possible risk the council / housing asociation may have entered a contract with a community heat / district heat network supplier for blocks of flats.
In which case you will be tied to their deal - at least for hot water and heating.

My sister was with a small housing association for many years - the higher rise blocks of flats - fiited with own community heat / hw systems in basements - and still  had a direct electric contract with a standard supplier.  

The low rise blocks and terraced homes were iirc she said different -i.e. standard supplier basis.

Has the council given any details yet ?


Smart meters - which I guess might be fitted - can be easily converted to smart prepay if your parents want that. So not sure why parents current supplier says will need a new meter.

It might be desirable to stay prepay - come April prepay will now be cheaper than even DD ( irrespective of use this time).

And some firms ( just like E) might request a down-payment or set a large direct debit on a conventional annualised DD credit account - or in one case reported here impose monthly variable payments for x months when exceed the initial set DD - so account doesnt accumulate debt.

But chosing a supllier with monthly variable direct debit might be  convenient compromise (no regular top ups that might involve online purchase or  trips to shops to top up) - as parents will already be used to paying more in winter - unless parents like certainty of knowing how much they are spending daily weekly that co es with prepay.