Changing to pre pay electric meter

cuongzi

Hi all,
I'm currently with British Gas and have been trying to change to a pre pay electric meter for the last month. Booked numerous appointments but so far each time an appointment has been booked no one turns up.

All British Gas says they can do is offer measly compensation and re-book at a very later date offering no priority and once again i have to wait a couple more weeks for an appointment. Customer services have been very rude when i call up even asking why i need a pre payment meter for and that i should be grateful they are doing it for free when it cost £300 to change a meter!! I politely told them its none of their buisness and not even the issue!!

Is there anyway i can get them to do it quicker is its urgent because i have tenants waiting to move in?

Is there a number i can call to complain at all?

Thanks

dag_2

Customer services have been very rude when i call up even asking why i need a pre payment meter for

Forgive me for asking - but why do you need a prepayment meter anyway?

Is there anyway i can get them to do it quicker is its urgent because i have tenants waiting to move in?

Aha. I think you need to make sure that the tenancy agreement says that the tenant is responsible for the gas and electricity bills - not you.

On the day that the tenant plans to moves in, take a reading from the gas and electricity meters. Put the readings on the inventory list, and make sure the tenant agrees it. Then pass these readings to your gas and electricity companies, along with the names of your new tenants, and tell them you want to close the account. From then on, the tenants will be billed for gas and electricity - not you. If the tenants don't pay the bill, it's their problem, not yours.

Trying to get a prepayment meter installed is totally pointless - because there's absolutely nothing you can do to stop the tenants getting it changed back to a credit meter again.

When the tenants move out and you retake possession, take readings from the meters again, and pass these with your name to whoever the suppliers are now. Forward the tenant's final bill to them. There should be no need to deduct the tenant's final bill from their deposit, because the courts can only enforce the tenant's debt against the tenants - they can't enforce it against you.

Please check this advice with the citizen's advice bureau. I'm not sure if I've got it right, but I don't see the urgent need for a prepayment meter - and I think that insisting on it could create more problems than it solves.