Gas pre-payment meter in new house.

[MyCatJeremy]

It was noted on the survey for the house that we are buying that the gas meter is pre-payment. Does anyone know if these things can go into debit mode? I am worried about pitching up and finding that it is -£200. The house is empty but the gas is on (heating to prevent burst pipes).

I know that this is a small thing but it seems to be one hassle after another with this house purchase.

Yes they can, but I think if you phone the gas company as you move in they will set to zero for you.

We have a debt with British Gas which is added to the pre pay meter. Every time we top up the meter, some of that goes to paying the debt off. If we move the debt should follow us and the new people will have the meter set to zero.

Actually, I'm wondering now. I said yes, because I've seen 2 friends move into houses with meters recently, and both of them have lost most of what was on the first payment card they put in.
However, I thought the point of a meter was that you basically pay-as-you-go, which would suggest that when the meter runs out the gas goes off.
Perhaps the people I saw move in were taking on properties from people who were paying off arrears on their meters, and it was the arrears payment that was gobbled up.
Either way, the best thing to do would be to contact the gas company and make clear the point at which you are taking responsibility for the bill.

We just moved into a house with meters so I am now expert!

Yes they can go into debit mode, if they have a standing charge. Ours was -£75 when we moved in.

What you have to do is find out who owns the meter (there is an information line you can ring - I think I found the number by googling)

You then ring the supplier and ask for a new key/card/whatever. Make sure you do this at least 3 or 4 days before moving the property. They will post this to you and give you instructions on how to update the meter (this might depend on the make but we had to insert our new key which reset the meter to zero, THEN go out to a shop to put money on the key, then insert the key again to top up the meter.)

You shouldn't have to take on the debt of the previous owner provided you get a new key/card prior to moving in.

You can also get them switched back as they are a pain in the arse. We managed to persuade our previous supplier to do it for free as we had been excellent customers for them and they wanted to get us back.

Our house had a prepayment meter when we moved in, we asked to have it changed to a normal meter and it was done without any difficulty.

Many thanks, that is all very helpful. I will start making calls tomorrow!

Meter readings should be done upon moving in. The old owners/residents should have done their own reading, as well, but if they have not, that is not your problem.

We have had issues in the past with moving into places which had some debt to British Gas or whomever, but the thing to do is to make very clear to the supplier that you are new and it is nothing to do with you. Give all forwarding details you can.

The best thing to do is to get your current supplier to do the move with you. We have Scottish and Southern (dual fuel), and they were great when we did our last move. However, any supplier will have access to information about who the existing supplier is, and will be able to chivvy the existing supplier to let them in (your supplier wants to take over supply to the property so they can continue charging you).

Definitely get the prepay meter changed to a normal one as soon as possible. You pay more for electricity and gas consumed through a prepay meter.

See here for something about prepayment meters and how they are more expensive.... An absolute scandal.

The main thing is to ring the gas company get a "new customer" payment card which will clear the debt off the meter for the previous person.

The prepayment card or key - when you put it into the meter it passes info to the meter to say you are a new customer, tells it the serial number on the card etc, the meter then passes info onto the card such as the meter number, the meter readings.

When you go back to the shop and purchase more credit (while you are waiting for the meter to be changed if it hasn't been) the key or card gets put into the machine at the shop and then all the info is then passed onto the gas board.

So each time you put credit onto the card info is being passed back to the gas board. Meters can also send up an SOS if they are being tampered with I kid you not!

If you can contact the gas board in plenty of time then you can possibly get the meter changed to a credit meter the day you move in.

I used to work for npower many moons ago.

"The best thing to do is to get your current supplier to do the move with you. We have Scottish and Southern (dual fuel), and they were great when we did our last move. However, any supplier will have access to information about who the existing supplier is, and will be able to chivvy the existing supplier to let them in (your supplier wants to take over supply to the property so they can continue charging you)."

You cannot do this with a pre-payment meter. We wanted to move with our existing supplier and were told we could not because it was a prepayment meter. You have to take over the existing meter and THEN get it changed when you move in. You also can't rely on taking meter readings because any money that you put into the meter on an old card will be swallowed regardless.

As I said down-thread and as Fizzy Lemonade reiterates, the key thing is to get a new key/card BEFORE you move in. Otherwise you will have the choice of a) paying off the debt of the previous people or b) going without electricity.

However if the gas is on, that's a good sign. It means the meter is in credit, otherwise the gas would have been stopped.

Sorry, I didn't take account of the subtlety of moving from one meter type to another. Thanks for pointing this out, theyoungvisiter.

However, with regard to the gas being on, does that actually mean there is credit? I thought there were social restrictions on utilities, which mean they cannot cut off willy-nilly?

We had one in a rental flat. We got £5 credit and then it cut off. £5 lasted about 3 days in a 1 bed flat with gas boiler.

Worst thing was we lived in a rather posh area and had a 30min walk to the nearest shop which had a pay point thing. Was such an expensive way to pay (combined with a key electricity meter) we ended up moving out.

"However, with regard to the gas being on, does that actually mean there is credit? I thought there were social restrictions on utilities, which mean they cannot cut off willy-nilly?"

I'm not sure about gas but they definitely can cut off your electricity when the credit runs out.

We're still getting used to the credit meter and were plunged into darkness at 9pm the other night when the credit went down to £0. On our meter you can get an emergency £2 by inserting an empty key, but that's basically just to tide you over till you get to the shops.

I'm not completely sure about gas but I don't think it would be different - if anything it's probably easier living without gas than without electricity?

It is an utter pain in the arse and yet another example of the way the system works against people who have little or no money. To add insult to injury, if you move into a house with a normal meter there are no securities required. If you move into a house with a credit meter and want to change it back to a normal meter, they not only charge you to change it over (£50) they also demand an upfront "security deposit" of £250!!!

I was completely shocked - this is me and DH who have a PERFECT credit score, have never left a bill unpaid in our lives. We are basically being penalised for the behaviour of the previous tenant.

Because we are middle class and shouty we rang our previous utility company and kicked up a stink until they agreed to replace the meter for free and without a security depost because we had been with them for 10+ years at our previous house without missing a single payment. However it wasn't easy and we had to speak to a lot of people before they agreed to sign it off.

The company who owned the meter refused to change it for free. It's a horrible example of the way the system shits on those who can least afford it. (Sorry, lefty rant over).

Our house had a pre-payment meter when we moved in. We had it taken out and get bills sent to us every month, which are paid by direct debit.

Got sick of the lights going out because we'd forgotten about it.

Hey, don't stop your lefty rant! It is bloody unfair!