Buy property with pre pay meter

[MindfullyAmazedHorse]

Have you ever bought a property with a pre pay electric/gas meter?

Did it cost lots of money to get it transferred to a regular meter?

Did you insist it was sorted out before you bought the property?

Many thanks in advance for your responses 😀

If it’s one of the modern ones it can be put back to normal billing remotely

Is it a smart meter or old type?

My Dad did and it was switched at no cost to him

You just tell your energy supplier you want to change to whatever package you like and they do the switch. It doesnt cost you anything. If i was the person selling, i wouldnt fancy signing up to a new tarriff as i was leaving.

Thank you for your responses!

What if it has been vacant for a while?

Not a big deal although the admin might be a pain. You won’t be out of pocket.

I did as our first house. They would change the meter easily but they wanted quite the payment to do so. I can't remember how much it was but as two youngsters with a brand new baby we couldn't pay it. It was either £75 each or £200 I think.

I took huge umbrage also because I know people who have got them replaced for free when buying so I think it's pot luck.

What if you need to check if the electrics work before buying?

Were they working when you viewed the house?

No - no elec then.

Tell the vendor via the agent that they need to get the power back on so you can check it. Presumably they can just top the meter up.

Yes, and it was free.that was 15 years ago though

Any debt on purchase will be wiped by the energy company (for you, not the previous owner of course).

They'll do a credit check on you before changing over.
It was ten years ago, but I failed this check despite having a good history. The person I was on the phone to figured it was because I'd just taken out a large credit (the mortgage!).

I did change after a while. I can't remember the process so it can't have been too stressful!
The timing will be down to their availability.

A property I bought in 2014 had one. The energy company switched it over for free. Not sure if it made a difference, but I was with the same company as in my previous rental address, so they could see that I had previously always paid on time.

Hi I work for an energy company. If no elec on now it’s going to need topping up by the owners. If they don’t and you buy it on move in day call the supplier and they will either send someone out or remotely clear the debt. They will then arrange a meter exchange to credit. It’s no biggie, wouldn’t stop me buying a house.

This house had pp meters and one of the first things we did was get British Gas to install proper meters. Totally free.