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What do I do if there's debt on a meter when I've just moved in?

  • 6 February 2021
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We have just bought a property with the boost meters , never had these before so not sure about them, only just realised there is a debit on the gas ….how do I get this cleared as it isn’t my debit……..also we asked to have smart meters put in as we are to old to go crawling on the ground to see the gas meter but reading on here about the problems people are having with them I’m now not sure this is a good idea. Think it maybe better to change supplier?..please help...

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Best answer by Ed_Boost 10 February 2021, 11:30

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Ed_Boost
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Hey @Chrissyb,

 

Welcome to the forum!

 

When you move in, you need to call us on 0330 102 7517 to get an account set up in your name. The adviser will also be able to help with any debt that’s left on the meter.

 

If it’s a smart meter, they’ll remotely remove it when a new account is created, but if you have traditional top up meters, they’ll get a code generated so that you can pick up a message from a PayPoint to wipe the debt.

 

If the debt is over £50, we’ll need you to send in a tenancy agreement, to prove that the previous tenants who’s debt this belongs to no longer lives there. The email address to send this to is hello@boostpower.co.uk. I’d recommend sending this in first, then calling us so that the adviser can find the email, and do it all in the one call.

 

There’s a bit more info on this link on what to expect when moving home.

 

Thanks,

Ed

I'm shocking at energy puns...
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Hi I have rung that number three times, I wasn’t told any of this. We moved in on the 25th jan and as we didn’t know anything about these meters as we always pay direct debit. We have topped up three times and three times it has taken £7 of the ten I put on the card.so I have already paid £21 of the debt and there is another £24 to pay! ...we now own this house and I am not very happy with these meters or the customer service I have received 

Ed_Boost
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That sounds about right, @Chrissyb, the meter will take 70% of a top up to pay off any outstanding debt.

 

What I’d suggest, is to call again, explain the situation, and if you have receipts of the top ups that 70% were deducted from, send pictures of them to us at hello@boostpower.co.uk. We’ll then be able to wipe the remaining £24 debt from the meter, and load £21 credit on to refund you for the credit that paid off the debt.

I'm shocking at energy puns...
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Also I was not offered a new payment card I am still using the one from before… very poor customer service and lack of information 

Tim_Boost
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Sorry to hear that payment card hasn’t been sent out, @Chrissyb.

 

We’ve outlined some advice in this topic for that one. Let’s try our Support team and get one sent out to you:

 

The best thing to do is to email hello@boostpower.co.uk, or drop a message via Facebook messenger or Twitter. Whether you get sent on in the post or given a code to pick one up at a PayPoint depends on the urgency.

 

Hope this helps,
Tim

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Thankyou , I have emailed them and sent photos of my top up receipts .

U

Why is it so difficult to clear a debt on the meter from previous account holders.?

 

I've done so many 0 top ups from my previous supplier and boost and I'm still sorting with no gas and a gas safety check due today. I'm beyond stressed out.

 

You should be able to send a code to meter or arrange for an engineer to come out and sort meter, not have the new customer running round like a headless chicken trying to sort it out.

 

Not a very good start to my new supply and I'm down as a priority customer as I have diagrams children. 

Tim_Boost
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Hi @Unhappy and thanks for sharing this negative experience here. It sounds like a really frustrating time you’ve had.

 

You must have traditional (non smart) meters in that property. It’s likely that unpaid standing charges have built up in the time since the previous tenant moved out and you moved in. 

 

It’s must easier with a smart meter, I’m sorry to say it does involved visiting a PayPoint with your working key or card following some actions from our Support team. I’m not sure why it’s taken you more then one 0 top up visit……. I wish I could offer some advice on why. Can you pop back here to update us, as I can see this comment is now 2 days old. 

 

When this is sorted, get that smart meter fitted ASAP, here. 

U
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Dear customer service and people possibly looking to switch to Boost, I think I should share the absolute crazyness I have had to endure from Boost.

We moved into a new house on June the 22nd. The electric meter was not working (supply on but meter not responsive, no display) and the gas meter was close to 0. When we topped up we realised that there was debt on the meter and money came out of our top-up to pay for it. The next day I called Boost to get this sorted. Customer service told me they took care of it and that I only needed to top up once more for the debt to be erased and for me to get my money back. I did just that but once again more money came out of my top-up. When I called back I was told to go to a specific paypoint to get this sorted and do a 0 pay top up which did not work. I was sent to many different locations but nothing ever worked. The gaz card then just stopped working and boost repeatedly told me they had sent me a new card with the money I was owed on it but it never came.

The gaz meter cut off my supply on a week-end, despite your claims that this does not happen, and an engineer had to be sent since I had no way to put money back on at that point.

When I booked for smart meters to be fitted I was told they would remove the debt and give me my money back at that time. When the meters were fitted I called and half of the money I was owed was put on each meter and the debt was not appearing so I contacted another supplier to switch to.

After 4 days of using the new meters it appeared that the electric meter was using the emergency credit instead of the normal credit and the gaz meter was not registering my usage with the volume of gaz used still at 0 depiste 4 days of use for a family of 3. When I contacted Boost to ask what was going on I was told the electric meter would switch to normal credit soon and the gaz meter just needed some time to initialise.

This was not the case as once the electric meter ran out of emergency credit it became irresponsive (no screen) and stopped communicating with the IHD and the gaz meter is still not metering my usage one week on. It took 3 calls to Boost and 2 chat sessions to find somebody who realised they needed to book an engineer to get the meters to work, which they say they did but I have not received the usual confirmation email.

And today, I received an e-mail telling me that the debt from the old meter was being transferred to the new meter.

I cannot understand why it takes so much energy and time to get your company to sort out basic issues and now, your company is making it impossible for me to even switch supplier since I cannot switch with debt on my meter, even it is not mine.

My only hope now is for a Boost rep to see my post and sort it out to avoid further bad PR or waiting the 8 weeks since my first formal complaint (which was never aknowledged) for the ombudsman to force Boost to sort it out.

Jess_Boost
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This was a really disappointing read and certainly not the level of service we hope to offer someone who’s just moved into a home we supply, I am really sorry, @unhappy customer.

 

While we can’t look into the details of your account here we can give general advice as to what should happen and the best way to get things sorted. As the initial issue you mentioned was the fact there was debt on the meter when you moved in, we’ve moved your post over to this similar topic as the best answer above outlines the process we usually follow to make sure this debt is removed -

 

 

If it’s a smart meter, they’ll remotely remove it when a new account is created, but if you have traditional top up meters, they’ll get a code generated so that you can pick up a message from a PayPoint to wipe the debt.

 

If the debt is over £50, we’ll need you to send in a tenancy agreement, to prove that the previous tenants who’s debt this belongs to no longer lives there. The email address to send this to is hello@boostpower.co.uk. I’d recommend sending this in first, then calling us so that the adviser can find the email, and do it all in the one call.

 

 

Sounds like you had traditional meters there when you first moved, so we’d need to send a PayPoint message in order to get this cleared. Sorry this wasn’t a smooth process for you and the debt has now been transferred to your new smart meters. Was the debt over £50? In which case we should request a copy of your tenancy agreement, if you haven’t already it might be worth emailing a copy of this to the above email address, this should be all we need to make sure any outstanding balance generated before you moved on is not deducted from your top-ups in future.

 

In terms of the issues you’re having with your new meters not registering your usage and using emergency credit - these are problems which can occur when we’re having communication issues with the meters - meaning they may not receive your top-ups or send us your usage information. If we can’t fix these communication issues remotely, this would require an engineer's visit. Sorry that you haven’t received a confirmation of this, this should be sent automatically when the appointment is made, so if you’ve checked your emails (including your junk folder) and can’t see it there, give the team a call on 0330 102 7517 or 0117 370 1041 from a mobile to chase this one up.

 

I totally appreciate the frustration this has caused and the time you have spent trying to get things properly up and running. I hope the information above helps in some way. If you highlight these concerns to the team they can log this as a formal complaint - see more about this process here.

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