Prepayment meter to credit meter?

Credit metres are always cheaper because you pay less per unit used. Look at your average usage, based on how long a prepayment lasts and your unit cost and then look at somewhere like moneysupermarket.com or confused.com and they will find out what companies may offer the best deals. Read the small print.

You definitely need to check with your landlord. Landlords have prepay meters installed because they cannot be left with an unpaid bill at the end of the tenancy. If he insists you keep the prepay meter, you may be able to switch to a cheaper prepay supplier, check on confused and moneysavingexpert.

The prepayment meter is far far more expensive than regular billing, because it's set to charge at a level that helps delinquent customers to pay back the money they owe the utility company. If you visit you can find out which supplier will be cheapest. You'll often find a discount for having both utilities with the same supplier. Most (all?) suppliers will bill the same monthly amount through the year. The amount will be an average over the year based on previous meter readings; they will adjust it based on your ongoing meter readings every so often. You will need to phone around a bit to find a company that will remove the prepayment meter for free. Some companies will want to charge you for the privilege, but some won't. If nobody in your flat can pass a credit check, the companies will be likely to ask for a deposit against future bills; depending on the size of the deposit you may decide it's not worth it, but it will be cheaper in the long run.

Credit meters will generally be cheaper and more convenient. However pre-payment meters are common in rental properties because of the high-turnover of tenants and related problems with non-payment of bills. You may not be able to switch to a credit meter, or your supplier if you get one fitted; check your contract first and confirm (in writing) with the landlord or rental agent. If you can't switch to a credit meter you might still be able to switch your supplier to Ebicohttps://www.ebico.org.uk/, who are a not-for-profit company with a flat-rate across the board. Their rates can be found https://www.ebico.org.uk/rates-and-prices As you might guess, Ebico is my supplier, been happy with them so far which is a first for a utilities company.

Yes, you want to swap. It's cheaper (and more convenient - you don't need to remember to top up!). Yes, you will need to get your landlord's permission. If it's an ongoing lease (i.e. lease changes when someone moves out and someone moves in, rather than a completely new tenancy) and you're good tenants (i.e. rent always paid on time, no ongoing issues with the landlord) then they may well agree to it. And yes, get it in writing. Most energy companies will usually swap the meters out for free but you may need commit to them for a period of time (it's a competitive market). British Gas isn't the cheapest but it would still be cheaper than prepayment meters. Credit checks - best thing to do is get the tenant with a good credit rating (basically anyone who's got a credit history in the UK and hasn't defaulted on payments in the past - it's a fairly low standard, but if you're a newcomer to the UK you may not have a credit rating) to be the name on the bill. You can then change the names on the bill afterwards to reflect all tenants (advisable - it helps you get a credit history). If you pay by direct debit you get the best rates - and they'll tend to average bills over the year so you pay the same amount each month which helps manage your finances.