I need advice a problem that my friend may be about to have. He's just acquired a bedsit and the Landlord has installed a slot meter for the electric. I asked the Landlord if the YEB had installed the slot meter and he advised that he had installed it (not sure if he did it himself but that's not the issue). I asked how much it would take in a week and he said the last person used to put in about £7 a week. He also said the rates were cheaper than what YEB charge. My friend hasn't move in yet and on Sunday I took over some of his belongings, the electric wasn't working due to the meter being on 0. I put in a pound and the light worked. The fridge wasn't switched on so I switched it on ready for his move this weekend. We were at the bedsit all of 10 mins with no lights on etc, only the fridge. I took him there last night, some 3 days later and the electric had gone. Another quid in the slot and the electric was back on. My point? There were no electrical appliances switched on in the bedsit, other than the fridge. I can't believe for one minute that a small fridge would eat a quidsworth of electric in maybe less than 3 days! if that's the case then what's he going to do when he's actually living there? Is it a faulty meter? Is the landlord allowed to doctor the meter whichever way he chooses? Do basic fridges really use that much electricity?

the other question is !! has the landlord been in using the electric too

i used to use about £2.50 of electric a week, running computer, fridgefreezer oven & hob, heating, lights etcetcetc...
i think your landlord is doing something he shouldn't!!!

You could always work it out, find out the engergy rating of the fridge in kwh, then find out what rate electricity currently is and figure out how much power the fridge will burn and how much that will cost.

Random Fridge (http://www.argos.co.uk/webapp/wcs/stores/servlet/ProductDisplay?jspStoreDir=argos&catalogId=10651&params=adref%3DKitchen+and+laundry-%3EFridges+and+freezers-%3EFridges&productId=681316&referredURL=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.argos.co.uk%2Fwebapp% 2Fwcs%2Fstores%2Fservlet%2FProductDisplay%3FstoreI d%3D10001%26catalogId%3D10651%26productId%3D681316 %26langId%3D-1&keyword=Hotpoint+RSAV21P+Polar+Fridge.&langId=-1&referrer=FG13P&engine=froogle&storeId=10001) burns 215kWh/year. The current price (http://www.house.co.uk/cgi-bin/house//house/general/pdfViewer.jsp?BV_SessionID=HHHH0550539140.11781943 73HHHH&BV_EngineID=ccdkaddkledeimjcefecfngdfhidflo.0&txtBrochureID=new_elec_price_table&txtWidth=600&txtHigh=700&_linkKey=costcalc_electricity_pricing&_strType=INLINE) for prepaid electricity from Yorkshire is 14.838p per kwh.

That's what I thought. Should I inform the YEB?

From 1 January 2003 the maximum price at
which gas or electricity may be resold is the same
price as that paid by the person who is reselling it
("the reseller"), including any standing charges.

http://www.ofgem.gov.uk/Consumers/Documents1/1970-mrp.pdf

That's what I thought. Should I inform the YEB?

You'd have a job on - they were abolished in 1990.

I'd be more concerned by him having jury-rigged some dodgy device onto the electricity supply than how much coin was going into it. Sheesh.

Hi there. Some facts for you. Any landlord can install slots as long as the sparky that did it is qualified. There are several settings on the clock and if he has set it high your cost is about right.
when the coin box is removed there is a lever behind it that can be set at around 10 settings. If it is on the top one it will cast you a bom. I would like to tell you that you can do somthing about it but you can not, he can charge you whatever he likes. Talk to him when he emptys it and ask him which setting it is on you may shame him in to dropping it down a few pegs.
I used to make and sell them so i have a key if you want one. lol. (joke)

........ he can charge you whatever he likes. ....

No. He cannot.

He can get you to sign a contract with a flat rate per week/month/quarter/whatever for whatever he wants and you use as much as you want.

If he wants to charge you for as much as you use i.e. by this meter, he cannot charge you more than it costs him (after adding standing charges).

No. He cannot.

He can get you to sign a contract with a flat rate per week/month/quarter/whatever for whatever he wants and you use as much as you want.

If he wants to charge you for as much as you use i.e. by this meter, he cannot charge you more than it costs him (after adding standing charges).


This is true, Your mate needs to speak to his electricity supplier - who the landlord gets the bills off, and find out the ratings that are being applied, this may not be the YEB (or NPower as they are now known) as since privatisation you can but your leccy off any energy supplier you want. In yorkshire the most expensive is NPower as they are the board for this area and therefore cannot compete on price - he should switch to another supplier to make it cheaper.

The Landlord could not have fitted the meter as that would be highly illegal as the board needs to fit it, and as such should be reported as this is the case as he has probably rigged the meter to rip your mate off.

Let me know how you get on

I'm going to tackle him this this weekend when I take some more of my mate's belongings over. Robbing b'stard. My mate's on a low wage to start with and the last thing he's going to need is some landlord ripping him off with extortionate prices. Watch this space, or see the sparks fly at Meersbrook!

From 1 January 2003 the maximum price at
which gas or electricity may be resold is the same
price as that paid by the person who is reselling it
("the reseller"), including any standing charges.

http://www.ofgem.gov.uk/Consumers/Documents1/1970-mrp.pdf

Thanks for the link cgksheff. Am just printing the information off now

your being ripped of there tell your friend to leave , thats the best solution

your being ripped of there tell your friend to leave , thats the best solution

Not that simple. He's been trying to find a place for the last month or so and has been trawling the forums, net and papers trying to find somewhere. He's been pipped to the post several times and this bedsit was the only one available - albeit the mattress is disgusting - but don't get me started, lol

When I lived in a bedsit, many moons ago, my room was next to the attic. :suspect: Unfortunately for the robbin landlord the attic was not habitable, or had a locked door but did have a powerpoint.

One extension cord later I was a happy bunny.

*note : not a recommendation as it could get you into trouble. :hihi: :hihi:

Thanks for the link cgksheff. Am just printing the information off now

As others have mentioned, he is possibly ripping the tenant off (you should really check with a usage meter from Maplin or similar), but in trying to sort it, they may lose their tenancy.

Get a monitor, when the meter has expired plug it in between a socket and a heater or whatever. Put a coin in the meter and record the watts used for a given coin.
I would suggest doing it 3 times with different items of usage.

If he is over-charging, it would be good if he could be sorted out but make sure the tenant has somewhere else to go!

I'm going to tackle him this this weekend when I take some more of my mate's belongings over. Robbing b'stard. My mate's on a low wage to start with and the last thing he's going to need is some landlord ripping him off with extortionate prices. Watch this space, or see the sparks fly at Meersbrook!

hold your horses uk. most coin operated meters have an emergency over run.so if your pound runs out you dont automaticly lose the electric, like a reserve tank if you like.so when it does finally run out you are in debit say 90 p or so.by the way a small fridge would cost around 45p a week to run.

Mister T

I 've never come across a meter like that.

if the coin runs out, the coin runs out..

TOKEN meters have a facility where you can have emergency credit, but coin ones have never been like that.

Mister T

I 've never come across a meter like that.

if the coin runs out, the coin runs out..

TOKEN meters have a facility where you can have emergency credit, but coin ones have never been like that.

it was only a thought plain talker, never used a token/coin meter myself, didnt want the op getting the wrong side of the landlord.

Sorted the problem. My mate tackled the landlord last week. The landlord insisted that the meter was ok, until my mate told him that I was a lawyer, lol. Needless to say that a quid in the meter on Saturday has resulted in the fridge working all week, 4 kettles full of water boiled, the stereo on and I've no idea how many times the light has been on. He's was still on the same quid until about 4pm today so that's one hell of an improvement. Many thanks to everyone who posted their help and advice on here.

Nice to hear it's worked out :)

I need advice a problem that my friend may be about to have. He's just acquired a bedsit and the Landlord has installed a slot meter for the electric. I asked the Landlord if the YEB had installed the slot meter and he advised that he had installed it (not sure if he did it himself but that's not the issue). I asked how much it would take in a week and he said the last person used to put in about £7 a week. He also said the rates were cheaper than what YEB charge. My friend hasn't move in yet and on Sunday I took over some of his belongings, the electric wasn't working due to the meter being on 0. I put in a pound and the light worked. The fridge wasn't switched on so I switched it on ready for his move this weekend. We were at the bedsit all of 10 mins with no lights on etc, only the fridge. I took him there last night, some 3 days later and the electric had gone. Another quid in the slot and the electric was back on. My point? There were no electrical appliances switched on in the bedsit, other than the fridge. I can't believe for one minute that a small fridge would eat a quidsworth of electric in maybe less than 3 days! if that's the case then what's he going to do when he's actually living there? Is it a faulty meter? Is the landlord allowed to doctor the meter whichever way he chooses? Do basic fridges really use that much electricity?

About 8 years ago I rented a flat with a meter like this. The landlord was the biggest thieving scumbag I've had the misfortune to come across. He basically took the **** setting the meter really high so it was costing £5-6 a day. It was actually quite hard work getting him to set it somewhere near the proper rate. We ended up contacting the CAB and YE (as it was then) and eventually got a booklet spelling the legalities of this and threatening to take him to a small claims court. I think back then the landlord was allowed to charge a small amount for maintaining the meter but to had charge the same for reselling the electricity as the supplier. I would advise to avoid any rented property with coin meter like the plague - they're a great way for lowlife landlords to rip people off. Glad everything worked this time.

A fridge or fridge freezer uses 1-2 units of electricity a day depending on its energy rating and costs per unit will be between 7p and 15p. Landlords put meters in because some tenants run up bills and then move and it becomes difficult for the next tenant who moves in....but they shouldn't make money out of it. Suggest he shows you the bills from the date your friend moved in and gives you back the difference in any money you have put in the meter.

I used to have a bedist at Broomhill and used to spend a fiver a week on it at the very least.