prepayment installation, please help me

aligerdie

I'm hoping someone can give me a bit of help with having a prepayment meter installed...

Just had a visit from someone about our large energy bill which we have been unable to pay. They want to install a meter, and have given me the notice of intent to apply for a warrant of entry.

I think I'm going to have to ring them and get it installed, which will help us pay it off, but when I asked what the rate of repayment was, I was gobsmacked.

I was told that for every £20 I put on the card, £15 goes to the debt, and £5 goes on the meter.

Is that right? I'm worried sick about this as I've got 3 little ones six and under, and at that rate there is no way I can afford to keep the house warm. (its freezing enough anyway). I'm so careful with everything, nothing is switched on, the heating is off.

In order to prevent the meter installation, they're willing to take a payment of a 1/4 of the bill (£100), which I just don't have.

Please help me make some sense of this because I'm out of my depth.
thank you x

aligerdie

Just bumping this up, wondering if anyone can help me?

Pssst

You need to negotiate with them. If your debt is only £400 then it is a typical amount. Explain your circumstances. AFAIK the amount taken out is a weekly amount and it isnt PER CARD. You need to speak to someone at your gas company who actually knows what they are talking about.

aligerdie

thank you so much for your reply. The agent was from scotcall and appeared to be helpful. So I need to speak to scottish power, and not scotcall?

I was hoping to lower the amount slightly, but I don't know whether thats feasible. If its going to be per card then I have no idea what to do, I just won't be able to afford both.

thank you again, I really appreciate it.

tripled

I guess the fact that they are going for a warrant means the bill is now well overdue. Rather than a prepayment meter, if you can manage and you can convince Scottish Power to agree, a better option may be a weekly payment card as usually the cost of energy is lower. This would enable you to pay a fixed amount agreed with your energy supplier every week, part of it going towards your usage and the remainder going towards your debt.

If a prepayment meter is the only route for you, you will have to negotiate with them to get lower repayments if you can't afford the £15 a week repayment. If calling them isn't getting very far, put a letter in writing. Usually companies will allow the repayments to be spread over 12 months (~£8 per week in your case), so I'd be surprised if they didn't try to come to an arrangement.

In the meantime, tell them to send you a payment card, even if you can't get a weekly payment arrangement in place. If you make regular payments that cover your energy usage and some of the debt, it will be harder for them to justify going for a warrant, and if/when a prepayment meter is eventually fitted, the debt will be lower, meaning you will be able to clear it faster.

aligerdie

Yes the bill is overdue. I stay at home with the kids, and OH goes out to work. The bill is in his name, but he hasn't made any payments, and yet again its up to me to sort it out using the little money I have. I did make a payment of £147 a couple of months ago after they pressured me into it, I can't make that sort of payment again as I had no money left for the month.

I shall ring scottish power in the morning to ask about the payment card, I so want to pay this, and the figure of £8 I could manage on my own.

You must think I'm terrible for getting to this stage with this, I am so ashamed, and frightened about what will happen, and this is the only place I can talk about it as OH doesn't want to know.

thank you.

chilli_dog

dont dare be ashamed!!!

bringing up kids is expensive and nearly everyone hits a financial wall now and again. its just a debt, dont loose sleep over it. as mentioned just make sure you get the repayments to a reasonable level, when you have paid it off move over to Ebico who dont charge any extra for using a pre pay meter

aligerdie

lol your post made me smile. thank you for saying that.

I will look into ebico thank you, hopefully it won't turn out all bad in the end, I'm just ashamed and feel like I've let my kids down. Afterall, gas and electric are essentials and I can't even afford that.

Pssst

aligerdie wrote: »

Yes the bill is overdue. I stay at home with the kids, and OH goes out to work. The bill is in his name, but he hasn't made any payments, and yet again its up to me to sort it out using the little money I have. I did make a payment of £147 a couple of months ago after they pressured me into it, I can't make that sort of payment again as I had no money left for the month.

I shall ring scottish power in the morning to ask about the payment card, I so want to pay this, and the figure of £8 I could manage on my own.

You must think I'm terrible for getting to this stage with this, I am so ashamed, and frightened about what will happen, and this is the only place I can talk about it as OH doesn't want to know.

thank you.

Dont worry too much about it. £400 is a fairly typical gas debt which might be added to a prepayment meter. All you need to do is negotiate the weekely amount with your supplier,get the PP meter in,develop strategies to cut your fuel useage and slip into a mode in which you manage your costs rather than letting them run away.

Kimberley

How much do companies take for upkeep of prepayment meters say from every pound? Thats not for arrears just the upkeep.

aligerdie

ok, well I spoke with Scottish Power today, and the charge is non negotiable apparently.
Of my weekly top up, £15 goes towards the debt, on both the gas and electric.

So thats £30 per week before I even start. I have no idea what to do now, they're fitting on the 10th december. The only way I can afford to do this is find £230 before the 10th so I don't have to pay the weekly charge on the gas meter, just the electric. That just isn't going to happen!

I explained the situation, told them my circumstances, but there was no leeway. I was also told the weekly payment card wouldn't be suitable for me either.

I give in now, I can't see how I'm going to manage, I just can't cut down anymore.