Prepayment statement confusion

cjjordan

I've just received my first nPower statement for prepayment electricity and I'm a little confused.
From 05/11/08 to 29/12/08 the bill says we spent £81.11 on electricity, but made payments of £245, leaving us £163.89 in credit.
I thought the prepayment meter meant that we only paid for the electricity we used? I've checked the meter and it doesn't say we have any debt to pay off, so thats not the problem. Also phoned nPower who seemed a bit confused by it too and said if that was the case we might get a refund within 28 days.
Anyone had a similar experience?

markharding557

check that the tariff setting on the meter match npowers,i bet they don't the meter may be set at a much higher rate

Premier_2

Probably stating the obvious, but you haven't over credited your meter have you?

By that I mean there's nothing stopping you crediting the meter above that which you have used.

The consumption used would be based on the amount recorded in kWh by the meter
The payments made made would be based on the amount the company has received from you by charging up the card at a payment location e.g. post office.

How much do you think you've loaded your card by in the period Nov-Dec?
Is £245 about right, do you think?

Joyful

It may be that the reading from your last supplier was too high so in billing you now you have not been billed for much but are paying for what you have used.

You should never build up a credit balance so should not be refunded as the last supplier may request it to balance their books- sometimes years after the supply left them.

Also check that the meter details on the statement are correct.

Another thing to remember is usually you will be billed to a meter reading on say 13th. This bill may not be produced until days later so will be credited with payments made after the meter reading but not billed for.