Question of the week: Prepayment meters

Former_MSE_Alana

Q.My flat has a pre-payment meter from the last tenants. Our energy bills are terribly expensive because of this. Is there anything I can do?

A. The fact people on prepayment meters have to pay more is ridiculous, it penalises many of society's poorest - thankfully there's a lot of campaigning at the moment for this to change.

If you're hit, first try to switch to a standard billed meter with your current supplier, though this will usually mean you're credit scored (see credit rating guide). If you're accepted, once it's up and running, then do a comparison to find who the cheapest supplier is (see Gas & Elec guide).

If you can't get a billed meter, don't think you're stuck with just one supplier, while it's limited there is competition amongst prepayment suppliers, both Energyhelpline* or Uswitch* do comparisons.

[threadbanner]box[/threadbanner]

KimYeovil

I am in favour of prepayment meters having the same per unit costs if and only if FREE meter changes are banned. I even think it is fair to cross-subsidise the day-to-day extra costs of a prepayment meter across all customers (that is, if the user is limited to, say, 26 transactions or less per year.)

Direct debit, prompt payment and prepayment costs should all be equalised. Instead, we should move to a model of mercilessly (but fairly) charging late payers penalties.

Cardew

Whilst it is true that, where pre-payment charges are higher, it can penalise the poorer members of society; albeit some firms now charge the same tariff as the standard rate.

However many(possibly the majority???) pre-pay meters are fitted because customers will not or cannot pay their gas and electricity bills.

The additional costs of servicing pre-pay accounts - including the fitting of the meters - is paid for by a cross-subsidy from those on normal tariffs.

KimYeovil

(Bizarre (but entirely justified) aside: I still think Martin should not be allowed to post (or endorse) a Question of the Week unless he dons a bow tie and physically travels to Norwich and announces it from there.)

beargirl

We had the same problem when me moved into our new house. We were with Scottish Power and the bills were extortionate! We ended up paying for the meters to be exchanged, I think it was around £100 as a deposit then after they had swapped them we changed suppliers for the cheapest tariff and the cost for exchanging the meters was refunded. A little bit complicated but well worth it for the saving and the hassle of buying keys for the meter!

OriginalDisco

KimYeovil wrote: »

...Instead, we should move to a model of mercilessly (but fairly) charging late payers penalties.

Late payers are not always people who simply refuse to pay. Have you never been in any financial difficulty?

What about those people who simply don't have the money in their account to give to the energy company or put on a pre-payment meter?

You want to add additional charges to their account – plunging them into more debt – and leave them cut off?

Like you say... "merciless"

KimYeovil

OriginalDisco wrote: »

Late payers are not always people who simply refuse to pay.

Yes they are. You don't buy or use something unless you already have the money to pay for it.

tartanmax_2

It's outragous that the poorest in society are paying the most for gas and electricity via these meters and although i understand that if you have managed to run up huge amounts of debt then you are obligated to pay it off , I just don't understand why charging more is going to help matters.

I don't know if this is where i should put this, however, it on topic.
I moved into a new house 3 months ago that had pre-payment meters and found the payments i was making were well above avarage.
I shopped around to see where i could get "normal" meters put in and all but one were charging up to £150 per meter to change them. ( money i just couldn't afford)
Then I found out that EDF will change them for free , so i switched supply to them and after 28 days of being a customer on pre payment they changed the meters free of charge. ( this isn't something they seem to advertise)
I will add that my own credit rating is not great , no excuse, but i was very irresponsible when i was much younger.

Worth a try for anyone who is struggling with the extra costs of pre payment meters.

catalonia13

Ebico do not charge any extra for those with pre-payment meters, nor do they have standing order charges and they are one of the lowest rate per unit! www.ebico.co.uk

catalonia13

KimYeovil wrote: »

(Bizarre (but entirely justified) aside: I still think Martin should not be allowed to post (or endorse) a Question of the Week unless he dons a bow tie and physically travels to Norwich and announces it from there.)

I agree, would love Martin to come to Norwich too!

catalonia13

From the Ebico site -
Prepayment meter


If receiving a quarterly bill or statement is not suitable for you, you could use a pay as you go meter. This allows you to budget and keep track of how much energy you’re using, as you’re using it. So you can only use what you’ve paid for in advance, meaning there’ll be no unexpected bills to pay.

• You’ll receive a yearly statement showing your usage and payments.
• Credit for pay as you go meters can be bought from your local Post Office or PayPoint.

Remember, whichever payment method you chose, you’ll be charged the same flat-rate tariff with no standing charge.

Interestingly British Gas rang me yesterday to get me to come back, when I said that Ebico had a one flat-rate tariff and no standing charge he argued with me and actually said "I can guarantee they do have a standing charge"!!;

they don't, I knew they didn't but he wouldn't have it, wonder how many other people he is saying this to?