debt on my prepayment meter

healingtouch

wondering if anyone else had this problem. Just phoned British Gas to ask to be changed from prepayment to direct debit and they did a check on my meter and said i was over £130 in debt, which dated back to missing payments between end nov and feb a few years ago. During this time i was not really living in the flat, i got the keys to the flat at end nov, but still lived with parents until after christmas, and so only used a small amount of electricity to keep a night light on in the flat. but i am puzzled how you can get a debt on a key meter when i have to top the key up to get electricity. the only time i have used the emergency £5 was a few months ago and i have only done this twice.

The guy on the phone said that the debt needs to be investigated and its possible i do not have to pay it, but he can't promise that. And whilst its investigated i cannot change meter to pay by direct debit. I can't afford the debt and in the meantime i have to keep using the keymeter which is ripping me off as its so expensive.

any advice. should i be worried about debt?

the_devil_made_me_do_it

When I first moved into the house I live in now, both gas and electric meters were pre pay with keys. Both meters had debt on them, which must have been left by previous tenents.
I put money onto both keys and put them in the meter before I realized there was a debt on there. I nearly had heart failure when I saw the meters were still showing minus balances. Yes, my credit had started paying someone elses debt.
I contacted both utility companies, who said they would send someone to my home to rectify the problem and remove the debt. I asked them about getting normal meters put in, but the utilities were very reluctant. British Gas seem to swear by these stupid key meters.
In the end, I deceided to change utility companies, and asked the new supplier to remove the key meters, which they did with no hassle.

You supplier will investigate the matter, especially because you've been in the property, and not noticed it. So it's more than likley, they'll find it was a previous tenent's debt, and wipe the meters clean, and give you any credit back they may owe you. Then, if your suppliers are still not keen on removing the key meters, change supplier. Make sure, before you sign anything, that your new supplier is willing to change your meters. I wouldn't stress to much at this stage, as long as your sure it's nothing to do with you, and noone could've had access to the flat without your knowledge. If the worst comes to the worst, and the debt is yours, they'll take a small amount off your credit each time you put money on the key and insert it into the meter, or you will have to prove it's not your debt. Lets hope they discover it was a previous tenents debt instead

By the way, didn't the supplier offer to send someone round to clear the debt from the meter until the matter is resolved??

quickstepqueen

Stick to your guns. At one point (I'm with Powergen) a bill said we owed over £100. I explained to them that as I'm on a prepayment meter, which is essentially pay-as-you-go, there is no way I can run up such a debt. I was so upset speaking to them (as this was the umpteenth bill they'd messed up!) that I was actually crying down the phone. The guy I spoke to said I didn't have to pay the debt back just yet, he'd give me a couple of months!!!

I was mortifed, and when my partner got home to find me crying because I was worried about how I would repay the debt he went ballistic!! He double-checked the bill and found we'd been charged £75 for a service charge instead of £13 and then he rang them up fuming. He demanded to speak with a manager to get it sorted. He ranted and raved and threatened legal action and eventually a manager rang back and closed our account and started a fresh one for us because even he couldn't work it out.

Healingtouch......stick to your guns. Be firm but fair but if you get nowhere then get angry, complain and if necessary contact energywatch for advice. These companies think that because their computer system shows a figure then it must be correct. Do not pay this debt if as you say you don't owe it. They can often be bullish and ignore you because you can't see them face-to-face. If they have agreed to investigate then let them, but I would try to find a timescale so it can be resolved asap. Keep on top of them to check progress. It will be a hassle for you but hopefully when it's sorted out you can relax.

starlite_2

I don't know if this is relevant to the situtation, but with our pre paymeter it will not deduct the daily standing charges if you are low on credit.
we went away for a month and all the gas we put on was afterwards was swallowed up to recover standing charges as we didn't have credit on the meter during this time.
obviously it would take a while for that to amount to £100 + though!

we had a previous tenatnts debt on ours when we moved in..it was a huge struggle to get it removed but we did eventually by sending them copies of our paid bills from our previous house..proving we were living elsewhere when the debt was incurred.

good luck!