pre payment electricity - worth changing?

my_definition

hi guys,

I moved into my first flat a couple of months ago and the electricity is on a prepayment meter. There is no gas in the building. I'm normally quite good with shopping around but thought that any savings in changing provider would be minimal because of the meter.

However I've just had a woman at the door from Scottish power saying that I'm paying way too much. I expect this from a saleswoman but she seems to have a point.

I’m apparently being charged 17.52p per kw during ther day and 10.09 at night (she showed me on the meter and this seems right) and a charge of £1.70 every time a put £5 in it (though this might just be every time I put money in)

The Scottish power charges are 12.26 during day and 5.56 at night. No standing charges but there is a 20.71 pence per first 225 kwh per quarter.

I know this is a lot of information but I don’t want to miss anything out and I’m totally confused. if anyone could help that would be brill. I'm a bit suspicious as it seems like a huge saving but then there’s this 20p charge and I’m not sure what I’m doing with this.

Thanks

Tartanmax

Hello,

I had the same problem when i moved in a new house which had pre-payment meters fitted and I have to say I was sepnding £25-30 a month more on electric than i ever had done on a "normal meter".

However, after much shopping around I did discover that most companies change £125-150 to change the meters over :eek:
I eventually went with EDF who changed both meter free of charge and I wasn't locked into a contract. "normal" meters were the right choice for me but I do know there are other people on the boards that prefer to stick with pre-payment meters who can give you better advise with switching pre-payment meters.

Maxine

my_definition

thanks maxine

im not that bothered about changing the pre payment meter just now. I know its prob better in the long run but its good just now to not to worry about large bills coming in as im on a low income.

My flats warm aswell so im only spending about £30 a month in electricity just now and ill prob get it changed next year when i have more time. I was mainly concentrating on whether i should change provider

Premier_2

Don't believe a word a salesperson says to entice you to take their product, use a couple of the comparison sites in the resource bar above to see if you could save money by changing supplier.

I appreciate it may be difficult for you to estimate your annual consumption as you've only been in the property a couple of months, but some sites (such as uSwitch) will estimate your annual usage based on property type, occupants, etc if you don't have any other idea.