Pre-payment Gas Meter Problem

shellsuit

Hmmm it's funny I've stumbled on this tread because I have a gas prepayment meter and it's been acting funny since the cold weather started.

Up until last year, I would put about £30 a week in the meter during the cold weather and sometimes I'd have to top it up by a bit more. That was only to have the heating on for 3 hours a night and to cook on the hob once a day. (I would freeze in the day as I hate putting the heating on just for me)

This year, I'm putting £20 a week in the meter and it is lasting ages!! I've had the heating on everyday for about 6 hours (I have a little baby) and I still cook on the hob and some nights I'll even bang the heating back on for a couple of hours or the gas fire. Oh and I'm not even hitting the emergency button which in the past it seemed I was constantly doing it even though I will filling it up with what should have been more than enough!

It makes no sense that if you use the gas more you get more out of it does it, but that's what seems to be happening to me!

fedup100pc

I’ve been round the house today and turned off all but two of the radiators to save gas, and, without fail, I now wear my coat in the house all day and every day. I close blinds and use thick curtains. It is also impossible for me to pay the debt off as I can only afford £1 per-week and I owe about £1200, so I’m stuck with my unsympathetic supplier.

One other thing that is really worrying me, though, is that I already suffer from mental health problems and I have noticed in the last few days that being freezing cold all the time is making me very irritable, even angry. I’m not sure I could survive the winter at this rate. I feel as if I’m close to having a mental breakdown.

Like another member has just pointed out, something has fundamentally changed in recent weeks with the amount of money the meter is taking off.

Premier_2

shellsuit wrote: »

Hmmm it's funny I've stumbled on this tread because I have a gas prepayment meter and it's been acting funny since the cold weather started.

Up until last year, I would put about £30 a week in the meter during the cold weather and sometimes I'd have to top it up by a bit more. That was only to have the heating on for 3 hours a night and to cook on the hob once a day. (I would freeze in the day as I hate putting the heating on just for me)

This year, I'm putting £20 a week in the meter and it is lasting ages!! I've had the heating on everyday for about 6 hours (I have a little baby) and I still cook on the hob and some nights I'll even bang the heating back on for a couple of hours or the gas fire. Oh and I'm not even hitting the emergency button which in the past it seemed I was constantly doing it even though I will filling it up with what should have been more than enough!

It makes no sense that if you use the gas more you get more out of it does it, but that's what seems to be happening to me!

Last winter was very cold; a lot colder than it is this Autumn.

You may have the heating on 6 hours currently, but I doubt it's actually buring non-stop for 6 hours. When it's colder outside, you lose more heat and so your heating system needs to work harder ... which costs you more money.

Oh, and your gas might be a bit cheaper now than it was last winter, many suppliers reduced their gas prices by up to 10% earlier this year.

lyndac40

Hi everyone please check your meters to make sure your supplier has not put a debt on it in error. This happened to me. Please read my thread (problem with electric meter lyndac40).

C_Mababejive

Surely the answer is to take daily or weekly meter readings then do the math ? In this way,you can calculate your usage and see if it roughly tallies with the amount of money you have put in for that period.

If you have the older style gas PP meter which is big n square and may have a yucky yellow front, check if there is any call help message on the screen. Also if it says "battery" contact your supplier to have the battery exchanged.

Also,if your meter says OFF in the bottom left but you are still mysteriously obtaining gas,contact your supplier to report the fault. You will not be getting free gas and it will catch up with you.

Excessive usage does not =leakage as a leak of such volume as to affect consumption on the meter would be so great as to be...erm......intolerable...!

shellsuit

Premier wrote: »

Last winter was very cold; a lot colder than it is this Autumn.

You may have the heating on 6 hours currently, but I doubt it's actually buring non-stop for 6 hours. When it's colder outside, you lose more heat and so your heating system needs to work harder ... which costs you more money.

Oh, and your gas might be a bit cheaper now than it was last winter, many suppliers reduced their gas prices by up to 10% earlier this year.

I didn't mention anything about Winter

I said cold weather as in all cold weather from start to finish last year, compared to the start of the cold weather this year.

I know it's going to get colder this year, but at the start of the cold weather last year I was using over £30 a week and only putting the heating on for 2 hours max a day.

I can't quite see that there would be that much of a reduction.

fedup100pc

Today the meter was about £4 in credit and I did as Kim suggested earlier and put £2 on the meter with plans to put a further £2 on every day. (Remember, I have already paid this week’s £1.05 debt to my supplier when I put £20 on the meter on Fri.)As soon as I put the card in the meter, though, it gobbled up 80p of that £2 (only adding £1.20 to the existing £4 for gas) and I can’t find out why. Why is it taking money off all ways?

I also checked the meter reading before I went to bed the other night and checked it again in the morning, and, once again, 40p (I think it was that amount) had disappeared off the credit even though no gas is used through the night.

lyndac40

Hi I would check with your supplier to see if they are only taking £1.05 off the meter for the debt this doen't sound like a lot to me. If you dont mind me asking how much debt have you got with them?

fedup100pc

I was paying back £5-per-week on the meter a month ago, then I asked my supplier to reduce this to £3-per-week a couple of weeks ago because my financial circumstances changed. Because of the amount of money the meter seems to be taking off more recently, however, I have asked my supplier to reduce this to £1-per-week which they have done.

I owe something like £1200 and I know it is an impossible amount to pay off therefore I’m between a rock and a hard place. I have to stay with my supplier whether I like it or not. I have even suggested to them that if they remove the meter I will pay the £1 debt and my existing gas by direct debit but they’re having none of it. They seem to be a law upon themselves these utility companies.

KimYeovil

fedup100pc wrote: »

I was paying back £5-per-week on the meter a month ago, then I asked my supplier to reduce this to £3-per-week a couple of weeks ago because my financial circumstances changed. Because of the amount of money the meter seems to be taking off more recently, however, I have asked my supplier to reduce this to £1-per-week which they have done.

I owe something like £1200 and I know it is an impossible amount to pay off therefore I’m between a rock and a hard place. I have to stay with my supplier whether I like it or not. I have even suggested to them that if they remove the meter I will pay the £1 debt and my existing gas by direct debit but they’re having none of it. They seem to be a law upon themselves these utility companies.

£1200 paid off interest free at £1 per week? Yes, your supplier is an evil monster. Some posters on this site are a beyond a joke. What an ungrateful and idiotic post. Disgusting.