gas meters... Again... Sorry guys! Updated

vik6525

Oh my days, Im not even sure where to start with this one.

2 weeks ago, I had a pre payment gas meter fitted to help me pay off a rather large bill. I was meant to be paying it back at 7 pound a week, but it seems that EVERY time I put money on it, it takes 7 pound off. In two weeks now, Ive put about £50 on it, yet every time I put £10 on, it takes £7 off, leaving me with only £3 for actual gas.

Is this normal? Or is there something Im missing?

Mynewt

Hi vik6525,

Putting £50.00 on a meter in two weeks does sound a little excessive - Your meter shouldn't be able to take £7.00 off every top up. Even if you were using the emergency credit you should be well out of it by now.

I cna only suggest at this time that you write down every setting on your pre-payment meter (use the cycle dispaly button to retrieive all the infomation) and then contact your provider's pre-payment teams and see what they can advise hopefully its somehting simple that makes sense.

If not post back with their repsonse and we'll take it from their.

SwanJon

You can check the settings on the meter -
from the screen showing you credit (with the card out), press and hold the red button until the screen changes - you'll see a number in the corner.
If you press it again, the number will change.
You are looking for 27 - the debt remaining, and 26 - the weekly payment.

Check 26 doesn't say more than £7 first...

sequence

I think this is normal. Our meter takes 70% of any credit for debt.

Mynewt

Its definately a possibility Sequence and admittedly a likely one, but as mentioned in a different post this will depend largely on what make and model of meter. At this stage it would still be best to speak with the supplier as they will have access to this infomation.

Should this be the case, however it would be better for you to top up by smaller amounts on a more regualr basis rather than larger amounts less frequently.

vik6525

Right, so I rang them.... Apparently Im paying back my debt at £15 a week (instead of the agreed £7....) and their week runs wednesday to wednesday. So, the £10 I put on sunday, £7 went to the debt, and the £10 I put on today, £7 went on the debt. Sooooo, I had a 'bright idea'...

I thought that if I put on another £5 tody, it'd take £1 to clear this weeks £15, and then Id have £4 credit. WRONG. Yet again, it took 70% of the credit.

I simply cant afford to heat my house if this is whats happening. Ive gathered my reciepts, and worked out today that Ive now spent £60 in two weeks on gas. Im genuinely not trying to get out of paying this debt, I just want it cleared. But if im going to have to pay out £120 a month in gas, then I simply cant afford to put money on my gas meter at all. Especially since I only earn £800 a month.

robredz

You could phone them again, asking them to reduce the repayment to the agreed? £7, and also try the CAB, telling the supplier you are seeking their advice, due to being pushed further into fuel poverty, which is an important social policy issue on which CAB are actively campaigning. A recovery amount of 15% - 20% max may be fair and equitable, 70% is excessive even though it seems to be the standard recovery rate imho.

savemoney

Seems a tad high. Do you owe a lot. The sooner you get off that meter the better as its expensive way to pay is pre payments. At least after Winter you might pay a lot more off as your consumption will be down but obviously that doesn't help you know

I wonder if they can lower the amount of debt you pay off each time just to help obviously you will have to pay the debt but much longer time period just as long as your consumption isnt that bad

SwanJon

vik6525 wrote: »

Ive now spent £60 in two weeks on gas.

As you say, the meter's week works from Wednesday to Wednesday, so it is possible that your payments cover three meter weeks.
If so you could have paid off £15 x3 to the debt, and only used £15 of gas.

Did your supplier agree to reduce the recovery rate?
You could see if they'll reduce it for the winter, but put it back up in the spring when your consumption will be less.

The only other thing I'd suggest is that you try to only top up once a week, ideally on a Wednesday. To pay £15 to the debt, you need to put in £22 a (meter) week. This way you can see exactly where the money is going.

Some other screens that may help
00, 01, 02, 03 - show you what happened to your last top up
09, 10 - the price of gas p/kWh
24 - the 70%
28-31 - other debt screens, usually for charges.

DVardysShadow

SwanJon wrote: »

Some other screens that may help
00, 01, 02, 03 - show you what happened to your last top up
09, 10 - the price of gas p/kWh
24 - the 70%
28-31 - other debt screens, usually for charges.

SwanJon, that is top stuff for this sort of issue. Is the full information available anywhere online?

vik6525

SwanJon wrote: »

You can check the settings on the meter -
from the screen showing you credit (with the card out), press and hold the red button until the screen changes - you'll see a number in the corner.
If you press it again, the number will change.
You are looking for 27 - the debt remaining, and 26 - the weekly payment.

Check 26 doesn't say more than £7 first...

Ok... so I did that....

24 says 70%, 25 says 0 and 26 says 0.