British Gas Prepayment meters- Home top up now available

magoogy

sorry bextech i didnt make myself too clear....i have initially phoned about reducing costs and got onto the subject of these meter top ups too.....

stokefan

does anyone know when ebico/southen electric customers will bw getting these??

also what a fantastic idea

Joyful

I believe BG have the licence for 1 year for the Gas. Last year we trialled top up by phone and had the license for that for 1 year. I have seen advertising that Scottish Power have the electric top up now by internet but have not heard of any other company.

djtomturner

This is an amazing thing for the pre payment infrastructure and really does solve so many problems for customers.

Massive help for the vulnerable / elderley customer!

I have been talking about this type of thing for so long (I work for E.on and on pre payment dept).

Joyful

I agree. I have had a great response from all types of Customers. Just need to get the older ones to appreciate the internet.lol

fay1

BexTech wrote: »

The only way you are going to reduce your bills is to switch to a cheaper supplier if there is one, or use less energy.

These pre-payment meters and home top-ups in themselves won't reduce costs, in fact nearly all the time increase costs, so with them if you want to save money you have to cut down even more on energy use.

i use pre payment meters,they was already there when i moved in
and i much prefer it to getting bills
it does save money because you can control what you are spending instead of having high costs and getting big bills

Plushchris

fay1 wrote: »

i use pre payment meters,they was already there when i moved in
and i much prefer it to getting bills
it does save money because you can control what you are spending instead of having high costs and getting big bills

They do not save you money, they may help you budget more easily but that isnt the same as saving money.

If the price you pay for a Kwh of electricity on a prepay meter is say 12p and the price you pay for the same Kwh of electricity paying by direct debit costs 8p then paying by DD saves you money not prepay meters.

You can still keep track of your usage with an energy monitor or by using something like BG's energysmart (I think Npower have something similar now too)

kjsmith7

More info for you all:
Prepayment home top up - http://www.britishgas.co.uk/topup
EnergySmart (for credit meters/quarterly bill/direct debit customers) - http://www.britishgas.co.uk/products-and-services/energy/our-products/energysmart.html

fay1

im not bothered about those extra pence ,it saves me money because at the end when people get their bills after an harsh winter,they are short of money
mine is already paid for and i dont have the heating on 24-7 ,i put an extra jumper on extra covers on my bed etc,it is preferable to being in debt through getting a big bill
and for instance i switch lights off or tv when im not in the room ,because i know exactly how much energy i have left and when i will be buying some more

geotherm

I Agree with fay1 and it's all about better control of your electric and gas usage.

Gas and electric both on pre-payment for the last 6 years and I would not change a thing and with Home Energy Top Up it takes all the hassle (easy top up) and worry (big bills arriving) out of using gas and electricity, all under control now and very happy with it all, well done British Gas.