Electric meter reading, but On pre pay

vik6525

Anyone got any idea why this is?

Ive got a 'key' meter, which Im very happy with. But last week, I got home from work to find a note had been pushed through the door saying someone had been to read my meter, and could I provide them with a reading.

Why would they need to read my meter?

PennyPinchingMiser

vik6525 wrote: »

Why would they need to read my meter?

Too see how much electric you've used, perchance?

vik6525

PennyPinchingMiser wrote: »

Too see how much electric you've used, perchance?

Blimey, I hadnt thought of that one :rolleyes:


Im obviously not going to get a bill, which is why I was wondering what theyd need the readings for.

PennyPinchingMiser

vik6525 wrote: »

Blimey, I hadnt thought of that one :rolleyes:


Im obviously not going to get a bill, which is why I was wondering what theyd need the readings for.

What makes you think you're not going to get a bill?

What if you've used more electric than you've paid for?

vik6525

PennyPinchingMiser wrote: »

What makes you think you're not going to get a bill?

What if you've used more electric than you've paid for?

If you can explain to me how thats physically possible, then Id be most grateful.

spiro

If you have a prepayment meter they are supposed to inspect it once every two years, this is normally done by the meter reader.
Normally your supplier gets readings back via the device and you vending but it could be possible there was an issue and they want a readings.
With Key meters you cant end up paying the wrong price like you could with the token meters because the device updates the prices on the meter rather than a person having to visit to do it.

PennyPinchingMiser

Well, on some meters, you buy electricity in £s, not units. So you buy, say £5 worth of electric, and the meter credits with £5s worth of electric, but the tariff set in the meter is wrong, so it lets you use more units that £5 buys.

i.e. say the meter is set to 10p per unit, but the real cost is 20p per unit. You put £5 in the meter, but use £10 worth of electric.

It works the other way as well, for paying off debt. So you put in a £5 token, but only actually get £3 worth of electric, paying off £2 of debt

vik6525

PennyPinchingMiser wrote: »

Well, on some meters, you buy electricity in £s, not units. So you buy, say £5 worth of electric, and the meter credits with £5s worth of electric, but the tariff set in the meter is wrong, so it lets you use more units that £5 buys.

i.e. say the meter is set to 10p per unit, but the real cost is 20p per unit. You put £5 in the meter, but use £10 worth of electric.

It works the other way as well, for paying off debt. So you put in a £5 token, but only actually get £3 worth of electric, paying off £2 of debt

Thats all it would have taken... :rolleyes:

markharding557

my gas meter gets read about every 6-9months but i don't think my electric key meter gets read at all.
at least i can't remember it being read.
users should always make sure the meter tarrif settings match the published tarriffs and if they don't get on their case untill they do.