Gas/Elec arrears - advice required.

Britwife

I wouldn't advise letting it go to a meter. Once they are on, they are nearly impossible to remove.

We had some issues about 2 years ago and I hate that they base your payments on yearly usage instead of what you owe.

You can cut down on utilities just as easy as if you had a meter. Turn your fridge and freezer down a notch if you can. We only use our heating in the morning and at night and use the gas fire during the day if needed. If we're really cold, we just put a warm jumper on. We don't waste our energy. Our biggest saver was doing away with one of our freezers, it was nice to have the extra storage for freezer goods, but the freezer was old and probably an E energy rating. Our dd is now going down on both gas and electric and we are so pleased because we are still warm and still have hot water. Water is heated early am once a day and we have enough for washing hands all day, washing up the dishes (no dishwasher needed for this family of 5), and a bath for our little ones at the end of the day.

I really hope you get help without having to get a meter. You do pay more for usuage. And meter or no meter, you pretty much pay as you go because you still have to pay for what you use at the end of the day.

Best wishes

barbiedoll

I just wanted to reply to this thread and to give a bit of advice regarding pre-pay meters. A few years ago, I had a temporary job with an energy company. My husband's ex-wife was using a pre-pay meter and she had been repaying an earlier bill which was no more than a couple of hundred pounds. She told me that for every £10 she put on her meter key, £2 was paid towards her outstanding debt. I was able to access her account (with her permission!) and immediately saw that the debt had long since been paid but that she was still repaying the £2 each time she put money on her meter and she was in fact, in credit by more than £800 :eek:
I told her to call the company and to ask if her debt had been repaid. To their credit, the operator was very helpful and arranged for a refund to be paid to her immediately. But if she hadn't been informed, she would probably still be overpaying on her account and the energy company would still be sitting on her money. If you are paying a debt on a pre-pay meter, call the company every six months or so and ask how much of your debt has been paid off and how much is remaining. Don't assume that they will stop collecting your overpayment when the debt is paid, because they probably won't!

foolishqueen

That's shocking barbiedoll. I didn't realise this could happen. although I'm sure the surprise £800 came in handy!

I echo the sentiments of what a couple of you have said that once on a payg it's quite hard to come off one, hence why I'd rather not go there in the first place. I've been in touch with the Scottish Power guy, so hopefully I can avoid the pre pay meter, although I fear my usage and amount of arrears means what they want each month will be more than I can afford to pay