Why do people have pre payment electric and gas ?

Hermia

I have a key meter because I rent. The letting agency uses key meters in all of their properties and part of the tenancy agreement says you are not allowed to change them. I would much prefer to pay a bill as it would be more convenient and some people look at you like you are some sort of benefits scrounger when you go to get it charged up!

jamespir

we have a pound meter cause the landlord put it in

robchap_2

i have ppm's fitted i asked for them to be installed the day i moved in i owe no one a penny and plan to keep it that way i top up 100 pound on each meter when i runs down to 10 pound i do it again

Cardew

property.advert wrote: »

I moved back to the UK last year and I could have said I was Mickey Mouse and was born on 01/01/1901 and they would have just continued the electricity.

True, but had you moved into a property with Pre-Pay meters(PPM) fitted, you would have had a problem to get rid of them as you had come from abroad.

I suspect the Utility companies profile areas and customers, and it does cost them quite a lot of money to change PPMs for credit meters and have no guarantee that the customer will remain with that company.

blabberwort

JasX wrote: »

They're basically put in for financial delinquients who never have enough money in their bank account to pay their direct debits....

or people unfortunate enough to move into a property previously occupied by said delinquients who;ve not yet been able to get the meter replaced with a normal one again

I have a prepayment meter through choice. I am neither a delinquent, in debt with my electric company or not able to pay by direct debits. It's simply easier to budget and keep an eye on what electric your using.

I first got a prepayment meter because when we had a meter that we paid quarterly on we found it horrendous. Our bills were far more than we were using even though we had the meter checked by the company I still disagree that our readings were correct. This was pretty much proven when we chose to have that meter taken out and a prepayment one put in. We still had exactly the same lifestyle regarding what we used electricity wise and our payments went down by nearly half.

Since then I have always had prepayment meters, I trust them far more than the other ones.

Pincher

What about sharers?

Funny how they all want quarterly bills, and move out two days before the bill turns up.

brokeinwales

I rent, usually on short term contracts, and a lot of the rented properties I've lived in have had pre-payment meters, so rather than go through the hassle of getting it changed just for the six months or year I was living there, I've stuck with it.

Shared houses and student lets often also have pre-payment meters as a matter of course as when you're living somewhere for an unspecified amount of time, with people you aren't related to setting up a direct debit can be an uneccesary hassle, not to mention leaving a trail on your credit record if you have multiple changes of address (most students and young renters leave their "official" address as their parents home until they actually buy a place.)

To be honest it does make you more concious of how much electricity you use, because you can't help but know when you've run out! Even though the electricity is more expensive per unit, I'm convinced I spend less when I'm living with a pre-payment meter than when I'm not, because I'm more careful. I can definetly see why people choose to have them - it's a bit like having a PAYG mobile phone.

Also - in common with many other people I know, I don't trust direct debits - particularly for unspecified amounts. I like full control of my own money - on payday I like to go out and purchase all my essentials for the month, pay in cash for what I use, before I use it and not to worry about when a bill is going to turn up and for what amount and when the money will get taken- not leave it up to some company with hopeless admin systems. For the very same reason, I also don't have a credit card.

Owain_Moneysaver

I had a prepayment meter and took it out, and changed supplier - lecky bill just about halved!

JasX

Owain_Moneysaver wrote: »

I had a prepayment meter and took it out, and changed supplier - lecky bill just about halved!

...and not counting cashback offers you had/could have had on top no doubt

SwanJon

Premier wrote: »

Why the mad emoticon?
Has anyone in this thread suggested everyone with prepay meters are in debt?
:huh:

JasX wrote: »

They're basically put in for financial delinquients who never have enough money in their bank account to pay their direct debits....

There does seem to be a huge stigma with these meters (confirmed by posts on here).
As technology improves, and the cost comes down hopefully this will change - someone mentioned topping up using different cards.
I think Smart meters will blur the line a bit more, and hopefully offer better tariffs.