Owing money from prepayment meter?

HugoRune_2

Hi
Could someone enlighten me on this please, i recently changed from a prepayment electric meter to quarterly bills, however the energy company are saying I owe 200 quid from the time I had the prepayment meter, I just presumed I was pre paying for any electric I used, but it looks as if this is not the case. Is a prepayment meter not prepaying then?

Thanks

tr03bor

it is, but if the meter is not updated with the company's current prices, then you can get into an outstanding balance because your being charge on old prices.

BexTech

HugoRune wrote:

Hi
Could someone enlighten me on this please, i recently changed from a prepayment electric meter to quarterly bills, however the energy company are saying I owe 200 quid from the time I had the prepayment meter, I just presumed I was pre paying for any electric I used, but it looks as if this is not the case. Is a prepayment meter not prepaying then?

Thanks

I've had to explain this to many people over the years.

Often the rate set on the pre-payment meter isn't the rate you are charged by your supplier.

This is why your meter should still be being read and you get a statement every 12 months, on that statement you should see whether you are in credit or in debt.

Before and slightly after there was competition there wasn't that great of change in the prices, and the energy company used to send you a card that would update the meters with the new prices (depending on meter type) and often you would find you were in credit and would receive a cheque refund. Since there has been competition and prices have been going up pretty quickly meters may not have been updated with the correct prices therefore you aren't adding enough credit to cover the actual cost.

Yes, pre-payment meters are for pre-paying, but if the rate isn't kept up to date then you won't be paying enough to cover fuel used.

Pre-payment meters are awful things, having to go out and get credit and then be charged a fortune for what amounts to not being good at budgeting and money management to then find out what you pay might not cover the bill. Nothing new here, has been like like for many years.

Pre-payment is the dearest way to pay for energy, followed by quarterly billing, monthly direct debit is the cheapest.

eBico charges the same rates for all types of payment, however for many they aren't the cheapest.

HugoRune_2

Thanks, I switched it over as I heard the rate was not good. It seems the term prepayment meter is rather misleading to say the least, and it was quite a shock to get the bill. Perhaps calling it "paying something towards your bill" meter would be better.

flushfolder

why should we have to make sure they are charging us enough?
surely it is up to the utilities to check that they are charging correctly after an increase?
the deal is we pay over the odds for electric and if we dont buy a card we dont get any!. all they have to do is read the meter and adjust it when necessary!
am i being too naieeve?

BexTech

Problem is the people who read your meter are from a meter read company and maybe not a meter read company owned by your energy supplier, every person in your street could be with a different provider / on a different tariff.

Depending on type of meter what usually happens is you are sent an update card, you put it in your meter press a few buttons and the rates update, but different people have different types of meter and are updated differently.

Cardew

flushfolder wrote:

why should we have to make sure they are charging us enough?
surely it is up to the utilities to check that they are charging correctly after an increase?
the deal is we pay over the odds for electric and if we dont buy a card we dont get any!. all they have to do is read the meter and adjust it when necessary!
am i being too naieeve?

Using prepayment meter does not mean, and was never meant to mean, you are paying for 'exactly' the right amount for your electricity, but is merely away of collecting money toward a bill so the customer is not faced with a large bill that they cannot pay.

If electricity prices go up on, say, 01 September this may affect a million customers with pre-payment meters. How could anyone expect all those meters to be adjusted on 01 September - people out at work, on holiday etc and the meter reader/adjuster unable to gain access.

BexTech

....and this is why you always get statements informing you how much you have paid and whether you owe money or they owe you money, before all the recent rises it was common for them to owe you money and why they used to issue you with cheques.

flushfolder

how about if the amount is huge and i dont agree with there estimate?

BexTech

flushfolder wrote:

how about if the amount is huge and i dont agree with there estimate?

Then read the meter and provide the actual readings.

You should at least be reading and keeping record of your meter readings on a monthly basis, weekly would be better. That way you can make sure you don't end up paying a higher rate for energy used when the rates go up. For example you may have used a fair amount of energy whilst the costs were low, and then reduced your needs when the prices went up, however if you hadn't kept them up to date with the correct meter readings they will base an average on past use and they can then say for example 33% was used at the cheaper rates and 66% used at the dearer rates, when it may have been you used 66% at the cheaper rates and 33% at the dearer rates, as you didn't keep supplying them with correct meter readings there is little you are going to be able to do.

Please people in the future stop just accepting estimate readings, ALWAYS check your meter readings and if they are hugely out, call up and let them know, and keep a record each week / month of the readings.

It is in your own interests to check what rates your meter is charging you, on many it's just a case of press a button and reading what the daily charge is and the £/KWH is and compare that with the rate you are told you will be paying, if it differs call up your provider and they should send out an update card.

flushfolder

it was a new meter reading 000000
they took out the pre pay meter after 15 years and than sent me a letter threatening court action for non payment.
i have asked them for a bill (itemised) but have received nothing.