Change electric from card meter to quarterly bill?

shelly

Hi all. Hoping for some advice.

I know that I currently pay more for my electricity by having a card meter than I would if I changed to quarterly bill and I'm *thinking* about changing. I'm not sure if its worth it though. I know from a spending POV its cheaper but I'm not sure its worth it from a peace of mind POV. At the moment I know I can't get a big bill drop on the mat, Iv'e heard of lots of people having trouble with ridiculously high bills, way more than they should be.
Hubby pays all the bills in the house by DD, except for the electricity, thats my bill, always has been so I chose to stay with the card meter.

How much would I save by changing over? I'm not sure if the monetary saving is worth losing my peace of mind over.
Also If I do change over and then decide I want to pay by card meter again can I do this without any penalties?

Edit to add....Powergen is my electricity provider.


Thanks all in advance.

laura0141

Hello

I'd recommend that you phone Powergen and ask them what the standing and unit charges are for card metered and quarterly billed customers. If you also ask them roughly how many units a day you use then you can work out what your quarterly bills would be (remembering that there's seasonal variation).

There isn't generally any penalty for changing from a card to a dry meter or the other way around.

The cheapest way to pay is usually by DD.

If you do decide to change make sure the engineer who comes out gives you a written record of the meter readings from both the old and the new meters - then check these against the bills you receive and continue to take, phone in and keep a record of your monthly readings.

Laura

taxi97w

laura0141 wrote:

The cheapest way to pay is usually by DD.



Laura

Cheapest? Raising your DD to almost double is not cheapest in my mind, it's frightening too! I have just changed to Ebico (Southern) and they do not have a standing charge for meters (Npower was nearly £20 a quarter if I remember rightly). To keep peace of mind and be in control, stay with the meter, but maybe consider changing supplier.:beer:

taxi97w

laura0141 wrote:

Hello

I'd recommend that you phone Powergen and ask them what the standing and unit charges are for card metered and quarterly billed customers. If you also ask them roughly how many units a day you use then you can work out what your quarterly bills would be (remembering that there's seasonal variation).


Laura

This should be on your (last) quarterly statement/bill which you get with or without a meter.

Cardew

taxi97w wrote:

Cheapest? Raising your DD to almost double is not cheapest in my mind, it's frightening too! I have just changed to Ebico (Southern) and they do not have a standing charge for meters (Npower was nearly £20 a quarter if I remember rightly). To keep peace of mind and be in control, stay with the meter, but maybe consider changing supplier.:beer:

Direct Debit is the cheapest method of paying for gas and electricity with almost every company.(not Ebico)

The only reason Direct Debits double/triple etc is because large debit balances have built up because the original DD was not sufficient to cover the cost of the gas/electricity. You then have to pay back that debt.

To 'stay in control' all you need to do is check your gas/electricity account.

taxi97w

Cardew wrote:

Direct Debit is the cheapest method of paying for gas and electricity with almost every company.(not Ebico)

The only reason Direct Debits double/triple etc is because large debit balances have built up because the original DD was not sufficient to cover the cost of the gas/electricity. You then have to pay back that debt.

To 'stay in control' all you need to do is check your gas/electricity account.

If you haven't got the funds in the bank for the suppliers to take out willy nilly, (and don't come back saying they can't take it out without your approval, because they do, there's a thread around at the moment)then I think it is not the cheapest. I stay in control by buying my own tokens and looking at my own meter in my own home. I don't do internet banking or any online line accounts either, because it may be cheaper and easier to you in the short term, but not when you get siphoned. DD is all about companies cutting out the cost of customer service staff at their branches. Whatever happened to going into Yorkshire Electricity and paying your bill. It doesn't exist anymore-you can't do it, that's what happened. Like i said, control.

espresso

Perhaps you should work out exactly how much more you are actually paying due to having a prepayment meter!

:rolleyes:

Cardew

taxi97w wrote:

If you haven't got the funds in the bank for the suppliers to take out willy nilly, (and don't come back saying they can't take it out without your approval, because they do, there's a thread around at the moment)then I think it is not the cheapest. I stay in control by buying my own tokens and looking at my own meter in my own home. I don't do internet banking or any online line accounts either, because it may be cheaper and easier to you in the short term, but not when you get siphoned. DD is all about companies cutting out the cost of customer service staff at their branches. Whatever happened to going into Yorkshire Electricity and paying your bill. It doesn't exist anymore-you can't do it, that's what happened. Like i said, control.

If pre-payment works for you that's fine; nobody is telling you to do otherwise. Howevever that doesn't alter the fact that it is a more expensive way of paying for your gas and electricity with most suppliers; and going out and buying tokens is a throwback to bygone days.

Of course DD is about companies cutting the cost of providing a service; that's why all companies encourage that form of payment, and why they provide gas/electricity cheaper - to encourage you to pay by DD.

There is nothing in the Direct Debit scheme(which is run by the Banks) that requires your approval for an increase or decrease in your DD payment. What companies must do is notify you of any increase/decrease. If you don't agree with the increase you can dispute it and stop paying by DD if you wish. But taking money out 'willy nilly' just doesn't happen.

Millions of people pay by DD and find it the best method of paying. You stay in control by understanding your bills. The problem is that many people just don't bother.

taxi97w

Cardew wrote:

If pre-payment works for you that's fine; nobody is telling you to do otherwise. Howevever that doesn't alter the fact that it is a more expensive way of paying for your gas and electricity with most suppliers; and going out and buying tokens is a throwback to bygone days.

Of course DD is about companies cutting the cost of providing a service; that's why all companies encourage that form of payment, and why they provide gas/electricity cheaper - to encourage you to pay by DD.

There is nothing in the Direct Debit scheme(which is run by the Banks) that requires your approval for an increase or decrease in your DD payment. What companies must do is notify you of any increase/decrease. If you don't agree with the increase you can dispute it and stop paying by DD if you wish. But taking money out 'willy nilly' just doesn't happen.

Millions of people pay by DD and find it the best method of paying. You stay in control by understanding your bills. The problem is that many people just don't bother.

One more time for the hard of understanding. I stay in control by not giving anyone access to my bank accounts. Just look at all the people on the gas & elec board who are freaking out because they gave control to these suppliers and the money situation in some of these cases is out of control. Oh and I don't buy the 'throwback to bygone days'. Just because it's old doesn't mean it doesn't work.

espresso

Have you still got a washboard and mangle?

:rotfl:

Cardew

taxi97w wrote:

One more time for the hard of understanding. I stay in control by not giving anyone access to my bank accounts. Just look at all the people on the gas & elec board who are freaking out because they gave control to these suppliers and the money situation in some of these cases is out of control. Oh and I don't buy the 'throwback to bygone days'. Just because it's old doesn't mean it doesn't work.

Perhaps I should repeat this S L O W L Y.

Nobody has made any criticism of your modus operandi. In fact, from your posts, I rather think that you have made a wise decision in the way you operate your account and stay in control.

I also totally accept that going and buying tokens from a shop works well, and would urge you to continue that practice.

However for those on this forum who feel capable of reading and understanding utility bills, and have a rudimentary grasp of how a bank account operates, it was pertinent to point out there are cheaper ways of obtaining gas and electricity than a pre-payment meter.