problem with electric prepaid meter

lyndac40

I cant believe this has happened again. I posted in here before about the same problem I am not sure how to link this page to my other could some one help me with it. I am now with another company.

I had a wee look at my electric meter yesterday and noticed there was a debt on it and £3.40 a week was coming of for the debt. I don't have any debt. So I called them as soon as I could today. They have no idea where the debt has come from but they could tell me it was added in March. They gave me a number to take to the Post office to add £49.00 credit to my meter all the £3.40 I had paid since March, they said I was to put my key in and leave it for 2mins and it would clear the debt. I did this today and the debt is still showing and the £3.40 a week is still showing so I will need to call them again tomorrow again to see if they can sort it out.

I am writing this post as a warning to anyone who has a Pre paid meter so they can check it. I cant believe this has happened to me twice. The reason I have these type of meters is because I am on ESA at the moment and they are easier for me to budget my fortnightly money not to pay back a debt that I don't even have.

Premier_2

It can sometimes take 4-5 top-ups for the meter to update and remove an old debt.

lyndac40

Hi premier. I spoke a very helpful lady today from British gas as the debt is still getting taken off, its seems my meter is not the kind of meter than can be reset remotely. How that is I have no idea when they can add the debt on remotely. Any way she is sending an engineer to reset the meter on Friday the only thing with this is that i may now loss the £57 credit I have in my meter and will have to call them again on Friday after the engineer has been to get the £57 re credited. What a joke. I was just wondering if any one would now when I was with Scottish power I was still using my old key I am still using the same key so could Scottish power still have the number for that key and have sent the debt back to my meter again after all the trouble I had with them last year. I am going to ask for a new key to be sent out on Friday when I get in touch with British gas again. xxxx

eurmalian

Premier: That applies to messages sent to get picked up on standard top ups. The number that you take to the Post Office (or Paypoint, Payzone, etc) works in a different way. As soon at the agent puts the key into the terminal and types in the number it will download the message straight away.

lyndac40: There is unfortunately a particular version of electric meter that cannot be reset or cleared remotely. Credits and debts can be set to them, but not instructions to clear and reset the meter.

For the other question, no. No matter which key you are using, only your current supplier can send any debts or credits to your meter.

Premier_2

lyndac40 wrote: »

Hi premier. I spoke a very helpful lady today from British gas as the debt is still getting taken off, its seems my meter is not the kind of meter than can be reset remotely. How that is I have no idea when they can add the debt on remotely. Any way she is sending an engineer to reset the meter on Friday the only thing with this is that i may now loss the £57 credit I have in my meter and will have to call them again on Friday after the engineer has been to get the £57 re credited. What a joke. I was just wondering if any one would now when I was with Scottish power I was still using my old key I am still using the same key so could Scottish power still have the number for that key and have sent the debt back to my meter again after all the trouble I had with them last year. I am going to ask for a new key to be sent out on Friday when I get in touch with British gas again. xxxx

When you changed supplier, you should have been given a new key. - otherwise any money you pay is still going to SP and BG are not getting paid for the energy you are consuming.

If there was an outstanding debt (up to £200) on the meter when you switched supplier, then the debt should have been transferred too.

Don't worry about overpaying. Whilst the meter may seem like a vending machine, that is not the way it operates. It is in fact simply a may to ensure you pay as you go, but there is an account being kept like there would be for a credit meter. You are charged for what you use at the applicable rate. All the meter does is ensure you pay as you go, so avoiding creating a debt. If an overpayment is created due to a wrongly set meter, then that will show on your account and you will be refunded.

eurmalian

Premier wrote: »

When you changed supplier, you should have been given a new key. - otherwise any money you pay is still going to SP and BG are not getting paid for the energy you are consuming.

Provided BG have let Payppoint know that they are now that supplier (which should happen at the point that the supply changes over) then Paypoint will send any payments you make straight to BG. All they key does is link your meter with a particular account at Paypoint, it doesn't fix you with one supplier.

The problem with using an old SP key is that the instruction to put BGs prices onto the meter is linked to using the BG key. So even though you've been with BG for months, you may still be paying the SP prices...

lyndac40

Premier wrote: »

When you changed supplier, you should have been given a new key. - otherwise any money you pay is still going to SP and BG are not getting paid for the energy you are consuming.

If there was an outstanding debt (up to £200) on the meter when you switched supplier, then the debt should have been transferred too.

I have always used the same key the key is a BG key. I have had this key since in moved into the house years ago. I don't have any debt on my meter I have never had any debt on this meter. Scottish power did the same as BG and put a Debt on the meter without me knowing it. It took ages for me to get the debt fixed out when I was with Scottish Power that was the reason I moved to BG. I had to charge the key many times before it stopped taking the money off. But the debt was never cleared of the meter it was always there but they stopped taking the weekly charge for the Debt. That's the reason I asked about the key if Scottish Power could have sent the Debt back again. Scottish Power told me the Debt had been put on in ERROR it should have gone to someone else's account but they had put the account number in wrong so it went to mines instead. xxx

lyndac40

Hi everyone just a wee update,

British gas man came out on Friday he totally reset the whole meter and put it through as if I was a new customer and gave me a new key. Debt and weekly debt amount are now of the meter YEEEE HAAAAAA. A lot easier to fix out then when I had the same problem with Scottish power. I will still be keeping an eye on the meter to make sure no unexpected DEBT appear. xxxxxx