Can I switch supplier whilst I have a card meter?

d0nnyoz

Hi

I now have a card meter supplied by E.ON for my Gas.
I had racked up a debt with them of about £1k. This happened when I moved into my new home and I simply didn't do anything about the gas, electricity or the water. Thankfully I managed to get the water under control and I paid large chunks of money to my duel-fuel account with E.ON only to find it was reducing my Electricity bill only, so my Gas was left way too high.

They threatened a card meter.
I wrote to them with a complete breakdown of my usage based on 24 months and also my payment plan (I had been paying them £150/month just for my gas for well over 24 months and never missed a payment).
They said I was using nearly £200 per month but my calculations were that I was using about £140 on average across a 12 month rolling cycle.
I offered to increase this in order to clear the debt over 12 months but they refused. They said they would rather take the £10/month I would have to keep on my card meter to clear the debt. Even when I reminded them that this would take nearly 10 years to pay off, they said they wanted that as it was guaranteed income?! Doh!
Like I was a bad monthly payer anyway!!!

Onto the point of this post.
Can I switch supplier with a) an outstanding debt and b) with a card meter?

I can't afford to pay off the debt in one lump sum but can eat into it quite well over a couple of months.
The problem I've got is I'm not sure how I can do that with this meter - I currently have £90 on the meter but the meter simply eats something like 84p a week for debt!!! So even if I slam loads of money on the meter, it just goes as credit to use rather than the debt coming down by more.
And I have no idea how much I have paid or how much of the debt I have repaid. I don't get any statements from E.ON anymore about my gas!

D0nny

spiro

1) The meter will only collect the debt at the weekly 'debt recovery rate' set by your supplier. If you want to make additional payments off your debt do this by phoning the supplier and make the payment directly. Once you have done this you need to check that they adjust the total debt on your meter.
2) You can only swap with a debt if the new supplier is willing to take on the debt, dont know whichs ones do or dont.
3) Remember that over the winter you will use 5-6 times more gas than during the summer so try and build up the credit on the meter or put money away to cover this now.

d0nnyoz

Thanks spiro.

I have a Standing Order setup with these guys so I'll start paying some money towards that.
Once I have done this, how do I get them to adjust the meter? Do they physically have to come out and do that?

And thanks for the advice about building up my credit, which I am doing now. I am using about £15 of gas a week right now so I'm preparing to use about £50 a week during the high of winter! Maybe more!

D0nny

Former_E.ON_Company_Representative:_Malc

Hi d0nnyoz

You can certainly change supplier with a Prepayment card meter, even if there's a debt. You'll be ok, provided the total amount owing is less than £200 and there are no outstanding disputes on the account.

All suppliers, including E.ON, are bound by the Debt Assignment Protocol. This is a requirement of the Ombudsman which means a supplier must take on a debt (up to £200) if a customer with a prepayment meter requests to move to them.

If you contact the supplier of your choice, they will start the ball rolling. Once the switch is complete, the outstanding debt will be transferred to the new supplier.

As spiro says, you can make additional payments to reduce the debt. Just call one of our prepayment teams to arrange this. They will take the payment and send a message to the meter to adjust the total amount owing.

You can see the amount of debt remaining by checking the settings on the meter.

To do this, press the red button A on the front of the meter. The display will change each time you press the button.

On Quantum gas meters, the total amount of debt remaining can be seen on screen 27. The weekly re-payment rate will be on screen 26. The card will need to be in the meter to see these settings.

Statements for prepayment customers are sent every 6 months. However, if you've registered with our website, you won't receive a paper copy but will be able to see statements online.

You can request a statement at any time. Just give us a call with up to date meter readings and we'll be happy to send you one.

Alternatively, if you are online, you can request a statement through the Real Time Billing facility. Pop in your readings and select the option to Request a Bill.

Hope this helps d0nnyoz. Give me a shout if you need any more info as will be happy to help.

Malc

d0nnyoz

Hey E.ON Co. Rep!
Now that's what I call service!!! Best service I've had from E.ON EVER!!!!! You deserve a pay rise!

And thanks for the info on the meter display - I have never been told any of this by anyone previously, so thanks a lot, big time!!!

After re-reading your message, I can't believe someone like you, with your VERY helpful message works for E.ON. Are you just pretending? Does you mum work for them or something and you're trying to keep her name good! :rotfl:

Former_E.ON_Company_Representative:_Malc

Glad it was helpful d0nnyoz and many thanks for the kind comments. Hope the boss man sees them! :j

My mum doesn't work here, honest! Mind you, she's 90 this year so probably deserves a rest.

Hope it all turns out ok.

Malc

d0nnyoz

Hi E.ON rep

None of your tips helped me with my meter.
My meter is a GW meter - put the card in and I have an 'A' button and a black 'B' button, but with the card in, none of these tips work.
Is there anyway of getting the info you mentioned from my type of meter?

D

Former_E.ON_Company_Representative:_Malc

Hi d0nnyoz

Sorry you're struggling to see the settings you need.

I'd try without the card first. Scroll through to setting 24 by pressing button A. At this setting, put the card in and continue pressing button A until you reach the relevant screen.

There's some more info on our website which might help. If you click on Existing Customers and then Understanding Prepayment Meters from the left hand menu, this will take you to a section for Gas Prepayment Meters. Some decent info here.

Hope this helps d0nnyoz. As ever, give me a shout if you need any more info as always happy to help.

Malc

d0nnyoz

Nice one!
That worked. I note you need to hold the 'A' button in for a time before it accesses the menu system.

All seems to work fine. Does the debt reduce on the meter or not? My debt seems to be as high as ever!

spiro

d0nnyoz wrote: »

Nice one!
That worked. I note you need to hold the 'A' button in for a time before it accesses the menu system.

All seems to work fine. Does the debt reduce on the meter or not? My debt seems to be as high as ever!

One of the screens should show the Debt Recovery Rate, see what that is set to.

Former_E.ON_Company_Representative:_Malc

d0nnyoz wrote: »

Nice one!
That worked. I note you need to hold the 'A' button in for a time before it accesses the menu system.

All seems to work fine. Does the debt reduce on the meter or not? My debt seems to be as high as ever!

Hi d0nnyoz

Glad that worked. :j

Yes, the debt reduces each time you top up.

Just a quick heads up; you may not have topped up so regularly over the warmer summer months. If this is the case, the agreed payments may not have been taken every week if there wasn't enough credit on the meter.

Don't worry about this. Any missing payments will eventually be taken whilst at the same time making sure you have enough credit left to keep the gas on.

Hope this helps d0nnyoz. Give me a shout if you need any more info. Always happy to help.

Malc