Is there a way of getting off prepayment meters if you have debt on them?

inkyqueen

Hi everyone,
I am new to the forum and basically looking for some advice. My Husband got a new job in december, we have noticed we are much better off & i am now looking through our income etc, so that we can save and get our debt paid off much faster.

We currently have prepayment meters, I had these fitted when i got into debt with my supplier, this was before my husband moved in, before i got married etc, the bills are still in my maiden name.

After speaking to my parents last night they told me that they pay £114 combined gas & electric, they are on credit meters (the normal pay by direct debit ones, not prepayment). I pay £40 per week on my gas meter & £25 on my electric meter. So a stupid amount of money on my gas and electric.

I have spoken to Npower this morning about changing to normal meters and using the money that i am saving from paying on my prepayment meters to pay off the debt outstanding by direct debit. They have said a straight forward no.

My husband is wiling to have the gas and electric in his name, and what i want to know is if i can get rid of these prepayment meters so that we can start a fresh with credit meters, which will in turn save us money and then i can pay the money to pay off my debt with npower.

I seem to have hit a wall as i dont know how i can do this, npower said that she could put up my debt collection amount from £3 on my meter, but as I am already topping up a silly amount on my meter i dont want to do this.

I topped up my meter by £10 on saturday afternoon and i have £1.21 left on it, I was out all day yesterday so the gas was off & I do not have the gas on high all the time.

I have two children under the age of 16 (8 & 6).

Can any one offer any advice?
Many Thanks

dan3811991119

No supplier in there right mind will give u a credit meter while u owe them money.

Then most if not all will want you to pass a credit check they may charge for the meters too.

One persons usage don't mean to say you would use the same. Pre payment meters charge the same for gas and electric as the suppliers standard tariff. Credit meter customers are not much better off cost wise after the direct debit discount.

The reason your cost is so high is they are taken cash for your debt.

inkyqueen

so even if my husband did it in his name? does it go on the address or the people living in it?

Nada666

If you are struggling to pay off the ongoing meter payments then there is little point changing. The difference will be five percent or ten percent at most and will be narrowing.

If you currently struggle to pay £260 per month on prepayment then accruing £230 or £240 on a direct debit tariff (or £700 on a quarterly demand) will not be much help to you.

You have to look at how much you are spending over winter and compare that with how much you use when the heating is off. Concentrate on paying the ongoing heating bill over the rest of (prolonged) winter. Once the heating is off start saving the money to pay off the debt or prepare for next winter. It depends on the size of debt which is more sensible.

You should also monitor your meter using the readings in units (not money spent) and determine if your usage is high and whether or not there are savings to be made there.

Note that if your debt is less than £200 then you are free to change to a different supplier keeping the prepayment meters. If that is the case then use a comparison site to check the prices of prepayment tariffs from other suppliers.

zzzLazyDaisy

If your name comes off the bills (say if you moved) you would receive a final bill for the remaining debt. Do you have the money to pay that final bill?

dan3811991119

inkyqueen wrote: »

so even if my husband did it in his name? does it go on the address or the people living in it?

Yes.

The company would want to know where you have gone to and would refuse the name change as your still there.

Your not paying much more anyway then other standard tariff users. Your comparison between you and someone else if not the correct way to compare as you could use more then they do. Plus you have your debt payments coming off.

dan3811991119

zzzLazyDaisy wrote: »

If your name comes off the bills (say if you moved) you would receive a final bill for the remaining debt. Do you have the money to pay that final bill?

To say she has moved when she has not is fraud.

Nada666

inkyqueen wrote: »

so even if my husband did it in his name? does it go on the address or the people living in it?

That is deliberate fraud. It is easy to get away with but is not really going to solve your root problem. Get a handle on your usage and get a handle on saving up over summer or paying on demand in winter. Changing to quarterly bills or direct debits is not going to help you significantly. Start practising discipline now and see what happens by the end of summer.

zzzLazyDaisy

dan3811991119 wrote: »

To say she has moved when she has not is fraud.

I was not suggesting that. I was responding to OP's point that IF she did move
her name would have to come off the bill, as if that was somehow a magical solution to her problem.

inkyqueen

I am sorry, but I haven't said that i would be commiting any type of fraud!!!! so i think some where along the lines some wires have been crossed.
I also think it is slightly rude to assume that is what will be happening!!!

My husband suggested that he have the gas and electric in his name, if we were allowed to have credit meters, purly because with the debt i have on the gas meter a new company would not give me a credit meter. I have every intention of paying my debt from the gas meter, but i was hoping to pay more per month off of it, but as i am getting a standing charge every time i top up as well as the debt collection just for having a prepayment meter I know that i could pay more off the gas, I have offered direct debit and card details to pay off the debt rather than it come from my meter.

I am not looking to commit fraud, I have been in sever debt in the past and have learnt my lesson, I owe £980 on my gas bill and i have just 6 loan payments left thats it then, i will be debt free! The only thing i wanted to know was if there was any quicker way of paying off this debt without having a prepayment meter fitted.

Maybe i didnt explain my first post clearly enough.

dan3811991119

Its fraud to attempt to change the names to get credit meters in as they would want to know where you have gone. Then if he is not going to commit fraud he would say........YOUR STILL LIVING WITH HIM. Then they would outright refuse the exchange. If you really want to do this you need to pay your debt FIRST, change supplier so you have a fresh start then PASS a credit check.

NO OTHER WAY TO DO IT OFFICIALLY. N POWER WILL ALWAYS REFUSE BECAUSE OF PAST DEBT ISSUES.