Are pre-payment meters that bad?

Soleil_lune

My friend has one for the gas and one for the electric, and she has been using roughly £1.20 a day for the electric and about 80 pence a day for the gas, since she moved to her 2 bed house about 3 months ago. The pre-payment meters were already there, and she just hasn't got round to getting them changed yet, I am guessing this rather low amount is going to get bigger in the winter, but this is very low! Yet I thought they were supposed to be a rip off! The amounts are around £32-£33 a month for electric and about £25 a month for gas.

She said that in the last house she was in, that was roughly the same size but with one more bedroom; she was paying direct debits of £75 a month for electric and £95 a month for gas! And she had been paying a lot for the past 2 years. Early 2011, she was paying around £50 for electric and £70 for gas, but by June 2013 when she left, she was paying £75 for electric and £90 for gas. She said it went up every few months!

Yet now her electric is only about £30 to £33 a month! In addition, she put £30 credit in her gas meter 5 weeks ago, and still has five pounds left! So she is using about five pounds a week in gas! Yet the direct debit was £95 a month. I know it's been summer for the last 3 months, but I don't see that she will be using a massive amount more in the winter: not much more electric anyway.

So is it really such a bad idea to have prepayment meters? Sounds like she was paying a lot more before! And also, there is the nice side to it: you don't get bills!

But I hear so many negative things about them. (My gas and electric DDs are about £130 in total by the way, and I am getting very tempted to change to pre-payment. I think paying in advance like you do for petrol and food etc, is a much better idea.)

Any thoughts?

ViolaLass

Might it not mean that her new house is cheaper to run, rather than the meter is better?

sadbrokegirl

Hi,

I don't think they are bad at all, I always had pre-payment meters and last winter I was paying £50 electric and £30 gas ( my cooker is electric), I prefer meters as I am in control of what I spend and they still £5 emergency if I run out of money. If I need to stretch the money on the meters I just reduce the use, its easier to borrow £20 from a friend to put electric that ask £70 to pay a bill, further I dont like DD in my account.

Soleil_lune

In answer to Viola Lass. (post #2) Thanks for replying

Well maybe; but it's basically the same size house and the same age: it just has one less bedroom. And the lounge is bigger and so is the hall. So overall, it's the same size. I just don't get why she (and me) can have been paying so much in gas and electric for so long, when she is putting in the PP meters, about a third of what she was paying on the DD.

Blackpool_Saver

maybe this house has a more efficient boiler?

Soleil_lune

Hello sadbrokegirl. (post #3)

Interesting response thank you! I was fully expecting really bad negative responses like 'DO NOT DO IT! DO NOT have prepayment meters!' And yet the first one from someone who has one is a good response. Thank you.

And hi to Blackpool saver #5 It may have a better boiler, but the bills do seem phenomenally lower, and what about the much lower electric? That is why I wondered if PP meters are that bad.

Nada666

£60 for summer months is not low, never mind very low. Not for a single person.

Prepayment meters are fine for some - the having to put your money up as you go along can prompt a modest consumption that can easily outweigh the small difference in price.

Of course, the best of both worlds is to implement a reduction in usage whilst maintaining the cheapest tariff - reading your meters every week (or more often) is a suitable alternative for some.

bob_bank_spanker

Soleil_lune wrote: »

Hello sadbrokegirl. (post #3)

Interesting response thank you! I was fully expecting really bad negative responses like 'DO NOT DO IT! DO NOT have prepayment meters!' And yet the first one from someone who has one is a good response. Thank you.

And hi to Blackpool saver #5 It may have a better boiler, but the bills do seem phenomenally lower, and what about the much lower electric? That is why I wondered if PP meters are that bad.

PPM's are no more expensive than suppliers standard tariff.

One thing to beware, your DD is meant to spread the cost over the year, PPM's may well appear cheap at the moment, but when winter hits and it's £200 a month (no exaggeration) they may not appear so grand.

Soleil_lune

Nada 666. (post #7) My friend is married with 2 children, not single, and she is in most of the day (most days,) and she does the washing 4 or 5 times a week (about 10 loads she says,) and she cooks every day with the gas. So I would say £60 a month for electric and gas is very cheap for a family of 4, especially compared to £170 a month! Although I guess it is going to go up in winter. My point is/was though, that the PP meter seems cheaper that the DD, when I had heard they were a rip off.

Soleil_lune

Thanks bob #8 I guess you do have a point, and it's hard to ascertain anything after only a summer in the house, but I just wondered what peoples views are on PP meters. I think it would help you budget better, but maybe best to see how her costs fare in winter before considering changing them!

ViolaLass

I don't think you're doing a fair comparison as you don't have all the facts. We moved from a three bed flat to a three bed house that is much bigger but our monthly bills have gone down. The house appears to be very energy efficient, helped by our neighbours having the heating on high.