Prepayment meters, good or bad?

sheffield_lad

Joyful, nice post. If you can be organised with your money and capable of being able to read your own meter a credit meter is the best option but let's face it millions are clueless when it comes to budgets and reading meters/bills and often a pp meter is the best way for many to budget for electric & gas. Let's face 50% of new posters on here fit this description.

It also acts as a great way to reduce usage, when folk move into a property with a pp they soon realise the costs of electric heating/immersions where as with credit meters the first bill can often put some straight into debt.

C_Mababejive

I thought OFGEM sabre rattled a few years ago and compelled energy cos to charge pretty much the same rates via pp?

WantToBeSE

I have PP meters and don't have a problem with them. I put £40 p/m on each (gas and elec), sometimes less on the gas at this time of the year, but always at least £20 so that I have built some credit up for during the winter.

Bluebirdman_of_Alcathays

WantToBeSE wrote: »

I have PP meters and don't have a problem with them. I put £40 p/m on each (gas and elec), sometimes less on the gas at this time of the year, but always at least £20 so that I have built some credit up for during the winter.

But surely if you possess the fiscal discipline to do this, you can ensure there's enough money in your account and pay by DD? It's a hell of a lot cheaper that way.

Modgepodge

I would t bother if your planning on renting out. Both times I've lived somewhere with a prepayment metre I've phoned up during the first week of living there and had it changed over.

No bill shock? Within 3 days of living there my hot water cut out. I naively phoned the gas company thinking something must be wrong - the LL had put £20 in the day we moved in. Turned out we had used £20 in 3 days...biggest shock of my life! Worst thing was, we hadn't yet received the top up key from the company; cue 3 days of no gas while we waited for them to send an engineer to add so e emergency credit (or something...I can't remember the exact details. I just remember being able to see my breathe at night in bed and having no hot water or ability to cook.)

Yeah, they're fantastic.

WantToBeSE

Bluebirdman_of_Alcathays wrote: »

But surely if you possess the fiscal discipline to do this, you can ensure there's enough money in your account and pay by DD? It's a hell of a lot cheaper that way.

For some reason, the council wont let me change. I did ask when I moved in, but they said no (its a council house).

Maz

A friend of mine moved into rented accomodation with PP meters a few months ago. She knows the previous tenants and they warned her that she will be paying over the odds for her energy with them. According to previous tenants, PP meters now have to charge standard tariff for Kwh but there are lots of 'hidden' charges which make them more expensive than credit meters.

I don't know anything about PP meters but I do know my friend is using £50-£60 of electricity per month in a very small, 2 bed cottage with single occupancy! Seems a lot when I use around £30 of electricity in a three bed three storey house and there are two of us. Her landlady won't let her change them either.

Don't know how true it is about the hidden charges, anybody else throw any light on this? If she can get a convincing enough argument to present to her landlady she might be in with a chance of changing the meters over.

Joyful

There are no hidden charges.The amount she pays will be a daily standing charge plus the unit rate, the same as someone on a quarterly meter that pays their bill in cash. Does she have gas and what insulation is in the house?

Maz

Joyful wrote: »

There are no hidden charges.The amount she pays will be a daily standing charge plus the unit rate, the same as someone on a quarterly meter that pays their bill in cash. Does she have gas and what insulation is in the house?

Yes she has gas. The property was a pub and I think a lot of it is cob build, converted into three seperate properties dogs years ago. There is no cavity wall and as far as I know she doesn't have access to any loft space.

She was told that if she went into emergency credit, there would be a charge of £3+ leaving her around £1+ of actual energy she could use?

Joyful

If she goes into emergency credit it will not take the daily charge so will take that when she next tops up. I would also check that she is only paying for her property.