prepayment check

tasharthur

Ive just come home and received a letter from my electric company. my details have been handwritten so guess they've come out. It basically says they need to check that my meters recording properly and need to gain access to the property. Why? my meters outside! What is this about?

tasharthur

I cant afford to call them right now, its an 0845 number and only have a payg phone - its quite obvious the meters are outside, I have the gas one side of my front door and the electric on the other side you cant miss it!

Ian011

As an existing customer, Regulation 41 of the Consumer Contracts Regulations 2013 requires they give you an 01, 02, 03 or 080 number to call them on.

Check their official website for the correct number to call, just in case the letterhead is out of date.

[Deleted User]

I ve found quite a few prepay electric meters where its bypassed before the meter . The meter itself can indicate that the occupier has nt been crediting the meter. The letter being handwritten suggests thats its the suppliers Revenue Protection Unit wanting to examine wiring before the meter.. Thats the only explanation I can think of. Does screen "A " on the meter show a debit of standing charge owing by either a minus sign or the word "debt "

tasharthur

yes I do owe them, that's the reason for the prepayment meter, but they put that in anyway so if they are saying theres something wrong then its something they've done in the first place

[Deleted User]

Its very odd , and not usual to get handwritten letters asking for access to the meter when its quite visible outside.Revenue Protection would nt mess about too much if they suspected a meter bypass, they would just order a warrant and locksmith and enter with the Health and Safety mandate if they could nt get access normally. They would try out of normal working hours though.
Your debt is on screen "S " with the weekly repayment level set on screen " T " only available to see with key inserted. Standing charge debt, if any, will accumulate on screen A. that is a pointer to me if the meter is bypassed and occupiers are at home. Also the red light showing solid on constant. not flashing, when electricity is being used is a giveaway to a wiring link somewhere. If all is well with your meter then I ve no idea, I m as baffled as you

Farway

Could it be a scam? Someone seeking to get into your house for whatever reason

I suggest using the post by Ian011 and call them

Asnu

Well it wasn't a scam, but a simple promotional offer.

I got a similar letter to the OP on Tuesday, hand written details etc, and similarly wondered what is was all about as my meters are also outside.

So I called my supplier. He explained it was a promotion for a £1000 credit to be applied to our prepayment meter. Apparently only a few select customers were entitled to apply and there were a maximum of 10x£1000 credits available, obviously to different customers.

So I asked what the catch was and he explained there wasn't any catch really, it was just a promotional offer.
He quickly whittled through the terms of the offer and said if I accepted the offer, I would need to be there as the account holder simply to accept the terms in writing before the credit could be applied.

The only identifiable 'catch' was that if I were to change supplier for any reason before the promotional credit was exhausted, then they would not be able to refund any remaining balance from that credit applied. He claimed that was for legal reasons; something about not being permitted to give away cash or anything that could be converted into cash. And obviously the credit cannot be transferred to anyone else.

Anyway, the man came this morning as I arranged. I checked his identity, I checked the paperwork - all was as explained to me earlier. I signed the agreement and the man then applied the £1000 credit to the meter.

Chatting to the guy, he said this was an amazing offer, something he had never seen before in all the years he has been in the industry and admitted he was a bit jealous that he was never invited to take part himself. Anyway, he said all 10 promotional credits were allocated by yesterday lunchtime when he checked.

Such a shame OP that you couldn't muster enough pennies together in time to make that call. Sounds like you missed out on a £1000 promotional credit.

Anyway, that's my electric sorted for the next 2 or 3 years :j

[Deleted User]

I ve never heard such rubbish, totally bonkers to think people waltz up and bung people a grand for no reason. There are stolen and copied "gist cards ",( these are cloned meter readers prepay adjustment cards ) where people can come round and add any credit they like on the meter .Its been going around for years.Usually they try to sell half price electricity as a "promotional" offer for being a good customer. Its all wasted because the supplier does nt accept it, and knows it, and then can accuse the occupier of fraud and the Police are actually interested for a change. Hope you did nt give any of your card details Asnu, and the supplier will be recouping any money that this fraud has gained.

macman

'Handwritten details' is surely the giveaway, but I'm struggling to see how this scam works, unless the OP parted with their cash or card details?
Who is the supplier?