POLL: Would you swap the prepayment meter for a credit meter?

Petra_70

Thought I would do this a poll; could you please read my OP before picking an option though. Many Thanks.

The last property we were in had very high energy bills (£100 a month DD for gas, and £70 a month DD for electric.) It was a large old house (1930s) and quite draughty though, with only 6 radiators in a big 3 bed house, and a 30 year old boiler and no cavity wall insulation.)

So we moved to a smaller home 18 months ago; the gas meter was a credit meter, and the electric was a prepayment one. They said we can change the electric meter after a few months, free of charge (British Gas.) Well after a few months, I got to kind of like the repayment meter as I could see what I was using and had full control of it. We spend about a tenner a week - so not bad, as it was close to £17 a week in the old house.

Anyway, as I said, we got used to it, but just recently, I have been a bit poorly and DH has been working a lot, and in short, the meter has run down several times. One time it went £2 into the emergency credit. The nearest shop that has a paypoint is 5 miles away, so when we need to top up the key, we have a 10 mile round trip. We always tried to get it when we went out, but sometimes we forgot...

Last week, we were down to £3; (I know - our fault for letting it go that low,) and i took the key to town to get it topped up, and it wouldn't work. I tried all 3 places that do it in town, and it appeared the key was broken.

So I had to come back home and ring BG, so they could give me an 8 digit code, then go back to the shop in town and get them to assign the code to the key, and then I had to come home to marry the key up with our meter, and THEN I had to go back to town to get the credit on the key.

Also, we live up a very winding road, and high up, and if we get caught out/snowed in one bad winter, we could run out of electric.

SO the upshot is; after 18 months, I was wondering if it would be a better idea to have a credit meter for the electric too? BG checked my credit and said it's fine, and I can change the meter.

However, my husband is saying he doesn't want to change it, as he likes having the control. He also says that on this meter the electric seems cheaper than in the other house. Well it is yes, but then the gas is cheaper too ; in fact WAY cheaper. It was £100 a month DD before, and now it's £35 a month DD. So I don't see why the electric would shoot up from the £45 a month or so it is now. In fact, it may reduce as we wouldn't be on a prepayment meter.

And the fact is, I always have that little niggle at the back of my mind...... is there enough credit in there? What if I lose the key again at a much more inconvenient time? What if we have no car for a few days? (I had to do 3 ten mile trips the other day to get it sorted!!! If I had not had a car, I don't know WHAT I would have done!) And what if the meter packs up, or the display packs up? What if we are laid up ill for a week, or snowed in for a week? Just silly worries; but little worries nonetheless.

So if you were me, would you change the prepayment meter to a credit meter???

I have only put yes or no on the options, as I only want people to pick an option if they know for sure what they would do. Thank you.

iammumtoone

I would keep it and get BG to send you out the machine that you can use to top up yourself online

I have a electric meter, I wouldn't swap it, I too like the control.

One like this http://www.britishgas.co.uk/youraccount/discover/home-energy-top-up-service.html

I also will not switch my electric provider as last time I checked BG are the only supplier that offer this top up at home service.

sheffield_lad

pre payment meters are getting better as the poster above suggests you can now top up online.

No chance of getting into debt your in control.

GL

Cardew

Gives you more control? Really?


I suppose if you are incapable of putting away cash in a bank/piggy bank/under the mattress! to pay monthly then you should stick to a system with all the disadvantages graphically described by the OP; and in addition be unable to get the cheaper credit tariffs on offer by all companies.


If you find in paying monthly for electricity you lose control, how do you manage for TV licence, Phone, Water, Council Tax, rent/ mortgage, car tax, car/building/life insurance etc etc?

Owain_Moneysaver

You are only 'in control' if you accept that once you've spent your weekly self-determined allowance on electricity you'll sit there for the rest of the week with no power.

If you want to keep the lights on you'll have to pay whatever it costs.

At least with a monthly direct debit budget account you know what will come out each month. Do keep up to date with meter readings and make sure you aren't building up a huge debt though. Just because your DD is lower doesn't mean the electricity itself is actually cheaper -- you might just be underpaying now and storing up debt for later.

iammumtoone

Cardew wrote: »

Gives you more control? Really?


I suppose if you are incapable of putting away cash in a bank/piggy bank/under the mattress! to pay monthly then you should stick to a system with all the disadvantages graphically described by the OP; and in addition be unable to get the cheaper credit tariffs on offer by all companies.


If you find in paying monthly for electricity you lose control, how do you manage for TV licence, Phone, Water, Council Tax, rent/ mortgage, car tax, car/building/life insurance etc etc?

Yes some people do struggle with debt and keeping control of their finances anything to help with that is a bonus. The price for the electric used is the same what you do lose is the discounts given by the providers for DD payments. However I think I might save more by using a meter than I would if the electric was available 'on tap'. I am very careful with my electric as I keep having to feed the machine, this keeps my mind focus on turning things off etc. I am sure if the money just came out of the bank every month without me thinking about it I would use more electric. I am actually thinking of having a gas pre-payment meter installed for the same reason.

It works for me anyway.

Petra_70

Hmmmm mixed opinions so far. And good arguments for both ... Gotta decide what is best for us personally. Like I said, the 10 mile round trip and where we are located and the potential to be snowed in and run out of electric, or for the meter to be faulty, or the key to break again concerns me... Tricky...

septemberblues

I'm on a pre pay meter, and I tend to get a bit more on the meter when I can afford it, at the moment I have £40+ on the leccy and about £30 on the gas. In the summer I still get gas and electric, but my usage is low as no tumble drier/ central heating on so I "save up" my electric and gas in the summer and "spend" it in the winter. I generally buy the leccy in £20 lumps, £10 isn't going to last long at all!

As I pay as I use I am very, very careful in my use.

Petra_70

septemberblues wrote: »

I'm on a pre pay meter, and I tend to get a bit more on the meter when I can afford it, at the moment I have £40+ on the leccy and about £30 on the gas. In the summer I still get gas and electric, but my usage is low as no tumble drier/ central heating on so I "save up" my electric and gas in the summer and "spend" it in the winter. I generally buy the leccy in £20 lumps, £10 isn't going to last long at all!

As I pay as I use I am very, very careful in my use.

Thank you.

So would you keep the repayment meter then? Or swap if you had the chance?

windup

would be easier to follow if you changed the word repayment to prepayment

you'd be better off making sure you're on a good tariff and concentrating on what your appliances are using, rather than faffing about with keys and topups. If you want control, you can read the meter, until smart meters are installed.

Cardew

iammumtoone wrote: »

The price for the electric used is the same what you do lose is the discounts given by the providers for DD payments.


.

Really?

These are the figures for someone using the UK average of 13,500kWh gas and 3,300kWh electricity in the Midlands below is the cheapest annual cost:

1. Paying by monthly Direct Debit - £874

2. With pre-payment meter - £1,147

So the cheapest pre-payment tariff is 31.23% more expensive than the cheapest with a credit meter paying by monthly Direct Debit.

Yes some people do struggle with debt and keeping control of their finances anything to help with that is a bonus.

Obviously some people suffer with debt, but how does paying 31% more for their energy help with that struggle?

You still haven't answered how people manage to save and pay monthly/annually for their TV licence, Phone, Water, Council Tax, rent/ mortgage, car tax, car/building/life insurance etc etc, yet find it helpful to pay 31% more to PAYG for gas electricity.

This is a Money Saving Website and surely advice offered should be accurate.