At last, prepay meters gone

SpotlandRules

I moved into my social housing late 2010. My landlord told me that I was with Npower and phoned them to set everything up. There were problems from day 1, when they said my electric meter was a payg, when in fact it was a credit meter.

It took them nearly 10 months to sort out, and in this time I was phoning them asking if I could make some form of payment - which they said was not possible. Their suggestion was to put money aside. When, eventually, they did sort out this mess, I was given a near £1000 bill which I had no chance of paying, so had to move over to payg.

Early last year, the debt was paid off and I moved over to OVO, for the ease of paying online, as when my epilepsy is bad, getting out to top up is very difficult.

I read somewhere that OVO's payg smart meters were installed as credit meters (unlike Utilita's), so this week applied Cooperative Energy, to move over to monthly direct debit, and got accepted.

I will be sad to see OVO go, as - for payg - they were very good. But at least I have now managed to get a very good rate, even if I have to revert back to giving meter readings.

With regards to Npower, if they were the last energy provider on this Earth, I would rather live in a tent.

System

Well done, glad to see that eventually you have got set up with the correct meter and are now free to play the market and keep on the best tariffs.The old prepayment meters are the work of the devil. They are such poor meters that the costs of running them is actually subsidised down to a suppliers standard/variable prices after some MPs cottoned onto the fact that the poorest in UK were paying the highest prices on PAYG, higher than standard tariff.
Smart prepayment is here tho and that will eventually change the prepayment meter market. Over in Northern Ireland they are a big hit and offer the cheapest prepay in the UK mainly because of the really efficient way they are run.Old prepays cost the earth to run. Always breaking down. or more likely being deliberately broken and damaged in the search for free energy.Nine out of ten meters I find fiddled ( I m a meter reader ) are these ancient old things.
Only last week I had a young lady who had gas and electric credit meters installed last year, but the supplier,(EDF ) like you , did not believe her and is continuing not to bill her properly and just like you may well end up back on high priced prepays with a big debt. Beats me why a call centre person does not believe the customers word and arrange for the account to be updated

SpotlandRules

It is weird you say that, as when I was on the phone to Co-op Energy, they said your gas is credit but your electric is prepay, Thinking of how not to lie, I said no, they are both credit meters. My electric was prepay, but I had it changed over.

He said that it most probably has not updated yet on the main system, so he altered it himself.

I think Npower and EDF could take a leaf out of their books.

D_M_E

Was the original £100 bill based on actual meter readings, at an original agreed tariff, or did they just bill you for estimated use on their standard tariff - there is a BIG difference between the 2.

To me, £1000 for 10 months or £100 a month is an eyewatering amount - particularly if the property has gas heating.

Even if it's electrically heated I don't think the bill should have been that high considering some of your consumption must have been in the warmer months requiring no heating.

SpotlandRules

The original bill was on meter readings, but on their standard tariff. They said that I could not move over to any other tariff, as there was no account set up.

I was ill at the time - now, I would have fought it - but then, my epilepsy was bad, daily seizures. I just accepted what they said.

Winter 2010 was a bad winter, I did have my heating on a lot. On top of this, the windows in my flat were neither use nor ornament.

[Deleted User]

Hi,

just remember to take/supply regular meter readings to check and make sure that dd is covering usage.

Anthorn

I find Utilita tempting because according to my iPhone Uswitch app they are £42 p.a. cheaper than my current supplier and according to their website they will swap a smart credit meter for a smart prepay meter for free. But I'm sticking with Peterborough Energy / OVO fixed tariff due to end Feb 2017 and transferring to the standard variable tariff until the next round of price adjustments likely between February and June 2017. Still tempted though.

SpotlandRules

The thing I prefer with OVH, is that, if you are on the PAYG+ plan, balances are held remotely rather than locally. Also, your money is held in one pot, rather than two separate pots. I think this is the way to go for all prepay energy providers.