SCOTTISH POWER pre-payment meter fun.....NOT!

SPARKSWILLFLY

Up to now, I've had a powercard meter system for my electricty with Scottish Power and been pretty happy with it. Now, they're telling me these are soon going to be obsolete and intend replacing this with a new key meter. They leave me little choice, but, allthesame, until they come with their new-fangled affair, I reckon this is a good time to review my options. I've heard so many horror stories regards outrageous consumption with key meters and not sure what to do for the best. I suppose I would be at liberty to change to another method of payment as opposed to a pay-as-you-go one, but I am so undecided about this one.

Anyone experience a similar situation? Either that, some good advice would be invaluable.

Cheers!

Peter

dellxps

Hi,

pretty most people who pay as they go will be placed on key meters in the near future. The thinking behind this is that they a debt can be placed on the meter without an engineer having to come out and prices can be changed automatically. You can also normally get a replacement key from the paypoint shop.

I know some customers pay more to pay as they go than they would with a normal meter.

If you think that you will be ok with a normal meter and not go into debt,i'd recommend you switch, however check with your supplier to see if they charge to get your meter changed.

I personally pay by direct debit, have a normal credit meter and get my bills over the internet and get a discount for this.

SPARKSWILLFLY

I'll call SCOTTISH POWER tomorrow and see if I can revert to old style as my electricity consumption is very low compared to a lot of others (i.e. I live alone and leave the house early morning to go to work and not usually back until 8pm).

For my own info, though, is the switch in meters not that big a job or does it involve a lot of mess and manual labour? I couldn't be bothered with that as I've just decorated.

Peter

dellxps

Hi Peter,

Meter changes are normally very straightfoward. Your electricity will only be off for about fifteen minutes. veery straightfoward and quick job.

SPARKSWILLFLY

Cheers for that. Feel a bit better now.

Peter

Pixie28

SPARKSWILLFLY wrote: »

I've heard so many horror stories regards outrageous consumption with key meters and not sure what to do for the best.

When an energy supplier ups their prices, the usual process with a powercard meter is to send out an engineer to update your meter to ensure that it is not undercharging you - likewise when the prices decrease. If an engineer is not able to gain access to your property for a few months, even years in some cases, you will effectively be accruing a debt with your supplier.

The benefits of key meters is that they update the prices almost as soon as the suppliers do. Each time you top up your key, your supplier gets a full set of readings from your meter. Every update can be done remotely by your supplier, which is very convenient as you will likely never need an engineer enter your property again unless you have a major fault.

The "horror stories" that you hear from peeps who have recently had a key meter installed are likely due to one of two things :

1) They previously had a powercard meter which had not had its prices updated for years, therefore they were paying much less for their electricity than they should have been. (And probably accruing a large debt in the meantime). Once the key meter is installed, set up with accurate charges per unit of electricity, they suddenly wonder why they are using so much, when it is actually because they are finally being charged correctly!

2) They have a debt outstanding which has been set on their key meter. At Scottish Power the standard debt recovery rate that is automatically set on your key meter if you have a debt outstanding is £15 per week! I personally feel that a very harsh, especally when you may not have realised that you had a accrued a debt with your old powercard meter and bam! your new shiny key meter goes in with a debt recovery rate of £15 per week before you have even used any electricity! Ofcourse under these circumstances you can ring your supplier and haggle to a lower more affordable rate.

Key Meters are a much better system than powercard meters SPARKSWILLFLY. If however you are intending to change your meter to a standard billing meter, go for direct debit. Any other payment scheme such as receiving a quarterly bill or having a weekly payment card are much less beneficial.

SPARKSWILLFLY

This is such a great site. Thanks to those who have responded to my post. I'm especially grateful to Pixie28 for such a detailed reply which I found extremely elucidating.RegardsPeter

Terrylw1

Hi,

If by Powercard you are referring to Smartpower...they can make updates to the meter and even convert to a standard credit meter via the card without a visit.

Smartpower have only ever been used by Metering Services Ltd and they have been entering into a phase of getting rid of them (although at one point they changed their minds)

There is absolutely no difference in terms of consumption. Meters just monitor what you have attached and then you get billed either via a quarterley bill system or prepayment method.

As far as meter changes go - they take 20 minutes to do. The can book you an appointment in a 2 hour slot or a 4 hour AM/PM visit. This is covered in Ofgem's GSOS but Suppliers will often try to get out of it so be assertive with them.

Check this thread for further info on this:

http://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/showthread.html?t=571937

You will be better off with a credit meter anyway, they are cheaper as the unit costs are cheaper.