prepayment meter worries (British Gas)

wornoutmumoftwo

Just to say thank you to everyone who posted and pleased to report that the debt has now fed through to the meter and they are now taking the £15 per week so at least I know where I am now.

BIG THANK YOU

:beer::rotfl::T

Joyful

If you are on benefits call and ask if you are eligible to get put on the ESSENTIALS tariff. This means you will get an amount periodically credited to your key so that you are paying a tariff similar to someone on a Direct Debit. This is so that you are not penalised for being on a low income.

wornoutmumoftwo

Thank you very much, I only get child tax credit though as hubby works now. I'll ask though.

wilf55

hi slightly off track but british gas energy trust are a charity that help with fuel debts

my friend who is in big debt with gas elec and credit card bills just filled in a application form which can be printed off the website she owed 1500 in gas and electricity she filled out an application sent off the relevant documentation and 6 weeks later got a letter they had cleared her debt by paying 1500 into the relevant accounts

great bonus just before xmas

united utilities do something similar but not sure of the details

worth a try to help with getting out of the mess she works fulltime gets ctc and wtc one child age 15

wilf55

shameless bump for anyone stuggling with gas and electricity debt regardless of whether they are working or are on benefits

wornoutmumoftwo

Yes, I applied for this at the beginning of the year and they paid £1000 off my bill, then the very next week after I got one for £500 ao it was sort of back to square one, though I do appreciate the grant I got (from British Gas) and would recommend it to anyone.

I will get straight, I've sent off my claim form for disability living allowance as I have a son with Autistic Spectrum Disorder and I was advised to claim for this.

Meter is going ok except that it changed itself from a dual rate meter to a single rate for a week and it cost me even more money as single rate is more expensive and I have storage heaters.

Phoned up British Gas and asked for a refund of the overpayment due to their error and was told I couldn't have one as I had a debt!

So I'm assuming if I didn't have a debt I'd have got a refund?

It's only a few pounds but that is one day's electric to me and it was their meter that did it, not me!

I quite like the idea of the meter though, and once the bill is paid I'll probably keep it.

mynameisthehulk

Give them a call and tell them you can only manage £5 a week for debt, they should accept that.

I understand peoples concerns over the slightly higher prices charges on prepayment meters, but its maybe 3% more than on a credit meter paying quaterly. In consideration of the fact that the meter and installation is free of charge, its understandable the costs need to be recovered. 20 years ago you would have just got cut off, so things could be worse.

stimpo

wornoutmumoftwo wrote: »

Thank you.

I was given £5 emergency credit at the very start, not £10.
It's a blue key and I'm keeping th balance above £20 in case they take the £15 in one go.
It is deducting 0.0017 every 101 minutes though not the 15p and I have no screens to show a debt??

I'm waiting til weds and if they haven't taken £15 i'll go and pay it on my pymt card.

I will get the pictures and post them

Thanks very much

Standard emergency credit on a single phase meter is £5. Its £10 on 2 phase meters. If they took out a 2 phase credit meter they should have put in a 2 phase prepay meter.

£15 sounds good, We'd have set it at £20 :cool: