Prepayment meter, statements and increasing debt, can anyone help me to understand it please?

MirandaL

I’m sorry if I’m posting this in the wrong section. 

I’ve had a prepayment meter since March of 2016. 

The debt was never added to the meter, I only just found this out. 

I was trying to work out how much I owe and looked at my old statements online. 

I can only see back to 2017 but according to that in dec of 2017 the debt was £858
and each statement it had increased. 

It’s now at £1276. 

I don’t understand how. 

Looking at the statement is shows “debt from last statement”
 And “cost of gas you’ve used” which is then added to the total and carried over to the next statement. 

I don’t understand, it says on the same statement that I’m on a pay as you go tariff. 

And I’m not getting any gas that I’m not paying for by topping up, I don’t get it. 

Please can someone help to explain this. 

I’ve attached a screenshot of a statement of it helps. 

Ectophile

Why do you even have has if you use so little of it?  You're paying far more in daily standing charges than you are for the actual gas you use.

MirandaL

Ectophile said:

Why do you even have has if you use so little of it?  You're paying far more in daily standing charges than you are for the actual gas you use.

We have a gas boiler that heats our hot water, that’s all it’s used for really. 

We have an electric shower so we don’t use a lot of gas. 

MWT

That statement doesn't appear to show any of your top-up payments, only the cost of the gas used?

May be a silly question, but you are making top-up payments using the right 'key' or card etc. for your current supplier?

MirandaL

I have several statements, some show the amount topped up some don’t, I’m not sure why. 

I’m definitely using the right card, the money is going onto the meter and being used up fine. 

Actually now I’m thinking about it the reason it’s not showing a credit could be that I didn’t top up during that time period, often what I will do is put £100 on it and that usually lasts quite a few months, so it’s not unusual for me not to have to only top it up a couple of times a year. 

In fact I’ve just had to do a top up a week or so ago, the last time I did it was in late March, I keep the receipts together so I noticed when I added the new one. 

MirandaL

Because the latest statement I can see is December 2020 I emailed the supplier to ask for a up to date statement. 

As I can see nothing on their website to indicate how much I actually owe, other than these old statements. 

They emailed me back asking for “updated meter readings so a bill can be generated”

I checked and there isn’t an option for a meter reading on my meter, so I emailed back and explained I’m on a prepayment meter, it doesn’t have a meter reading in the settings. 

Also according to their website it doesn’t it automatically, the last automatically taken meter reading was when I last topped up a week ago. 

They have replied and said without a current meter reading they cannot generate me a new bill. 

I don’t know what that means. 

QrizB

MirandaL said:

They have replied and said without a current meter reading they cannot generate me a new bill. 

I don’t know what that means. 

Because I'm a mardy middle-aged curmudgeon, I'd raise a complaint with your supplier asking for an accurate bill.

MirandaL

QrizB said:

MirandaL said:

They have replied and said without a current meter reading they cannot generate me a new bill. 

I don’t know what that means. 

Because I'm a mardy middle-aged curmudgeon, I'd raise a complaint with your supplier asking for an accurate bill.

Thank you, that’s exactly what I did, and the person straight away told me how to get into the secondary settings of the meter (pressing and holding certain buttons together for 30 seconds, I never would have thought to do that) to get to a ‘meter index’ number that is apparently the meter reading…. How I was supposed to know how to find that I’m not sure. 

So they emailed back and said there is no debt on the account. 

So I’m so confused, so it must have been written off since the last bill in January I don’t know. 

But it’s one less thing to worry about I guess