What do you do if you are on a prepaid meter

Marvin77

Hi this is my first post, i have been in the same house for ten years and we moved in there were prepayment meters in so I’ve used them since. I have Changed to smart meters but stayed with sse, I know I should of changed my tariff and committed a sin lol. But you can’t change the past, what do I do now as I’m really worried. I’m on a low income and have a family and I don’t know if to stay on prepayment or go to direct debit. There saying it will go up for normal customers will it go even higher for prepayment as I thought they pay a higher price anyway

Gerry1

Welcome to the forum.

Prepayment is more expensive.  It's quite a scandal because the poorest pay more for their energy than the richest.  There may half been some justification for a higher tariff when the meter reader had to collect the half crowns from the meter (if it hadn't been raided) but with smart meters there's no excuse for dozy Ofgem not outlawing this practice.

Switch to Direct Debit but remember it's never All You Can Eat, only the rates are fixed not the monthly amount, so if you use more than expected then your DD will increase to reflect the higher usage and again to claw back the arrears.

Many suppliers offer Variable Direct Debit where you are charged for what you've used.  This makes it easier to see what's going on, there won't be any unexpected 'catch up' bills but the bills will be higher in winter and lower in summer.

wrf12345

Yes, disgusting rise for prepayment above credit meter, they should have been set the same for smart meter users - at least it should be easy to change if you have the latest spec meter as they use the same meter with different settings done remotely. Probably no point changing provider as they will all be at the cap.