Remaining Credit On Removed Prepayment Meter

guitarjoe

In January 2022,  British Gas replaced my prepayment meter with a credit meter. I had more than £10 remaining on the meter when the gas engineers came to replace it. I took a time/date stamped photo as evidence of the credit shortly before the engineers arrived. After the work they gave me a form with the final meter reading and the credit remaining. They informed me I would not lose the credit and it would be refunded. Since the credit meter was installed, I had been making regular payments into my online account instead of paying the bill all at once when it was due, taking into account believing the remaining credit from my prepayment meter would be used towards the bill and deducted. I now have my first bill from British Gas since the credit meter was installed. No reference is made to the prepayment credit being deducted from my bill. If it had been, it would mean I would be in credit going into the next billing period, but my account says I am in debit. How do I claim the credit back that remained on my prepayment meter? I wrote to British Gas in February regarding how the credit would be given back to me. They did not respond. 

t0rt0ise

Write making a formal complaint. They tend to respond to these and are quite sensible so you should get somewhere.

guitarjoe

t0rt0ise said:

Write making a formal complaint. They tend to respond to these and are quite sensible so you should get somewhere.

Thanks. I wrote to them yesterday. I don't like the webchat and trying to get through on the phone number. I actually only topped up with £10 the day before the engineers came. The planned work was not meant for at least another two weeks, but just after topping up I received a text message saying they would be arriving the following day instead. I already had just enough credit to last me until then and didn't need to add extra.

drumtimbo

I thought credit meter and bills were cheaper than prepayment rates. EDF have told me that it is cheaper for me to remain on a prepayment meter, and quoted rates to prove it. Is this the case?

pochase

That is only half the truth.

Yes the EDF unit rates for prepayment are for most regions cheaper than the direct debit rates, but the standing charges are in the region of 5p for electricity and 10p for gas more expensive.

https://www.edfenergy.com/sites/default/files/r1299.pdf

MattMattMattUK

drumtimbo said:

I thought credit meter and bills were cheaper than prepayment rates. EDF have told me that it is cheaper for me to remain on a prepayment meter, and quoted rates to prove it. Is this the case?

It depends exactly where you are in the country and your usage as there are differences in the Standing Charge and kWh rates, but on current rates and as an average the variance is less than 1%.