Prepayment meter rates

Madwife96

Hi. My mother put £200 onto her prepayment meter pre energy price rise thinking she may be locking in the cheaper rates from before the rise but her she paid the much higher rates from April. Was she mistaken?

MWT

Madwife96 said:

Hi. My mother put £200 onto her prepayment meter pre energy price rise thinking she may be locking in the cheaper rates from before the rise but her she paid the much higher rates from April. Was she mistaken?

If she has a smart meter then yes, she was mistaken.

Even without a smart meter if it was a gas meter then it is also possible for the meter to be pre-loaded with the next rate if she topped it up close to the end of March.

QrizB

The pay-in-advance trick only worked with some suppliers and some makes of PAYG meter. She may have been one of the unlucky ones.

See this article from March:
https://www.moneysavingexpert.com/news/2022/03/martin-lewis--warning-the--top-up-prepay-meters-before-april--tr/