key meter & price rises

paulsm

I have an electric key meter but have never had to give a reading in so my question is if I have a credit in my meter how will the supplier know how much of my credit is used before the price rise and how much is used after the price hike.

QrizB

There was some discussion of this in the spring, before the April price change.

Pricing information is included on the key when you top it up. Some keys can also be programmed with future pricing information.

When you put the key into the meter, the pricing information is transferred along with your credit.

What does this mean?

1. Some meters only know the current price. In this case you'll get electricity at the old price until you top up after the price change and insert your key into the meter.
2. Other meters know the prices plus the dates they apply from. These ones also record how much energy you use each day. When you get the new pricing info on your key and insert the key into the meter, they can adjust your credit to allow for any electricity you've already used following the price change.

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

paulsm

QrizB said:

There was some discussion of this in the spring, before the April price change.

Pricing information is included on the key when you top it up. Some keys can also be programmed with future pricing information.

When you put the key into the meter, the pricing information is transferred along with your credit.

What does this mean?

1. Some meters only know the current price. In this case you'll get electricity at the old price until you top up after the price change and insert your key into the meter.
2. Other meters know the prices plus the dates they apply from. These ones also record how much energy you use each day. When you get the new pricing info on your key and insert the key into the meter, they can adjust your credit to allow for any electricity you've already used following the price change.

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

I was hoping that, hopefully my key doesn't record every daily use so I will top the meter to the max and the key to the max before the hike, thank you

pochase

If you do that what are you planning to do with the vouchers for the £400 government grant. It is expected that they will be only valid for six months, and for most meters you cannot just recharge the meter with a part of the credit on the key.

Cdvitus

paulsm said:

I have an electric key meter but have never had to give a reading in so my question is if I have a credit in my meter how will the supplier know how much of my credit is used before the price rise and how much is used after the price hike.

I am faced with a similar scenario too. Albeit I am in Northern Ireland so who knows when our £400 will be issued. 
But I have a good amount of credit sitting on my prepaid meter (non-smart type) and I fear that in order to avail of the £400 grant I will have to key in the code that will therefore change my tariff. My credit balance will then be used at a new higher tariff instead of the lower rate I have essentially bought a few months ago. Catch-22.....

A grant towards heating oil would actually be more beneficial for me. In normal years oil costs could be 3-4 times more than my electric bills.