Pre-payment/toekn meter

Josie64

Hi,
we moved to our present house about 18 months ago and there was already the pre-payment/token meter in for electricity (we are with npower).

the meter is read every three months and we have also provided meter reading right from the start and we get statements as well which are always in credit, so recently we phoned up npower and they sent us a refund cheque (£93)

we 'top-up' £5-£10 a week in the black tokens that you insert, but we are now wondering if they have made a mistake, probably a daft question but how can you get a refund from a pre-payment meter?

marc.faulkner

Josie64 wrote: »

Hi,
we moved to our present house about 18 months ago and there was already the pre-payment/token meter in for electricity (we are with npower).

the meter is read every three months and we have also provided meter reading right from the start and we get statements as well which are always in credit, so recently we phoned up npower and they sent us a refund cheque (£93)

we 'top-up' £5-£10 a week in the black tokens that you insert, but we are now wondering if they have made a mistake, probably a daft question but how can you get a refund from a pre-payment meter?

I'm not on a prepayment meter myself, although my mother is.

About 6 months ago, she received a repayment (overpayment) cheque from Powergen, as her meter had been set to charge an incorrect amount per unit (or it may have been an incorrect standing charge), so she was due a refund.

bitemarx

marc.faulkner wrote: »

I'm not on a prepayment meter myself, although my mother is.

About 6 months ago, she received a repayment (overpayment) cheque from Powergen, as her meter had been set to charge an incorrect amount per unit (or it may have been an incorrect standing charge), so she was due a refund.

Is there a way to check whether the meter is charging an incorrect amount? Other than checking the spend over a fixed time period?

BexTech

bitemarx wrote: »

Is there a way to check whether the meter is charging an incorrect amount? Other than checking the spend over a fixed time period?

Depends on the meter, there should be a button you toggle through to see the rates it's charging.

It's quite usual for the rate on the meter to differ than the actual charged rate, hence you get statements and either a refund if the meter is set slightly high, which at one time they always were, or you have to pay the difference if the meter was set a little low - which is happening more often with the price increases going on. Some meters you have to insert the rate increase / decrease card the supplier sends out when prices change - some people don't bother and then the rates can be quite a bit out, other meters price changes are done differently.

I only know this from others have these nasty things. The first thing I do is get them swapped out for proper credit meters. I don't like the hassle of pre-payment, nor the couple of hundred pound more cost,

SwanJon

For gas meters the prices ar eon screen s 09 & 10, for the newer electricity (key) meters look at screens F I & K.