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Moving into a flat in a couple weeks time that has a prepay/topup gas meter, currently with EDF I think.
Anyone have any thoughts/opinions on these? Are they as much faff as they sound? It looks like they are a little bit more expensive than regular meter, but Bulb's quoting tool says it will be £52 vs £51 which is manageable.
I'd also like to swap to Bulb (or similar) - but they can't upgrade to a regular meter - so if I want an upgrade I need to spend a few months with EDF or similar, get them to upgrade it, then swap to Bulb.
Thanks,
Duane.
They’re typically only enforced on non-payers, Energy Cos are reluctant to fit them and indeed remove them again.
They are more expensive but less faffy as a rule than electricity ones as the costs are generally lower so you’re less likely to be stuck without any.
The main point is to get registered as the user ASAP, too many people are given a key as they move in and shown the way to the local shop, a lot of the time they’re in place to pay off a debt and will take a certain amount of each top off against that, so don’t pay for someone else’s outstanding gas bill!
Personally unless you don’t like the idea of bills/direct debits, get it removed.
Any supplier has a duty to change the meter, EDF probably best in this scenario due to their size, and you can arrange this as soon as you have an account with them.
Paying by direct allows you access to much cheaper suppliers and tariffs.
Use the CAB comparison site, it shows you the whole market, uswitch etc don't. You can save 20% with this.
I just got one and when I talked to the gas guy, he said there is no difference in price you pay, not like the old days when you got charged more I think for prepay.
I like it, it means I can keep an eye on the cost and topping up, you can just top up whatever you want, no big surprise bills.
That’s true, low price agreements between those that pay by DD and those that pay by Meter was outlawed in 2017 by this government. So you pay the same tarrif, whether some people have better locked in tarrifs is entirely down to thier agreements with the provider.
But you should now pay no more for the same supply of gas via a meter as you do via DD.
As for the OPs choice, I guess the only faff is topping the card/meter up when it runs down but if you keep an eye on it it’ll save you being unable to heat or cook if you’ve just run out.
Also IIRC the max you can top a card or meter up in one single go is something like £40... you may need to check that out.
One of my friends had a meter fitted when nPower overcharged him by £700odd and try as he might he didn’t get that money back for 4years, so in the meantime he cancelled his DD and got them to fit a meter in FOC... I’ll see him tomorrow and ask him if he’s still got it.
That’s true, low price agreements between those that pay by DD and those that pay by Meter was outlawed in 2017 by this government.
My God, something which actually stops rich people exploiting the poor, from a Tory Government! Whatever next....
<p>
</p><p>Isn't that only on Standard Variable Rate (ie. the most expensive tariff)? Also, good luck finding another supplier with a good rate, yes you can switch but the rates are still going to be less crap at best as opposed to good.</p>But you should now pay no more for the same supply of gas via a meter as you do via DD.
That’s a fact though isn’t it? That there are locked in rates that are cheaper..
But the base rate for non locked in supply of gas is the same as a DD or Meter payer..
I too was shocked that this government actually did something for a lot of people too 👀🤔
I've got one and it's fine, if you run out you can press a button and get emergency credit. A chap came round to replace it with a normal one but it wouldn't fit in the space so I'm stuck with it.
Yes it's a fact that pre-pay meters are charged at the same rate as everyone else at SVR but it's also a fact that SVR is far from the cheapest rate. Yes, it's better than what it was (I wasn't disputing that) but it's still far from good as pre-pay meters, aimed at those with the least to spare, are still by default the most expensive tariff option.
My mate says you can top up the card at a pre-pay shop (he uses Co-op, normally a yellow sign on the shop window) and can top it up with £45 max at any one time, but you can do multiple top ups of £45.. he says he puts £90 in two hits.
HTHs
Eversmart Energy appear to be geared up for prepay meter cards.and pretty much the cheapest rates, I believe. They have an app to use with the cards as well, I presume you can buy credit via the website or via the app. I can't recommend them as I don't have a pre-pay meter, just a heads up for price comparison. I use them for a standard meter DD monthly which they are not particularly geared up for and they have got a lot of bad reviews as a result, but I haven't read any complaints from prepay meter users.