Anyone have any idea on how one can get rid of a prepayment meter, return to paying by DD and how much it costs (if anything) to remove the prepayment meter ?
The story (as many here will know) is that due to unemployment I ended up having to go on a prepayment meter for Electric with E.ON (they also supply my gas but that cannot go on a prepayment meter) as I couldn't pay the bills normally.
As many will know, things have changed somewhat for me and I am now back in full employment. This means that I am now in a position of being able to pay the fuel bills by Direct Debit (and thus get cheaper tariffs).
I still have arrears with E.ON ( don't know how much, but know it isn't huge) that I could probably afford to pay off if I knew how much it is. They cancelled my online account so I can't view my statements, even though I still get regular emails asking to log in online to check my statement (go figure).
The prepayment meter is more of an irritant than anything. I have no problem affording to load the key with money and sticking it into the meter for electric, but the pain is having to remember to do it. Everytime the electric shuts off (cos it has run out before I realised it was getting low) I fear that my computers will not restart. Also, though it hasn't happened yet, I fear the electric shutting off during the night and me oversleeping due to the clock-alarm being off.
Reading around the internet, there seems to be varying opinions on how easy/hard it is to get rid of a prepayment meter. Many state that you must have a good credit record (which I don't) to be able to come off prepayment.
Finally, I have been looking at Ebico's website today as they do prepayment meters but without the usual standing charges. You pay the same on prepayment as a non prepayment customer, so I am considering switching to them if I cannot get rid of the prepayment meter.
I guess I am really looking at convenience here. I simply hate the prepayment meter and want rid of it, or if I cannot get rid of it then I want a way of using it whereby I do not get penalised for the 'privilege'.
Any ideas ?
The story (as many here will know) is that due to unemployment I ended up having to go on a prepayment meter for Electric with E.ON (they also supply my gas but that cannot go on a prepayment meter) as I couldn't pay the bills normally.
As many will know, things have changed somewhat for me and I am now back in full employment. This means that I am now in a position of being able to pay the fuel bills by Direct Debit (and thus get cheaper tariffs).
I still have arrears with E.ON ( don't know how much, but know it isn't huge) that I could probably afford to pay off if I knew how much it is. They cancelled my online account so I can't view my statements, even though I still get regular emails asking to log in online to check my statement (go figure).
The prepayment meter is more of an irritant than anything. I have no problem affording to load the key with money and sticking it into the meter for electric, but the pain is having to remember to do it. Everytime the electric shuts off (cos it has run out before I realised it was getting low) I fear that my computers will not restart. Also, though it hasn't happened yet, I fear the electric shutting off during the night and me oversleeping due to the clock-alarm being off.
Reading around the internet, there seems to be varying opinions on how easy/hard it is to get rid of a prepayment meter. Many state that you must have a good credit record (which I don't) to be able to come off prepayment.
Finally, I have been looking at Ebico's website today as they do prepayment meters but without the usual standing charges. You pay the same on prepayment as a non prepayment customer, so I am considering switching to them if I cannot get rid of the prepayment meter.
I guess I am really looking at convenience here. I simply hate the prepayment meter and want rid of it, or if I cannot get rid of it then I want a way of using it whereby I do not get penalised for the 'privilege'.
Any ideas ?
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