Pre pay energy meters

[Ladidi]

Hi everyone

Sorry I have not been around for while, as I have been busy with work and kids and family and trying to keep on top of things.

Anyway, my reason for posting today is to do witht he pre pay energy meters people have been over charged for.

I have pre pay energy meter with british gas, who inform me because I pay as I go and dont owe them any money they dont send me any bills as such so I have no way of knowing if I have been over charged or not.

According to the lady on the end of the phone who informed me a couple weeks back, how she can assure me that I have not been charged, I said I`m not being funny, but I only have your word for that because you dont send us any paper work to tell us what we are paying for so I would like copies of all bills and payments since I began with yourselves. I am still waiting to this day.

How will I know guys if this is the case or not??? We have a pre pay meter as I said pay as you go with British Gas for the electric. What do I have to look for?

Regards

Ladidi

[Amethyst]

Re: Pre pay energy meters

On your prepayment meter you have a button which shows you the different rates you are paying.

The different displays will show your weekly standing charge and your kwH rate.

You should also get annual statements (I do with E-on anyway)

If you have a debt on your account before going to prepay they will take that off your credits too - but they should be able to tell you that over the phone as it will show on your account.

If you go and get your KwH rates and standing charge rate then you can compare directly to the standard quarterly bill rate you can see if you are being overcharged in that context.

And welcome back xxxxx

[Ladidi]

Re: Pre pay energy meters

Morning Ame hunny,

Ok I got these details off my meter, not that they make much sense to me..

Total accepted £4460

Total Charge £1.45 per wk

Rate 47495.95 Rate 1

£1013 pence per KWH Rate 1

Does this mean anything? And before they changed this I was on a higher tarrif and placed me on the essentials tarrif from October 2008. According to letter I have confirming change it states -

Pay as you go electricity customers who have a token or smart card reader that registered on the essential tarrif will receive a quarterly rebate by cheque or postal order equivalent to the difference between the monthly direct debit rate and their pre payment rate. This payment will be based on an average single rebate electricity consumption of 3,300 KWH. The payment will represent an average across all electricity regions, is rounded and includes VAT at 5%. Actual rebate may vary by region and/or meter type.

[Amethyst]

Re: Pre pay energy meters

oooerrrr will have to look up about your essential tarriff thingy.

but for comparison my meter is

1.81 weekly standing charge

10.55p KwH

£1461 accepted

maybe I should switch to BG lol.

[Mochamoo]

Re: Pre pay energy meters

I thought there was rule whereby they had to send you a statement at least once a year? (or does that not count for pay as you go?)

[Ladidi]

Re: Pre pay energy meters

As far as I know, they dont send anyone any kind of dtatements when you are pay as you go. I have not had one for yrs. I pointed this out, and was told that as you are pay as you go, we dont need to send you anything!!!

I thought that was odd!!!

[enaid]

Re: Pre pay energy meters

If you tried to change suppliers you would soon get a statement telling you how much you owed them, even people on prepay get this.

[Amethyst]

Re: Pre pay energy meters

BG Terms say

If you are a prepayment customer, we will not send you bills or statements. We will send you a review of how much gas or electricity (or both) you use if you ask for one.

[Ladidi]

Re: Pre pay energy meters

Well guys and gals considering the implications of what we know...how will people on a prepayment meter ever know if they are owed or if they have been over charged??????

[enaid]

Re: Pre pay energy meters

Pay as you go electricity customers who have a token or smart card reader that registered on the essential tarrif will receive a quarterly rebate by cheque or postal order equivalent to the difference between the monthly direct debit rate and their pre payment rate.

do you use token or smart card? and if so have you had a rebate?

[Ladidi]

Re: Pre pay energy meters

I was on a high tarrif since 2000, and I changed to the essentials tarrif in October 2008 as advised by BG as this would be better for me.

I have not had a any kind of rebate/cheques in any shape or form from them..

[enaid]

Re: Pre pay energy meters

I was on a high tarrif since 2000, and I changed to the essentials tarrif in October 2008 as advised by BG as this would be better for me.

I have not had a any kind of rebate/cheques in any shape or form from them..

Do you use tokens or a smart card?

[Ladidi]

Re: Pre pay energy meters

I have a key meter like a long yellow plastic thingy which is charged up by a yellow machine and then placed in the electric meter to transfer the amount prepaid

[Ladidi]

Re: Pre pay energy meters

Evening all

Well after what has transpired to be a very eventful day and lots of too and froing. and meter readings etc

It turns out that I am on the wrong tarrif and have been since I signed up for the Essentials tarrif in October 2008.

So to cut the long story short, they dont owe me anything back by way being over charged for prepayment as I have not been paying any standing charges or anything extra as I dont owe them anything.

After checking and rechecking all my meter readings, it has transpired that I should be on a lower tariff of 8.27 per kwh instead of the 10.13 per kwh which is what I have been on that meant a refund was due to me...a whopping £146.85 which increased from the original £60.20 they thought I was due.

So after a long day pphone calls and arguments to and fro, I was right I was owed, but not for being over charged for having a prepayment meter. Lol

I say to anyone else who thinks this maybe the case, dont take the first persons word for it..It took 3 people and finally a manager to see the light! Lol