Prepayment energy meters still stuck in the dark ages

Agreed, they're grim.

I remember being put on a prepayment meter because my utility company made a mistake and did not record my payments to my account. I hated the fact that you had to top up all the time and the cherges, I thought, was astronomical. I fought with my utility company on this, as it was their fault this happened and they arranged to take the meter out. If you are on a repayment meter, they tell you that you have to stay on it if it is their choice to put one in. I did not stand for that as I believe you should always fight your corner if you know you are right. And in this case, I was!

What are you all talking about we are on a prepayment meter & have been for many years ,since we thought it would be cheaper to move from one which was in the house that we purchased about forty years ago when it was coins that worked it & was wanting clearing over public holidays when more coins could not be placed within . But when we had it changed to the conventional type we thought we where paying for the Super store just up the road by the amount that was on our bill to be paid by direct debit & so after 3 payments where made we asked to be put back on a prepayment meter , they duly refitted one of the type that has a key top up system that was about twenty years ago , in that time we have moved house where we have had the same type fitted & we are more than pleased with it , & it does not cost the earth to run & we do not pay any more than our friends who keep changing there suppliers or pay by direct debit and we do not try to save by switching everything off all the time & being old age pensioners we can manage perfectly well by putting in £40 at a time as we always have , it is paid for once and for all then we do not have unexpected bill coming in all the time thinking how shall we cope !!! . The trouble is with the country now is no one keeps a tally on what they have to pay monthly so bills come in when they have spent all there money for the week , on other unimportant items such as **** , drink , clothing they do not really want , the way we where brought up was if you cannot afford it then go without until it can be afforded , if this was the way today the country would not be in the financial crises it is in now with people being hard up , there is no need to be that way . Get rid of all those Cards & have one where you know how to spend what can be afforded . pay by cash not card or on line then everyone can work there money properly . We after all that still praise up the PREPAYMENT METERS .

I work in the postcode area with the 3rd highest level of deprivation in the county, and the 1st highest outside of London. In that area the vast majority of houses are on pre-payment meters and in most cases it is because the families concerned have had no one in employment for at least a generation. The people are, in general, very proud people with an abhorrence and morbid fear of debt, but in many cases the energy companies will not allow them to have Credit meters (i.e. not pre-payment) because their credit ratings are too low, generally because their hatred of debt means that they have never had a credit card or bank loan in their lives (and most no mortgage either as they are mainly council tenants). Many of the people I work with tell me that they are charged through the roof for electricity and gas by these pre-payment systems, but they are not permitted any alternative by the suppliers. However, despite this situation, many of them actually want to keep prepayment meters, to ensure that they never do get a bill they can’t pay; they just want to pay the same rate as everyone else. I believe that in the old days the higher tariff was supposed to reflect the wages of the men who came to empty the coin boxes on the meters, but now they all use cards (like a cash card) and no manual interventions are needed, so the energy companies are just profiteering again as far as I can see.

I don’t think coin meters exist anymore, maybe this article was written in the last century and posted now. Anyway, I have a prepay meter for both gas and electricity (a top-up card and a top-up key). It’s easy and works just fine. I know exactly how much I use and don’t have to worry about a bill or direct debits. By the way, I don’t like direct debits because that is just like saying to a company ” here is my account, please help yourself to my money”

I hate pre paid meters I have to put 40 pound a week on the gas at the moment and 20 on the lucky that’s 60 pound a week it’s now becoming a choice between food and energy for me and at the moment I only have 5 pound on my gas to last me five days so I. Can’t put the heating on and it’s so cold in fact I ve spent most of the day in bed with my kids it’s that cold it would be much better for me to be on direct debit at least I could put my heating on without fear of the money running out

I had a prepaid meter when I moved in here. It was not by choice but because one was already here. I live in a housing association property and it seems that a lot of the flats and houses have these. I had it for a year so I “knew” how much the gas and electricity cost me. I then transferred to a credit meter, thankfully my credit rating was sufficient but I still had a fight to get it- for which I give monthly readings and pay monthly. I can monitor how much I spend on line and get a “real” time account balance. It is definitely cheaper on a credit meter with the same company.

I see Ofgem has belatedly fined a supplier for charging nearly £200 extra on prepay meters and now they are to charge just less than £100. One small energy supplier only charges less than £30! Now who do Ofgem work for? Come on Which shout louder about the injustice of this case!!!!!

The Post Office now have a key topping up service, use it when drawing out your pension.