Next doors pre-payment electric meter..

ukbob

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None of my business,i'm just curious.

As their meter is in the same cabinet as mine i can't help but see what credit is on it..

Its now showing £45:75 Emergency credit.

I thought you got a fiver emergency credit,and when that ran out the electric shut off?

i've been watching the amount slowly rise over the last few weeks,and was wondering how high it will go before anything happens?

Its definately emergency credit.
 
Wife does volunteer work and had a client in for advice about prepayment metre and how they could be in arrears on a prepayment metre if they "PrePaid for their electric" Wife phoned electric company and it turns out you can run up £100's on prepayment metre using the emergency credit before they will do anything. These cleints had run up a bill of over £500, The Electric company are not alllowed to take it back all from the key when its been topped up and are only allowed to take a % of whats owed. if they keep hitting emergency button debt goes up and up with very little coming off the bill via the top up key
 
Thanks for that Shaun,

Times have changed.
It looks like things are on the side of the customer nowdays,not something i'd have expected to hear.

Whilst on the subject of utility companies... is it right they can't cut your water off nowdays?...
 
Thanks for that Shaun,

Times have changed.
It looks like things are on the side of the customer nowdays,not something i'd have expected to hear.

Whilst on the subject of utility companies... is it right they can't cut your water off nowdays?...

no m8 they can't cut your water
 
Things must have changed in the last year because we had both gas and electric pre-payment meters our last place, the gas had a £10 emergency limit ( but only when any previous emergency credit used had been paid back) The electric had a £5 emergency limit (but only when any previous emergency credit used had been paid back) Also we had no debt being paid back on them
 
Things must have changed in the last year because we had both gas and electric pre-payment meters our last place, the gas had a £10 emergency limit ( but only when any previous emergency credit used had been paid back) The electric had a £5 emergency limit (but only when any previous emergency credit used had been paid back) Also we had no debt being paid back on them

I had the exact same constraints in the previous property I was in, that was about 3 years ago.
 
as mine is now as well
 
Next doors are the type to circumvent paying for anything,it does seem odd.
They haven't put any money on meter for ages and the balance is going UP?

At time of posting its now on £47:13 E

Thanks for the replies chaps..
 
Wife does volunteer work and had a client in for advice about prepayment metre and how they could be in arrears on a prepayment metre if they "PrePaid for their electric" Wife phoned electric company and it turns out you can run up £100's on prepayment metre using the emergency credit before they will do anything. These cleints had run up a bill of over £500, The Electric company are not alllowed to take it back all from the key when its been topped up and are only allowed to take a % of whats owed. if they keep hitting emergency button debt goes up and up with very little coming off the bill via the top up key

This kind of begs the question, why have prepaid meters? Defeats the whole purpose if you ask me! And doesn't it cost more to have one than an ordinary credit meter?
 
This kind of begs the question, why have prepaid meters? Defeats the whole purpose if you ask me! And doesn't it cost more to have one than an ordinary credit meter?

Yes it does appear to defeat the object, but that is the way the people with the least are treated, they pay more for everything because they are considered a financial risk.
And it is not just the Utilities companies that do it, the banks charge higher credit rates. The high street shop Brighthouse who sell furniture and white goods targets the less well off and offers weekly payments of hire purchase at 30% APR but insist that their own insurance cover must be taken out on the credit given, plus the items they sell are priced above similar items.
And of course there is the old favourite that many of us older members will remember, the Provident, although I believe they operate in a slightly different way now but still charge a high APR.
 
I went to an empty flat today to do some window draught proofing and there was no power on, checked the meter, a white key type, the readout was £7.46 E, so the 'E' can't actually mean you are using the 'emergency credit' it must mean put the key in to actuate the emergency credit. Although I couldn't see a 'debt' indicator.
 
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