[Towlie]

Hi all,

I am moving into a new student house for my final year of study in Leeds, and for the first time, we have a 'pay as you go' electricity meter with e-on. The gas meter is a normal one.

I have never had any experience with this type of meter - are they the same price as a 'normal' meter, or could we potentially end up paying more? There are 5 of us in the house.

I am just curious as to whether it might be worth requesting having it changed to a normal type meter?

Cheers

TJ

[_dark_blu]

I seem to remember with my only pre-payment electricity meter there was a tiny premium on the cost of electricity (a fraction of a pence per so many units). Back then I was happy with the arrangement as it was completely unnoticable and it was good not to have to worry about any unexpectedly large bills.

Do you know much about the others you will be sharing with? It might be an idea to keep the meter as it is to avoid possible situations where one (or more) of your housemates makes excuses not to pay up when the bill arrives.

[PoochJD]

Hi,

Card meter's are the MOST expensive way of having energy brought to your home, be that gas or electric! Take a look at some of the following links, here, to see what I mean.

The following quote is taken from the Energy Choice.co.uk website:

While some households find the prepayment meter system a useful way to help them manage their budget, it is commonly accepted that almost all prepayment gas and electricity meters are set at the supplier’s most expensive tariff. That means that the least well-off in society pay the most for their energy. The energy suppliers say this is because of the extra costs the meters incur, such as the fees for collecting cash via Paypoint, Payzone and Post Office outlets, as well as the installation and maintenance of the meters themselves.

When I had a card-meter at an old property, I was generally paying around 1/3rd more per year, over a regular meter, for gas to be supplied. So, that worked out, for a single person, living on their own, with minimal usage to about £15 a week, instead of £10 that I could have been paying if I was allowed a regular meter!

If you can, try to get the meter changed, but many companies will charge you upto £100 for this. However, that's probably cheaper than paying a third more every week for your energy, for the final year in uni, just to have basic heat, light and power.


Pooch

P.S. Oh, and there's the pain and hassle of your gas or electric running out, right when you need it most, or at the most inconvenient moment in time, and then not being able to get your card topped-up again, for one reason or another. (You'll end-up using the Emergency Credit too often. It's a safety net of £2-£5 that you can use, if you have no credit left on the card itself, but it's still a hassle to keep having to top-up every week or few days, especially during winter!)

[Beany31]

Friends use £10 a week for 4 of them and waste a lot of electric, so maybe £10 should be enough, just alternate who tops it up each week.

[Miss Chief]

Although not having been in this situation myself, I do know several people that have and there's always the complaint that certain people always seem to be the one buying the electricity or topping up the card and others always seem to get away with not getting any.

Get the meter changed if you can, set a budget and make sure everyone pays 20% of that, ideally by DD into one persons account so they can then get the cheapest rate, or even setup an account just for bills and have everyone pay into that.

[Towlie]

Thanks for replies guys.

I mean, the pay as you go meter is quite good in the sense that it will help to keep us all paying the same amounts, but i just dont want to get full rinsed by e-on for their services!!!

[Beany31]

As far as my mates are concerned they do a cycle of who pays.

1 person one week then the next person the next. It works quite well as you're responsible for your own week of when to pay.

[gargoyle]

As Pooch said, paying via token meter is significantly more expensive than paying quarterly, also, the utility companies would much rather you stay hooked onto token - they don't charge for installation of token meters (at least, Eon did'nt charge me) but if you decide you've had enough of paying through the nose, they make it difficult for you by charging a ridiculous amount to have a conventional meter installed and the token meter removed, gotta love those utility giants, kickin the little guy when he's down!

[Steven]

Originally Posted by Beany31

As far as my mates are concerned they do a cycle of who pays.

1 person one week then the next person the next. It works quite well as you're responsible for your own week of when to pay.

That's waaaay too organised

Sleep, eat, occasionally study. Quarterly bill arrives. Divide by number of people then look for money

[Beany31]

I just have mine quarterly with my gf, will get our first bill soon so will see how it goes.