Pre-paid Gas Meters

Created by mitzi1960

I have an independent gas transporter and can’t have a pre paid-meter fitted!

When I moved into my new home 4 weeks ago, British Gas supplied my gas and electric. I stayed with them, as they would fit pre-paid meters in.

Now I’ve been told they are unable to touch the Gas Meter as it an Independent gas transporter!

How do I get round this?

I like to know how much I put in the meter and how low it gets, and I bet there are many tenants who would like to go with this method of payment, due to the current finanicial climate.

I don’t want to go on a direct debit methods, as I don’t use Gas in the summer months, and I don’t want a large bill arriving either.

What happens if you can’t pay your bills?

Most energy suppliers say they will fit pre-paid meters if you go with them, but don’t mention at the time that – for some meters, they are unable to.

Please can anyone help with some advice.

This entry was posted on Thursday, May 13th, 2010 at 4:26 pm and is filed under Kingsway Village (Misc). You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.

7 Responses to “Pre-paid Gas Meters”

G Note Says:
May 14th, 2010 at 12:28 pm
My understanding is there’s nothing we can do about it. If you check your current bill from your current provider there will be an additional charge as our mains are not supplied by the national grid. I’m not sure if it’s planned that the national grid takes over our supplies or not; all I know is we pay more for living here.
holbeach miserable Says:
May 14th, 2010 at 12:49 pm
Mitzi,

I was just wondering why you dont wish to go DD?

We are with EON and unlike many providers, you can instruct them to amend your DD to the level that you require (some providers tell you how much they are taking, and wont let you change it)!

The EON website also allows you to put in your meter readings at whatever time period you wish, so if you want to put it in daily/weekly, the website allows you to do it and see your usage between these periods.

You also tend to find that the different price plans that are available, are generally cheaper for online and DD. (Duel fuel can often save a few quid, but check your supplier plans as it may be cheaper to shop around), oh and you get Tesco Clubcard points as well!

On a personal note, I find that during winter when we use more gas, our household also spends more money (2 x birthdays, Christmas, etc) so spreading the higher winter gas & electricity over the year helps.

G Note,

What is this additional charge called on your bill?

I dont seem to have anything like that on ours?

Hope to see you all at the residents meeting tonight.

Regards
mitzi1960 Says:
May 16th, 2010 at 6:10 pm
Thanks for your replies.
I don’t have any additional charge on my bill.
Reason why I won’t go DD, I don’t like to be told how much I should be paying each month and where I used to top up in the summer months, I was never in debt and always in credit. And I like to know how much I am putting in and how much I am using.
Going DD or using a payment plan does not show you this.
At present I am with British Gas and doing a monthly payment plan. At first they asked for £35 a month, but as I only use about £2.50 a month in the summer months, I thought this was a bit steep. It’s now down to £20 a month, but I still like to be in control in topping up the account to pay for my bills.
blastu2 Says:
May 17th, 2010 at 8:07 am
You will need to contact the company that controls all respective Gas/Electric Meters in this area (ENVOY: 0845 055 6199). Give them your meter reference number which is located on the front of the meter itself, your details and who supplies your respective gas/electricity and they should be able to change your meters for you.
Clive Says:
May 17th, 2010 at 1:08 pm
Hi bu2,

Thanks for that – excellent reply
mitzi1960 Says:
August 9th, 2010 at 6:14 pm
Hi after reading your post blastu2, I checked for ENVOY web page and emailed my request. Here is there reply. I do hope it helps others, even if they use this post to confirm that meters can be changed to pre paid meters.

Good Afternoon.
Although you are on the Independent Pipelines Network, you should still be able to arrange to exchange the existing credit meter at your property for a pre-payment meter. Although historically, our network was unable to support pre-payment metering – we now allow gas suppliers to elect their own MAM (Meter Asset Manager) to fit and maintain this type of meter after installation. We would still transport gas through the existing gas service pipes however our ownership responsibility for the gas meter would be transfered to this new metering company.
British Gas can facilitate this change and have already scheduled meter exchanges from credit type to pre-payment on a number of our gas supplies in the UK so i would urge you to re-raise this request with British Gas to ensure the request is actioned on your behalf.
Should you still have difficulty in raising this request to British Gas, please advise that Independent Pipelines have advised that this can be arranged and ask British Gas to contact us if they are still disputing the ability to arrange this for you.
Many Thanks,
Liz Kelf
Customer Services Team Leader

Tel: 0845 055 6199 ext 2056
Fax: 0871 429 0422
Email: Elizabeth.Kelf@envoyonline.co.uk

Although today I have phoned British Gas and they still saying NO.
Any advice, as I did say I would forward email sent to me but they declined?
G Note Says:
September 20th, 2010 at 4:26 pm
On your bill you will see a charge (on ours EDF isn’t on the right hand information column). We are charged £40 a year extra, because the QUVL got a better installation deal from the independant pipeline as opposed to using the national grid. This also means we don’t get smart meter until they are ready to install them. Thanks QUVL!