Energy suppliers refusing?
Posted by grommit-thrive@reddit | AskABrit | View on Reddit | 20 comments
I apologize if this question is on the wrong thread. My wife and I are wanting to move onto prepayment rather than direct debit. We were on prepayment before but had to have a new meter put in back in November/December 2024 due to the meter not reading. The engineer that came out could not commission the new meter and was told he would have to make another appointment to commission it. I will skip all the boring stuff, but to this day we are unsure if the meter is commissioned. We keep making appointments for them to come and do it and every time they make excuses such as it hasn't been updated on the account or they don't turn up at the correct time, such as we make an evening appointment and they turn up in the morning while we are out. My main question is this: can they refuse to put us on prepayment because my wife is on the high priority list. They want us on direct debit which they want to charge us around £180 PM, where as on prepayment we were paying £130 PM and was in credit, but because my wife is on the priority list due to health reasons they are refusing to allow is on prepayment, are they allowed to.
jilljd38@reddit
What is she on psr for is it medication that needs to be stored in fridge or plugged in medical equipment and is it life saving medication eg insulin or oxygen, you might be able to talk to them if it's nothing like that then they might if you explain to them and that it helps you budget better etc but ultimately you might find they won't go against it because they have a duty of care to not let you guys be off supply
grommit-thrive@reddit (OP)
Yeah medication in fridge and a sleep apnea machine. She was on the priority service before when we was on pre payment. There is other stuff as well but I'm not wanting to get into it as it is not for me to mention. She doesn't suffer from stuff like schizophrenia and stuff so she knows what she is doing and stuff plus I'm on the account as well which I am her carer as well.
jilljd38@reddit
It will be the medication n the sleep apnea machine tbh they really shouldn't have let you on pre pay before , my guess is someone likely didn't update the psr properly and now this has been done it will have been reviewed and deemed not safe for you to be on pre pay , if you have a smart meter or give regular weekly meter reads then you can ask them not to do it on estimate but it's done in that way so you build up credit for winter explain to them you really acnt afford the 180 a month and can they send you an income and expenditure form
Personal-Listen-4941@reddit
The rules changed relatively recently regarding who can have pre-payment meters. A few years back there was a big outcry regarding forcing pre-payment onto people who were not paying bills, some of whom have medical issues. OFGEM changed the rules on who is allowed to have prepayment. Now even if you specifically want/ask for prepayment but have certain risks energy companies are not allowed to install them.
OrganizationFun2140@reddit
Don’t know if they can refuse but I’d challenge the direct debit amount if £130pm on prepayment is accurate as there are no (legal) circumstances where prepayment gives you a cheaper tariff than direct debit for the same usage.
ProgressMiserable878@reddit
I don't have any direct debits not even for my mortgage. These corporations get paid what I can afford and when I get paid from my employer. Energy firms do NOT supply you with ANYTHING. They're just metering agents. You send a meter reading. They send you an invoice. It's a SCAM. When someone "changes their supplier" for a better deal. What do YOU think that means?! Do people REALLY think that changing your gas 'supplier' from British Gas to EDF you're now going to get EDF gas rather than British Gas being pumped through the same pipes?! IF you change your electricity 'supplier' do people REALLY think that you will now be getting electricity from your 'new supplier' down through the same wired power supply????
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xr34aGmjz9g
cctintwrweb@reddit
Unless they are in northern Ireland, where prepayment is required to be the cheapest tariff.
The difficulty also comes from the direct debit being a forecast payment plan not a bill. So if they say they are paying £130 per month currently, it will factor in greater usage in winter and possibly costs for whatever time the meter has not been registering and potentially the cost of meter replacement. ( And possibly a bit more to cover the cost increases from world war 3) The aim of payment plans is to always leave you slightly in credit once an actual reading is taken and a bill produced. It's imperfect and a pretty blunt tool, without full facts, but all payment plans are designed to prevent bill shock when actual usage is recorded and billed .
grommit-thrive@reddit (OP)
No it's the mainland U.K. We first did go direct debit for agreed amount £150 PM but then they want to raise it to £180 which we can not afford. £150 is pushing it as we was only using £90-110 PM on pre payment. Which we were in credit when topping up £130. Even though they have had up to date readings they are still wanting to do it based on estimates.
InternationalRide5@reddit
Then you can negotiate the direct debit with them, especially as wer'e moving in to warmer weather now so heating costs should be a lot less.
I think if you are in credit more than one month's DD amount they have to give you a refund?
grommit-thrive@reddit (OP)
Yeah it was, I know it will be more now due to living costs etc. We wasn't even using the whole £130 either we was using roughly £90-110.
cctintwrweb@reddit
Agree it , immediately cancel the direct debit and pay them your chosen amount each month submit monthly readings and it should sort itself out in time . The payment plan is not a bill . If you are sure the rate is the same as you were paying and you have annualised your usage, you will not have a problem as you will always be a little bit in credit .
jilljd38@reddit
They can only refuse when someone is on the psr
F-wank@reddit
Just inform them by letter when you intend to place the matter before the court. All communication should be by mail. If they call you, tell them that legal advice is to only communicate in writing.
grommit-thrive@reddit (OP)
Luckily I can record phone calls on my end so I have them saved on my phone automatically rather than going through the supplier to get them. I just don't know wether to leave it as it is then let them take me to court and prove everything I still have the letter from 2024 explaining that the engineer that came out to swap the meter never explained anything. I am planning on going to citizens advice to see if we have a case anyway.
jilljd38@reddit
Used to work for an energy company yes they are going to be reluctant to put you on prepay because your partner is on priority service list , and if there's times you can't top up they have to supply emergency credit which will put you into more debt long term , ring them and be firm that you want someone out to deal with the meter raise it as a complaint if needs been as it maybe causing debt which is going to impact your ability to pay and affect your credit score etc causing you stress , having an affect on medical conditions etc , if they don't deal with it then ombudsman
grommit-thrive@reddit (OP)
The thing is y wife finds it easier to top up as it causes less stress as when she tops up her self then she knows the money has been paid and not waiting for it to come out of the account, we have even proven that we topped up every month which was putting us in credit. We always make sure we top up enough when we get paid. Even if what we topped up wasn't enough I would use some of my carers allowance to make sure, but that never happened as we was only using £90-110 PM
Slight-Brush@reddit
You might do better in r/UKPersonalFinance
qualityvote2@reddit
Hello u/grommit-thrive! Welcome to r/AskABrit!
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grommit-thrive@reddit (OP)
Hi I am sorry if it doesn't belong on this thread, it is my first time posting.
Azuras-Becky@reddit
I don't know the answer to your question but don't worry about this ppst; it's automatic, it happens to every post!