Where has my prepayment top up gone?
When you add credit to your prepayment meter, you may notice that you have less credit than you expected. Here are a few reasons why this can happen:
Accumulated standing charges: if you haven't topped up for a while, you may have accrued standing charges. Standing charges are fixed daily fees that cover the costs we incur to provide your gas and electricity, regardless of your usage. When you top up, any accumulated standing charges you've accumulated will be deducted from your payment to cover these costs.
Deductions for friendly credit or emergency credit: before credit is added to your meter, any charges for friendly credit or emergency credit that you may have used will be subtracted. The remaining amount will then be added to your credit balance.
In some cases, you might find that your credit doesn't last as long as expected. If you have a debt to repay, a portion of your credit will be deducted daily to reduce the balance. The amount deducted can vary based on what we agreed with you, but if you're having difficulty affording your energy expenses, please contact us to discuss lowering your debt repayment rate. By default, our debt repayment rate is set at £3.50 per week (50p per day).
Higher energy usage could contribute to your credit running out faster. This might be due to your home's energy efficiency not being optimised. You can learn more about improving energy efficiency at at our blog.
To check for a debt balance on your electricity meter, pop your key in the slot and press the blue button until it cycles to a screen marked 'S'. This amount is total debt.
To check on your gas, hold down the red button until you hear a beep, and then press it until the screen shows '27'. The figure on this screen shows any additional repayment balance added by your supplier. There is also a screen that says OWED. This will show if you have used your emergency credit or built up standing charges if your meter hasn't been topped up in a while.
If you need any help in working out your balances or would like to discuss how you make repayments, get in touch with us here.