Last week I moved into a rented house in Stoke-on-Trent. The house has pre-payment gas and electricity provided by Southern Electric. Now I've been reading that PP is most expensive, however usage this week (solely myself), though two others move in tomorrow has been fairly low, about £3 at most.

However I've heard of Ebico who charge all customers the same price. Is it worth switching to these? I've jotted some notes down from the meter however I'm not sure what they mean...

STCH/wk £0.74

KWH 05234.30 RI

Rate 1 009.34PPU

KWH Tot 05236.38 TOT

When people say the prepayment meters cost more, it is not as much as people think. I called British Gas earlier on in the year and ask them the difference in cost from swapping my quarterly bill to a prepayment, the price was negilable.

It all depends on your budget. It may be easier to each contribute a set amount to the meter monthly and see how you fair. If you find that you are exceeding the money and having to top up perhaps look to change it over to a bill.

A suggestion: set up a monthly direct debit and spread the bill over the course of the year to avoid flucuation of the bill. If you have overpaid you are in credit, if underpaid then you pay the difference. The best way to keep on top is to give monthly meter readings.

The figures in your post are all to do with usage and the rate which they charge you. Call the supplier they will explain it.

C

Thankyou. For the time being we are going to stick with the PP meter as it allows us to budget and we're not into £20 of credit yet and had £23.75 on the meter sometime last week, so it seems to be holding well with us being energy efficent! The only thing that eats the credit is the washing machine/tumble dryer.

That what usually makes the meter move. Perhaps you could reduce the amount of times you and your house mates use it.

robrymond:

STCH/wk £0.74

KWH 05234.30 RI

Rate 1 009.34PPU

KWH Tot 05236.38 TOT

STCH/wk £0.74 - means the standing charge per week

KWH 05234.30 R1 - is the meter reading for rate 1

Rate 1 009.34PPU - means how much you pay per unit

KWH Tot 05236.38 TOT - is the total meter reading

You need to keep an eye on the 'STCH/wk' and 'Rate 1 PPU' as Southern Electric have recently increased their prices. If they increase on your meter in the near future, reply back what they change to for further advice.

Many thanks. They have to come and update the meter manually I believe, so for the time being I won't mention switching as yes we won't be charged 74p standing charge with Ebico, but the tarrif will be more.

I've kept a spreadsheet and during the period September 7th-14th, the meter was checked at 5.30pm on both of those Sundays and readings were:

£22.45 in credit - 7th
KWH - 5234.3

£19.28 in credit - 14th
KWH - 5062.71

Meaning £3.17 was spent on electric that week. The meter today is around £18.90 as there are now two of us in the house. I will keep an eye again Sunday to see changes!

They normally update the price on the meter by sending a signal to your token or card you use to charge the meter via the Paypoint/Payzone machine used when buying the credit.

You may find that the next time you go for credit then put it in the meter that these prices change if they have not done so already.

Southern Electric's new pre-payment charge is 14.17p/unit with no standing charge so keep an eye on it.

Not sure what your Ebico price would be as I am not sure whether Stoke-on-Trent comes under the North West or Midlands? (Ebico charge different rates depending which region you live in).

CJA:

They normally update the price on the meter by sending a signal to your token or card you use to charge the meter via the Paypoint/Payzone machine used when buying the credit.

You may find that the next time you go for credit then put it in the meter that these prices change if they have not done so already.

Southern Electric's new pre-payment charge is 14.17p/unit with no standing charge so keep an eye on it.

Not sure what your Ebico price would be as I am not sure whether Stoke-on-Trent comes under the North West or Midlands? (Ebico charge different rates depending which region you live in).

14p sounds alot, but then again if there is no standing order than I presume this isn't quite so high? Ebico area for Stoke is West Midlands from what I've gathered.

I will keep an eye on the next top up then, didn't realise they can do it that way as I thought when you stick the token in it only credits, doesn't edit any settings.

Is the 14p charge cheaper than paying standing order now?

Not sure what Southern Electric charge for standing order/direct debit as I am a pre-payment customer with Ebico and want to stay that way.

The price with Ebico for you would be 11.13p.

By the way if your meter reading was 5234.3 on the 7th and 5062.7 on the 14th, it looks like your meter is going backwards!? (ha ha)

CJA:

Not sure what Southern Electric charge for standing order/direct debit as I am a pre-payment customer with Ebico and want to stay that way.

The price with Ebico for you would be 11.13p.

By the way if your meter reading was 5234.3 on the 7th and 5062.7 on the 14th, it looks like your meter is going backwards!? (ha ha)

I was thinking that, I'm not sure why it appears like that. We're with Southern on the pre-payment meter and like I say its 9p a unit and 74p standing charge, so essentially when the price changes come into effect, I think a move to Ebico would benefit us!

hi we are currently in the proccess of transfering over to ebico or so we think,southern electric seems to be the agent,could you tell us who is the supplier, will it be ebico or southern electric,theres two different companys with two sets of charges,we opted for ebico,not southern elec or would s/elec pass on ebicos prices,confused i am

Hello.

We are on a prepayment meter (PPM) Our gas kwh says £14.35p. Upon moving in2 a rented 2 bed.

I notice the gas seems 2 be about $5. a day average (OUCH!!) yet elec uses about £5. per 3-4 days! We are on Southern Electric for both G&E. Elec. states no standing charge but the gas confuses me. Any ideas about the gas?

Thanx in advance... King.

Hi,

Mick6 - Ebico use Southern to administer the accounts as they do not have the infastructure. You will get Ebico prices but deal with Southern Call Centres. (best of both worlds really)

DoomkingUK - You might want to contact them if your unsure of the settings on your gas meter, their prepayment department should be able to tell you how to find out if there is a debt on the meter, but that is quite unlikely to be honest. More likely is you need to look at your usage, but it's worth checking with them too.

Robrymond, CJA, - If you need to find out which established region you are in, call your supplier. (They all have different elec prices for each area, and there are 14 areas)

This might be handy

http://www.segen.co.uk/downloads/MPAN+Guide.pdf

And this is a map

http://images.google.co.uk/imgres?imgurl=http://www.saveonyourbills.co.uk/business/images/supply_original_areas_map.png&imgrefurl=http://www.saveonyourbills.co.uk/business/common/uk_energy_market.jsp&h=443&w=354&sz=59&hl=en&start=1&um=1&usg=__bCxqAVukgvOyltQdfPfnP_mooUs=&tbnid=vi422LSq7KPR_M:&tbnh=127&tbnw=101&prev=/images%3Fq%3Delectricity%2Bsupply%2Bregions%26um%3D1%26hl%3Den%26rls%3DGFRD,GFRD:2008-05,GFRD:en%26sa%3DN