Can anyone help me get a pay as you go meter for someone

[mosside]

She is with Octopus but they don't do prepayment meters for gas and electricity. I've called EDF and contacted British Gas, neither can tell me a tariff or how I go about getting it sorted for her. She has just moved in and does not want to pay a monthly DD because she struggles with budgeting, she knows the rates are higher but really wants a pay as you go meter and I'm struggling to help her get it sorted.

Not sure how it works where you are, but where I live I would need to contact a different gas/electricity supplier who does prepayment meters. Contact them and state you would like to change suppliers and would like a prepayment meter fitted and they will complete the changeover and fit the new meter.

I think theres also a charge for this. Hope this helps but it may be different where you live

I know these meters can be useful as budgeting too
s, but please be aware the cost for power is considerably higher than a regular meter. My dd is desperately trying to get rid of one the previous occupier of her flat had installed!

Prepayment meters have much more expensive rates than a monthly bill, and they have some nasty tricks where once you go below a certain amount on them the price is even higher. She would be really a lot better off if she could just pay each month in advance.

Honestly I would try to find a different solution to her budgeting troubles.

It would be more cost effective to set up a second bank account just for direct debits, & transfer money in weekly / whenever her money is paid in. I.e. if she gets a payment on a Tuesday, just transfer the money into the DD account rather than putting it on a prepayment meter.
Direct debit allows you to spread the cost over the year too - otherwise the amount you'd put on the meter in mid-winyer could be crippling (energy rates were far lower when I last had a prepayment meter but I still remember sitting by candlelight because if the last few percent was used up & the fridge freezer went off, I'd have lost a weeks worth of food)...

I would do what Awkward Paws said. Aside from the cost to install the meter plus the higher rate they will pay for energy, if they are renting the landlord may not allow it.
Get another bank account sorted, don't get a card for it, and arrange a standing order for money to go into it to cover all the bills.

There's also the issue that the payment required in winter is significantly higher than in summer and not being able to pay means being unable to cook, put the lights on when it's dark 16+ hours a day, run the fridge etc, never mind being able to put the heating on.

So with prepayment, over the summer she could be lulled into a false sense of security about how much she needs to allocate to energy bills only to be shocked by the amount required with no savings to help towards the increased cost.

Whereas with direct debit, the cost is evenly spread across the year and if she starts now, the DD will (hopefully) be set to include a payment towards higher winter bills from now on.

Cross posted with a couple of others.

I pay less on my new house with a pre payment meter than I did at my old house with a monthly bill 🤷🏻‍♀️ I put about £50 a month on each gas and electric and there's always about £5/10ish left each month. Both 3 bedroom semi detached houses.