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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Original poster

Aibu to assume topping up prepay meters is available 24/7?

59 replies

nibblingandbiting · 13/07/2018 09:29

Browsing twitter and I came across a string of posts to utility company, paypoint and even ofgem about prepayment meters.

The poster had run out of energy after 11pm and was left in a position of having the money but no way of topping up as no where was open.

The op was asking if they should work together with stores to ensure topups could be done 24/7.

As a result the op had the cash, but nowhere to top up for the night and even mentioned vulnerability within the posts. I have spoken to the person through Dm who screenshotted the live chat and again vulnerablities was mentioned.

Cs has been shocking and keeps telling the op to basically get financial advice. Even though the op points out this is a mute point.

So aibu to think that we should be able to top up energy 24/7? I am actually surprised that you cannot and have come very close myself over the years of running out over night.
Or is the company correct in its stance of tough, get financial advice and topup during normal hours. There’s no excuse to run out.

OP posts:
afishnotabird · 13/07/2018 09:33

24hr Asdas do. Also, can’t it be done online? What could non-24hr shops do about it?

NorthernSpirit · 13/07/2018 09:35

Maybe the person should be more organised or do they expect shop workers (probably on minimum wage) to work through the night?

Superbirdtrooperbird · 13/07/2018 09:40

Most decent energy companies offer 'friendly credit' which means if you run out of emergency after a certain time, usually around 7pm, it keeps your gas/electric going until 9am the next day. Utilita are great for that. Theirs is 4pm until 10am, and over the weekend too. So if you ran out at 5pm on Friday, your services wouldn't go off until 10am Monday. However, you can also top up online with most companies now if you have a smart meter, but the friendly credit is more geared at people receiving benefit because usually such people live week to week.

Lollypop27 · 13/07/2018 09:41

A friend has just moved in to rented accommodation with a pre pay meter. The landlord will not allow her to change it. He told her that after 8pm even if you have run out it will not cut out until 8pm the next morning. I’ve just had a quick google and it seems to be true. Different companies give different times but it will not cut out over night.

SallyVating · 13/07/2018 09:42

We have lots of small local 24 hour/3-4am shops with paypoint machines but you cant top up after 11pm.

ShapelyBingoWing · 13/07/2018 09:45

I'm not sure I actually know of any companies that do prepay who actually turn the electric/gas off if it runs out during unsociable hours. All the ones I've been with have left it on until the morning of the next business day. And as PP mentioned, many companies now do online top ups.

borlottibeans · 13/07/2018 09:45

This used to be the case years ago when I was on a prepayment meter, but I'm surprised you can't now set up an account linked to your key and do it online. Running out of gas at 9pm on a cold rainy winter's night was always the worst, and that was with a late night convenience store just round the corner where we could top up (though they didn't take cards, so first of all we often had to walk to a cash point and pay £1.99 for the privilege of withdrawing our own money).

But then people on those meters are usually in cheap, poor quality rented accommodation where they are lowest priority for everything else as well, so it shouldn't surprise me that no one has bothered with a basic technological fix for this problem.

Original poster
nibblingandbiting · 13/07/2018 09:45

maybe I didn’t explain correctly. The op was asking why energy companies and paypoint couldn’t work together with stores open 24/7 to ensure there’s somewhere to topup. Not to force stores and workers to operate more hours.

OP posts:
SaucyJack · 13/07/2018 09:47

The OP of that thread needs to be more organised.

I've had pre-payment meters for years. They all have emergency credit on them which lasts for several days- even in the winter.

Not really any excuses for leaving them to completely run out, and actually I agree anyway that it isn't the responsibility of every Co-op local ( or whatever the equivalent convenience store is where they/you live) to stay open 24/7 just on the offchance that someone has let the meter completely run out.

Original poster
nibblingandbiting · 13/07/2018 09:49

It definitely happened. Electric cut off around midnight. The op has all the screenshots from live chat at the time.

And surely if it wouldn’t cut off the energy company would be saying actually that’s bollocks.

There’s no online top up either. Energy company have confirmed this when asked why not as others do it.

OP posts:
FASH84 · 13/07/2018 09:50

Most companies offer an online top up option , I also find it hard to believe you don't know you're near to running out of credit until after 11pm and as PPs have said they don't switch off overnight anyway they give you until a certain time the next morning to top up. This is a non issue

FASH84 · 13/07/2018 09:51

The only reason it might cut off is if they were already into their emergency amount

MissCherryCakeyBun · 13/07/2018 09:51

When I had a prepay( until about 3 years ago) you had an emergency button and when pressed it gave you £5 of credit on the meter so it would last until you go to the shop to top up. Now if you are daft enough to use the £5 credit and still not top up? You only have yourself to blame. I used them for over 20 years and got used to buying my regular top-ups very week. The problem is with those with chaotic lifestyles not bothering, and yes I was a single Parent on benefits with mental health issues during those 20 years and still I managed.
I understand that some meters now allow you to top up online so that's a way round it too.
People need to have responsibility for themselves and not expect to be mothered. Can you imagine not being able to shop after 5pm or on a Sunday? The reality for many years

Shitonthebloodything · 13/07/2018 09:51

I had prepayment for over 10 years and this never happened to me. There's an emergency credit facility so providing you stay topped up, when the beeper goes notifying you that you have 50 pence or less on the meter (it's loud and frequent!) you can activate an additional £5 of emergency credit which would last a few days.
Lots of providers now also offer friendly credit which means the power stays on until the next day.
I never saw the need for a 24hour service just a bit of forward planning.

Shitonthebloodything · 13/07/2018 09:54

There are companies that offer online topups so if I was a shift worker or couldn't top up regularly, I'd have just switched to one of those.
I really don't think it's that much of an issue. I actually lived prepayment as it helped me budget well when things were tight. I detest bills.

Gettingbackonmyfeet · 13/07/2018 09:56

I'm another that doesn't understand this ,I lived in a house with prepayment for years and as others said there is an emergency credit ....which needs to be pressed to activate so it's not like you don't know you are in it

If you are on the emergency you have at least a day or two to resolve

Frequency · 13/07/2018 09:57

It's actually quite easy to make sure you don't run out of power. I'm the least organised person I know and I've never been left without power. I keep an eye on the balance on the meter. Once it gets down to £1 or I get paid, whichever happens first, I top it up. Now I'm used to the meter and can predict how much power we use, I normally get paid before I get down to a £ because I put on how much we use per week each pay day.

I've never been in emergency credit but there is £5 on each meter to use should I need it. You don't just switch to emergency, you have to put the key/card in the machine and £5 will last more than 24 hours. So, the person in your OP has known they'd run out of credit, not bothered going to get more, not bothered checking how much energy they have left on the emergency fund and is now trying to blame the power company. If he had money, why did he not top it up as soon as the emergency credit was needed?

If he was making a point about the extortionate prices people on prepay are forced to pay, I'd be with him but this is his own fault and was entirely avoidable.

JarlBalgruuf · 13/07/2018 09:57

Yes, I think it is fairly standard to have £5 emergency credit available and 'friendly credit' (didn't know it was called this)

Our power and gas never cut out between 8pm and 8am. Which is good because the nearest 24hr shop is a good half hours walk away. And it's Asda where the fag counter which has the paypoint machine shuts at 10pm.

SilverHairedCat · 13/07/2018 10:01

I don't understand why they didn't use the emergency credit overnight. That's what it's there for. Top up in the morning.

Original poster
nibblingandbiting · 13/07/2018 10:07

The half hour walk wouldn’t have been a problem. Several times during the live chat and twitter posts they say they know they have fucked up and more details given about the situation. And that they don’t care how far they have to travel when on the live chat, just need a place to get to. And yes they had searched prior to the live chat. They were following the advice on the ulitites companies site.

OP posts:
AndNoneForGretchenWieners · 13/07/2018 10:10

British Gas used to have an online top up service which you could use a device to attach to your laptop 24/7. They cancelled that service to non smart meter users this year to force people to move to smart meters or face inconvenience. With a vulnerable person in our house (DH who is dying) sometimes it was difficult to keep track of when top ups were needed until the alarm went - we used more electricity trying to keep him warm in winter, plus we were back and forth to the hospital so sometimes didn't hear the alarm reminding us to top up and it ran out while we were visiting him in hospital.

Sometimes it is nothing to do with poor financial management or disorganization, sometimes you don't have a 24 hour shop within walking distance and if you don't drive you are stuck. BG removing the online top up was a huge problem for us, luckily they moved us onto monthly billing when I explained our circumstances but it's not always that simple.

Original poster
nibblingandbiting · 13/07/2018 10:10

Sorry the emergency credit had been used. Money was available. A sequence of events took the topping up to the bottom of priority, afterall 24 shops open so it shouldn’t be a problem.
That is the issue the person has. The fact that 24 hours stores are there but cannot top up and the company openly admit they don’t offer online top up. They may trial something later in the year.

OP posts:
Glumglowworm · 13/07/2018 10:11

Emergency credit is standard to last a couple of days even in winter, which should mean nobody needs to get their power cut off because a shop was shut in the middle of the night.

I do agree that topping up online as standard would be preferable. But I’ve had a pre-pay meter for three years and it’s not hard to keep an eye on it. If you do forget, there’s emergency credit, which you have to activate so surely that reminds you to top up?

I would be more concerned about the higher costs paid by pre-pay customers, who are typically the least able to afford it, than shops being closed overnight.

Glumglowworm · 13/07/2018 10:14

Cross posted, with your extra posts sorry

But surely when you have to trigger the emergency credit, if you have the cash and the ability to get to a shop to top up, then at the point your trigger emergency credit it should become a high priority for you to top up?

Frequency · 13/07/2018 10:20

I'm still not understanding how this is not the OP's fault? Emergency credit lasts 2-3 days with normal usage. OP knew he was on emergency credit so could have taken steps to stretch this further if he wanted to.

Surely he left the house during the 2-3 days? It's not hard to top up a key meter, it takes about 60 seconds once you've made it to the shop and most newsagents do top ups. Unless he lives in the middle of nowhere (his access to 24hr shops suggests he doesn't) he must have passed a newsagents at some point in the 2-3 days. It really didn't need to be a massive priority that put everything else on hold, it just needed to be remembered.