Prepayment meters can be a useful tool for managing your energy costs. As the name suggests, they require you to pay for your energy in advance. With a prepayment meter, it’s much easier to avoid building up a debt for your gas and electricity.

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Below we’ve put together a list of pros and cons of having one:

Advantages of prepayment meters

• You’re in control of how much and how often you top up.
• You don’t have to worry about building up debt as you purchase your energy before you use it making you more aware of your running energy costs.
• You always have an idea of what your remaining balance is as it’s displayed clearly on the meter screen which helps you avoid nasty surprises.
• You don’t receive any bills, you pay in advance.
• Prepayment meters will have an ‘Emergency Credit
• Prepayment electricity meters have a ‘

  Friendly Credit

  ’ or ‘no-disconnect’ mode that operates at certain hours of the day and/or night. In these hours, considered to be the most inconvenient times to be without energy, you will not lose supply even if Emergency Credit has not been activated or it has run out.
• You can use your prepayment meter to repay any outstanding money you owe us. Your payments are spread over a time period that suits you, in agreed amounts that you can afford, interest-free.

Disadvantages of Prepayment meters

• Prepayment meters are more expensive to operate than other types of meter which means you might not be able to access the cheapest tariffs available 
• Topping up at a local newsagent, petrol station or supermarket is inconvenient (especially when it’s cold)
• If your prepayment meter has run out of credit and your supply is off, to restore your supply you will need to access your meters directly which may be positioned out of easy reach.
• Your supply will turn off if your prepayment meter runs out of credit outside of ‘Friendly Credit’ hours, and your ‘Emergency Credit’ has been used or has not been activated. It may not be possible to restore your supply until your meter is topped-up again and is in positive credit.
• If your prepayment meter has run out of credit and your supply is off, you may need to repay any ‘Emergency Credit’, ‘Friendly Credit’ or any outstanding amount owed, before your supply will come back on. You may also need to account for any debt repayment plan that has been agreed. This could mean you need to top-up a bit more than you usually would so please be aware this may affect your budgeting.
• Your energy usage will almost certainly increase during winter months; meaning your weekly top-ups would also have to increase. When you ‘pay-as-you-go’ this may be even more noticeable and have greater impact on your daily and weekly budgeting. It may help to spread out your payments evenly over the year to build up credit during the summer months, ready for the winter.
• If you leave home for several days, you must remember to charge your key or card, and to credit your meter. This is because your credit is used to pay for your daily standing charge (on selected tariffs) and any debt repayments – so if you don’t charge your meter enough before going away, appliances that you may want to have on all the time (for example, freezers) may switch off.

What are the Advantages and Disadvantages of Prepaid Electricity?

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If you are considering Prepaid Electricity, there are both advantages as well as disadvantages to this service. First off, there are quite a few advantages. If you have Prepaid Electricity, you are much more aware of how much you are paying each month, and you can decide when you would like to top up your balance. You also don’t have to worry about accumulating debt as you purchase energy because you will notice your running costs. You also won’t get monthly bills, but instead, you will always have a good idea of what your balance is because it is easy to read on your meter screen.

Prepayment meters make buying energy much more convenient and straightforward for your busy life. They often have what is known as an “Emergency Credit” facility which gives you a certain amount of extra credit to use in case you don’t have the funds to replenish your balance. This gives you more time to fill up your meter before you have your utilities shut off. They also offer a “Friendly Credit,” or a “no-disconnect” service that operates at specific hours to be without energy.

With this feature, you won’t run out of energy even if you have depleted your Emergency Credit or if it has not yet been activated. You can even use your convenient prepayment meter to pay any outstanding bills that you may have and your payments can be spread over a period of time so that you can easily work your payments into your budget and free of interest. You also will not have any credit checks or deposits, and anyone can join without any hassle. You don’t have to worry about deposits, credit checks, or have to go through approval processes.

As wonderful as Prepaid Electricity may sound it also comes with a few disadvantages. You may not always have access to the cheapest tariffs since prepayment meters are quite a bit more expensive to operate than other meters. It can also be inconvenient to top up your meter since you will normally do this at the local petrol station, or supermarket. If your prepayment meter is depleted and your supply gets turned off, you will need to access your meter directly in order to restore your supply which may be difficult for you to access. Your supply will also turn off if your prepayment meter runs out of funds outside of the normal “Friendly Credit” hours and you have already used all of your “Emergency Credit” or if it has not been activated. You will not be able to restore it until your meter is filled up again and your account is out of the red.

If the meter runs out of credit and your supply is turned off you may need to repay any “Emergency Credit” or “Friendly Credit” or any other debt that you may owe before you are able to have your meter turned on again. This means that you may need to add more than you normally would which could throw your budget out of whack. Your energy usage will always be higher in the winter months which will bring your weekly payments up. If you have opted to go with the “pay-as-you-go” payment plan, it could impact your daily as well as monthly budget. You could offset this by spreading out your payments more evenly throughout the year in order to build up your credit during the warmer months and when your bills are lower to help prepare for the colder months.

If you are planning on going on vacation or leaving for a few days you need to remember to charge your card or key and to credit your meter. If you don’t do this before you leave, your utilities may be turned off, and you could have appliances such as your fridge turned off and it could cost you hundreds of dollars worth of spoiled food.

Whether you decide to have prepaid electricity for your utilities or not, there are benefits to having one or the other. You just need to decide what is most important to you. If you utilize it correctly, pay-as-you-go billing is convenient and simpler than your useful contract plans. It also gives the opportunity to have more control over your budget, and it also makes it easier to work your utility bills into your budget since it does not fluctuate as much as if you didn’t go with this type of payment plan. You just need to remember to pay. The biggest downside to having a “normal” utility bill is that you never really know how much your bill will be and you will also have a much higher bill in the colder months and during the holiday season when your budget can be tighter.

Call our support team today at any of our convenient locations and get a free estimate.

888.764.6669

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For more prepaid energy meter information, please contact us. We will provide professional answers.