FREQUENTLY ASKED YOUR QUESTIONS

Transcription

1 FREQUENTLY ASKED YOUR QUESTIONS GUIDE (FAQS) TO

2 Q. What is a Pay As You Go (PAYG) meter? A. It s a smart meter set up in PAYG mode, which lets you pay for your energy as you use it. The meter is linked to our systems so that when you add credit to your account, it ll show automatically on the meter. This lets you keep an eye on how much credit you have available and add more as you need it. A PAYG smart meter is a way to pay for your energy as you use it and, if you ve built up any debt on your account, it helps you manage and repay the debt using credit you top up with. (If you re paying off debt through your prepayment meter, it s sometimes called repayment mode ). You ll usually need a meter for each fuel type, but you ll be able to see your combined usage on your electricity meter. You can find out more about our smart PAYG meters on our website at Q. Why do I need a PAYG meter? A. We may give you a PAYG meter if you don t have a Direct Debit set up on your account, and would rather pay for your energy as you use it. It can help you to budget and you can even use it to help reduce your energy use, by showing how much energy you re using. Repayment mode Your PAYG meter will be in repayment mode if you ve got a large debt balance on your account. We ll try to contact you a number of times before we move you to a repayment meter, to try to help you with your debt issue and/or to tell you that you don t have a Direct Debit in place. If we can t sort out the debt, the next step we ll take is installing a repayment meter. The PAYG prepayment meter will help you manage the repayment of your debt and control the amount you spend on your future energy. You can find out more about our approach in our Smart PAYG Code of Practice at

3 Q. What happens if I don t want a PAYG meter? A. We ll try to get in touch with you a number of times before we reach the stage where we tell you that we need to fit a PAYG meter, to try to help you resolve your outstanding debt and/or tell you that you don t have a Direct Debit in place. We may install a PAYG meter if you can t, or don t want to, set up a Direct Debit on your account. If you re prepared to pay off all the debt on your account and set up a Direct Debit, as we have advised in our communications, we may be able to stop the process and keep you on your existing meter. If we are forced to install a PAYG meter, we ll add any charges we have to pay for it on to your account -. Q. Where will you fit my PAYG meter? A. In most cases we ll fit your repayment meter in the same place as your current meter. We ll ask you to tell us about any issues we may face around where your meter is installed. Sometimes we have installation issues that only come to light once an engineer is on site, but we ll always try to solve them. Q. Who will fit my PAYG meter? A. Our partners Lowri Beck Metering Solutions will install your meter. We have a long relationship with them, as they ve done all our meter work for us. For more information about Lowri Beck, please visit their website Q. How long will you take to install the meter? A. We ll normally fit your new meter in around minutes per meter. You ll be disconnected from the energy supply while the engineer is working on it. Q. What happens if there s a problem when you re installing the meter? A. If we can t fit your meter, we ll tell you why and will leave your current meter as we found it. This might be a temporary issue that can be resolved, or a longer-term issue that, but we ll keep you updated and let you know the next steps we re taking.

4 Q. Do I need to be at home while you re changing my meter? A. Yes. You or an adult representative will need to be there while your meter is replaced, even if the meter is located outside your property. Q. I live in a block of flats and my meter is in a meter bank will it still be changed? A. Yes. We just need to make sure that the installation engineer can access your meter on the day and that you have ongoing access to the meter. We also need to make sure the meter has enough signal and will work if it s not in your flat. Q. I live in a rented property do you need permission before you change the meter? A. Please check your rental agreement to see if you need to let your landlord or letting agency know before we come to exchange your meter for a prepayment one. If you do need to tell your landlord or letting agency, it might be worth advising them that when you move out they can choose whether the meter stays in Pay As You Go/prepayment mode, or switches to credit mode. Q. How do I know the meter engineer is genuine? A. Lowri Beck may employ a number of different organisations throughout the country to carry out this work on their behalf. The meter engineer who attends your appointment will carry an official Lowri Beck identification card. As with all callers to your home, you should check this identification carefully before letting them in. If you re not sure that the meter engineer is genuine, you can check their identity by calling the Lowri Beck Customer Contact Centre on You can also set a password that the engineer (and all other electricity/gas agents) must use before entering your property. If you d like to do this, contact us on

5 Q. Will I be pressurised into buying products or services once the meter engineer comes into my property? A. You can rest assured, because we ve signed up to the Which? Guidelines and Smart Metering Installation Code of Practice (SMICoP) to guarantee that our installers are there only to fit your meter and will not try to sell you any products or services. If you ask about any energy-efficiency related products, our installer will tell you about them. If you want to know more we can arrange for one of our team to call you a few days after we ve fitted your Cash Only prepayment meter. Q. Who can I call if I ve got a query after you ve fitted my meter? A. Contact our Customer Services team on who will be more than happy to help you. If you ve got questions about your debt, please contact our Collections team on We re open between 8am-8pm, Monday to Friday and 9am 2pm Saturdays. Q. Will I still be able to read my meter? A. You can still read your meter as often as you would like. The meter will tell you what credit is on the meter and any debt you have for that energy type. Q. Can I switch suppliers once you ve fitted my meter? A. Yes, if there s a debt balance on the account of more than 200 and your new supplier agrees to take your debt from us. Q. How can I buy credit? A. Once you ve set up your online account you ll be able to buy credit it online, using our smart Pay As You Go app on your phone, with a text message or by calling our automated phone system. Or you can pay with cash or card at your local PayPoint outlet. The minimum payment you can make is 10.For more details visit You can also choose to set an auto top-up. When your credit falls below the minimum level you set ( 5 for example, your meter will top up with a set amount using your stored card details, so you don t have to remember to do it If your credit has reached 0 ask us for an on-demand reading so you can see how much energy you ve used and how much credit you need to put on the meter so it doesn t disconnect at 9am on the following working day.

6 Q. How can I find my nearest PayPoint agent? A. Visit to find your PayPoint location, or call our Payments team on and we can let you know. Q. Can I choose which meter to add credit to? A. No. You ll have one card to add credit to your account which covers both gas and electricity meters. Although you add the credit to your electricity meter, the gas meter tells the electricity meter how much it s using every half an hour and takes the enough credit to cover this. Q. Is there a maximum amount of credit I can put on the meter? A. Yes. The most you can add to the meter in one payment is 49. If you want to buy more credit, you can do it by making more than one payment. The limit is there as a safety measure to make sure the PayPoint outlet doesn t accidentally charge you more than you want to pay. Q. What happens if I lose my card? A. Contact us on to get a 19-digit PAN and use this to top up. We re open between 8am - 8pm Monday to Friday, and 9am 2pm Saturdays. If you d like a new card just let us know and we ll happily send it to you. Please note that you will be charged 5 per card for the administrative cost of producing and posting the card to you. Q. What happens if I run out of credit? A. If your balance falls to 0 you ll have until 9am the next working day to put more credit on to your meter before it disconnects itself. The sooner you top up the better, as the energy you re using is still being recorded and needs to be paid for. So the later you top up the more you ll have to pay to stop your meter disconnecting. This should give you enough time to visit a PayPoint agent and buy more credit.

7 Q. Will you disconnect my energy supply? A. No, but the meter will disconnect itself if you run out of credit and don t top up by 9am on the next working day.make sure you always have enough credit on your meter(s) to cover your usage, standing charge and debt repayment on an ongoing basis. Q. If I m away from my property, what happens to my meter? A. If you plan to be away from your property for any length of time you ll need to make sure you ve got enough credit on your meter(s) to cover minimal usage, your standing charge and any daily debt repayments. Q. How much the credit will you take for repayment and how much for future usage? A. If you have a debit balance with us, we ll agree a daily repayment amount with you based on how much debt you have and your personal circumstances. Q. Do I pay more for my energy if I have a PAYG meter? A. You pay the same unit price as a customer on a standard meter, but the standing charge is higher because of the extra administration costs and charges we have to pay to set up and run the meter(s), and for using PayPoint. Q. What happens if there s a problem with the meter? A. Contact us immediately on and we ll be able test your meter remotely to find out what the problem is. If you have any problems outside of these times, please contact Lowri Beck on who will be able to help you. They re available 8am-8pm Monday to Friday, 8am- 6pm on Saturdays and 9am-5pm on Sundays and bank holidays. Q. Once I m back in credit, can I switch back to credit mode? A. Depending on your personal circumstances, we may be able to move your meter back to a standard payment option. If you ve cleared your debt and want to pay monthly in advance by Direct Debit please call us on to talk about it.