(ThyBlackMan.com) There are plenty of households in the UK who are connected to a prepayment meter and you need to know the best way to use them if you are going to be able to keep your energy expenses as low as possible.
A guide on how to get the best out of your gas and electricity usage can be found here and if you are someone who has a prepaid meter, the good news is that your options have improved in recent times.
Two options
Although there are plans to introduce a smart meter option for the 16% of UK households who currently have a prepaid meter installed, there are just two options when it comes to the type of meter you 
have in your home.
Prepayment meters are the pay-as-you go equivalent to how you can pay for your mobile phone usage and the simple concept is that you pay in advance for the gas and electricity you are going to use by loading credit that you buy in a variety of different ways.
Credit meters measure your ongoing energy use and your supplier will send a bill every quarter without requiring payment up-front.
Why do you have a prepayment meters?
There are a number of reasons why energy suppliers install prepayment meters in a property.
Sometimes the energy company takes action to limit a debt situation or reduce the risk of a non-payment by insisting on installing a prepayment meter. It might also be installed in a property where you are a tenant, if the landlord wants to reduce the prospect of unpaid energy bills, or it could be that the person at the property before you had requested a prepayment meter to be installed so that they could budget for their energy use.
How to save money
If you move into a property with a prepayment meter, don’t just carry on feeding the meter without checking out what options you have to switch to a credit meter or at least get a better deal on how much your energy costs you.
Not all tenants realise that while they are responsible for paying the energy bills in the household, they should be entitled to choose their supplier, even if the tenancy agreement specifically prohibits this.
Ofgem has issued guidance on this scenario and it states that if you pay the energy bill, this should give you the right to change supplier and hopefully get a better deal as a result.
The cheapest energy tariffs available are almost certainly going to be available for customers who have credit meters and the difference could be as much as £300 per annum when you compare typical cheapest prepay meter cost to the cheapest credit meter tariff cost.
Compare prices
If you are unable to change to a credit meter deal or want to stick to a prepayment meter for budgeting purposes, you can still aim to save money by comparing the prices of all of the prepayment energy suppliers.
Switching to a different supplier works in the same way as credit meters do, so if you find a better deal, arrange to switch your prepayment meter for a better tariff.
Lowering your costs should be a priority for all energy customers, regardless of whether you are on a prepayment meter or not, so always check what options you have to save money.
Staff Writer; Steven Thomas
