[shaky99]

Hi,

I just moved into a new pad, its a granny flat in the back garden. I have a completely separate meter to the main property, buts its located in the cellar of the main house.

I am used to prepayment for my electric, & know this is gonna shock me when i get a bill, a prepayment meter is not an option here i afraid.

I have heard of a device you can put in a plug socket which calcs the elecy you have used, are these easy to get hold of and how accurate are they?

Andy

[notts_phil]

You should make weekly payments by bacs/faster payments to your energy provider that way.ensuring no nasty bills and you can still get the benefit of direct debit discounts

[LeMaquis]

You're better off without pre-payment. The tariffs tend to be higher and you run the risk of being cut off if you're suddenly short of money. The best thing to do is work out your usual annual bill and pay by monthly direct debit. They can adjust if you're paying too much or too little. You'll also get a discount.

[JB-Property]

We've got one of those electric things, free from E-on. Called an energy fit kit, you can set it to the price per unit for the tariff you are on and then weekly hook it up to the computer. I'd steer clear of pre-payment meters if you can, as the others have said the rate per unit is generally higher.

[salmonbones]

The prepayment option does end up costing you more. Stay clear if you can and get into the habit of planning your bills better if possible. Honestly, yes it's a pain but you will end up paying less. Especially if you go DD.