Prepayment Meters
If you've never used a prepayment meter before, we've created a handy step-by-step guide.
Prepayment Meter Top Up Locations
- Jeffreys Garage
- Morrisons Daily, The Bridge (formally Iceland)
- Braye Road Garage, Vale
- Checkers Xpress – Landes du Marche
- Checkers Xpress - Collings Road
- Co-op Locale - The Market
- Co-op En Route - Forest
Please note, prepayment top-ups are now available at Morrisons Daily, The Bridge (formally Iceland).
Top-ups will continue to be available at Braye Road Garage.
Useful Information
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1) The standing charge and unit price are charged at the same rate as normal meters. -
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2) Your standing charge is collected at 90-minute intervals to spread the cost. -
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3) You still benefit from your E12 times. -
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4) Prepayment meters have Friendly times. -
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5) £5.00 Emergency credit is programmed onto all prepayment meters, which can be used should you run out of credit.
Tariff options are the same for all our customers and do not cost more if you use a prepayment meter. Our low-rate times are also available- meaning you can use your appliances for considerably less, within our Super Economy 12 low-rate times.
Try our energy calculator to see for yourself!
Prepayment meters give you peace of mind that your spending is in your hands. As financial circumstances change week to week and month to month, you can decide when you pay and how much you pay. No standing orders here, only pay for what you use! With a prepayment meter, you can say goodbye to those costly, unexpected bills.
With a prepayment meter you are aware of how much energy you are using and how much you are spending. Making conscious decisions to reduce consumption based upon the prepaid balance not only saves you money but also helps reduce carbon emissions.
You have run out of credit and shops are closed- sound familiar? Topping up is sometimes required at inconvenient times, however, Guernsey Electricity have "friendly times" so you don’t need to worry about the lights going off.
During these “friendly times”, if your prepayment meter runs out of credit, your electricity supply will stay on. Any electricity used during this period will be deducted from the balance of the next top-up.
If credit runs out before the friendly time period starts, you will need to press the green emergency credit button or top up.
It is important to note that if you do not top up by the end of the “friendly time” period, your electricity will switch off once the "friendly times" conclude.
Please remember: credit used during friendly times will automatically be deducted from your next top up.
Monday-Thursday from 16:30-9AM
Friday from 16:30
Saturday and Sunday all day until Monday 9am
(Bank holidays are included)
Emergency credit is designed to provide a temporary power supply when the credit balance is low on a prepayment meter. Emergency credit can be activated by pressing the green button under the meter when the credit is below £2.00. If the orange light is flashing, emergency credit is available.
If you activate the emergency credit, an additional £5.00 will be made available, allowing the electricity supply to continue.
The £5.00 emergency credit is automatically deducted from your next top-up - once credit is added to the meter, the emergency credit amount is deducted along with any outstanding balance.
Knowing if you have a debit balance or credit balance is simple, yet not always easy to spot!
On the main display of your prepayment meter, you will see an initial balance. This balance will either indicate a credit or debit balance on your account.
How to spot the difference
A debit balance will always have a minus sign before it and a credit balance will not, as indicated in the image shown.
We are now using an updated prepayment card. Please refer to the image to spot what the new cards look like compared to the older version.
Important
Please remember the card is unique to both your property and your account. If either change then a new card will be issued.
Your prepayment meter will show a variation of orange and red LEDs. Each light signals if emergency credit is available to use or no credit is left on your meter.
Flashing orange LED= emergency credit of £5.00 is available- can press Emergency credit button.
Solid orange LED= emergency credit is being used.
Solid red LED= No credit- no supply.
The lights will appear within the area labelled "1".
Where is the emergency credit button?
You can activate emergency credit by pressing the green button found underneath 'Reconnect'.
The area of the button is labelled "2" within the image shown.
Please contact us on 01481 241973 to discuss with one of our advisors.
Prepayment Meter Q&A
What happens if I move house?
Prepayment top-up cards are linked to both the property and the account. If you are moving house and have prepayment meter, please contact us to arrange a House move and we will issue a new card.
I have a large credit balance on my top-up card. Can I get a refund?
Unfortunately, We can only process credit refunds when producing a Final Statement as part of the House Move process.
Do customers on a prepayment meter pay standing charges?
Yes, domestic customers on a prepayment meter pay the electricity standing charge. This is calculated by the meter deducted at 90 minute intervals. Under the current primary standing charge as of 1st July 2023, this works out at around 55 pence per day.
I owe a debt as part of my prepayment meter agreement – how is this deducted?
Where a customer on a prepayment meter owes a debt on their account, this is not deducted in one lump sum but instead is deducted in small amounts at 90 minute intervals. When the prepayment meter account is set up, Guernsey Electricity will set this rate to be deducted as agreed with the customer.
Example: Guernsey Electricity is collecting £20 per month towards a debt, so we set up the top-up card to collect £5 per week. The prepayment meter will process 112 collections within a week (10,080 minutes per week divided by 90 minute intervals). £5 divided into 112 intervals = 0.0446 pence will be collected every 90 minutes.
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Prepayment Meter LeafletFind Out MoreDownload