[Silentmist]

Hello.

Has the maximum amount storable on the prepayment key fob been increased to accommodate the full £66 value of the voucher from it's normal £50 limit?.

[PeterT_EONNext]

Afternoon all!

I think I get what you're talking about here?

If you're referring to how much the key can hold, this is actually £249 in total.

In regards to the EBSS vouchers (as well as the Warm Home Discount Voucher which is £150) can be applied in full to the key with no restrictions, as these are instead applied as something called a 'Remote Token Issue' as opposed to a cash value they'd have to process through their till.

Post Offices, as well as PayPoint and Payzone just have a limit on 'per transaction' so when paying for the transaction, this is limited to £50 per top up. So if you wanted to top up £100, the store would have to top up £50 and then another £50, if that makes sense.

[PeterT_EONNext]

@theunknowntech

It's a hard limit regardless I'm afraid, It's just the way that the meter is set to work, a very good point though.

With the gas meters, they can hold a max credit of £999, it's just the electricity that is limited to a lower amount.

The reason for this is so that the supplier will receive more regular readings from when the meter is next topped up (to view advancement of the readings, as well as keep more accurate annual consumption data for the supply point) as not vending for a very long time could trigger a required visit, to find out why the meter hasn't been topped up in a long time, as this is how we receive the Prepayment meter readings.

The data collector will also need the consumption information as regularly as possible, which all suppliers need also, to both forecast energy usage for the customer, as well as buying the energy at wholesale.

I get what you mean though in relation to the EBSS vouchers totalling £400. Each voucher expires 3 months after issue, so the hope is that the above scenario doesn't happen. If it somehow did (in what I can only assume is quite a rare case) we'd just need to re-issue vouchers that expired/couldn't be used due to limitations of the credit limit on the meter.

[theunknowntech]

Hi @Silentmist ,

Yes, the limit will have been raised specifically for those vouchers. It should just go through.

[Silentmist]

@theunknowntech I look forward to using the voucher as soon as I can find a post office whose top-up machine actually accepts them. So far, no luck.

[Silentmist]

Originally Posted by Silentmist

@theunknowntech I look forward to using the voucher as soon as I can find a post office whose top-up machine actually accepts them. So far, no luck.

Three weeks later. Post office STILL isn't accepting the voucher. He claimed the top-up machine hasn't been working now for two months. I'm going to have to phone ahead to an alternative post office, check their top-up machine is in order AND that they're accepting vouchers, then get a bus ticket and go travelling.

[retrotecchie]

@Silentmist

This sounds like a real pain. If their machines aren't working, why haven't they sorted them out? Surely you aren't the only person that needs to top up?!

I'm not familiar with how these vouchers work. Do they have to be processed at a PO, or can you redeem them at another PayPoint in a local 'fags and mags' or somewhere?

I do feel your pain though, as my nearest Post Office is a four mile each way trip, and buses are unheard of round here. When they are out of action, my next nearest PO is a 16 mile round trip. Not so easy on foot in the wind and rain.

A complaint to the Post Office itself may be in order?

[retrotecchie]

Originally Posted by theunknowntech

Hi @Silentmist ,

Yes, the limit will have been raised specifically for those vouchers. It should just go through.

Lets face it, with price increases, I think the raising of the limit will possibly be made permanent. £50 won't last so long any more. Like they raised the limit on contactless from £30 to £100 during the lockdowns, so we could pay for our weekly shop contactless.

Folks like @Silentmist who need to schlepp off down to the post office to top up don't want to be in and out like a fiddler's elbow all the time, especially when they may rely on public transport.

[theunknowntech]

You know what actually... I agree with raising the limits that can be stored on keys/cards as well as raising the limits for each transaction. Let me ask if that's feasible.

Thoughts @Beki_EONNext @HannahD_EONNext @PeterT_EONNext @Han_EONNext @Bennie_EONNext @DebF_EONNext @Anasa_EONNext ?

[theunknowntech]

Gotcha! I had a feeling there was some kind of trick to it.

Just curious, but what about the limits on the meter balance itself? Is there a way to have the meter accept credit beyond the standard £249 limit under certain situations e.g. Discretionary Credit, EBSS or WHD that causes it to exceed the usual £249 limit, or is it set as a hard limit regardless?

It would be a bit awkward if a key had £400 on it from EBSS tokens that can't be transferred at all!