Why have I got a bill even though I've got a card, key or token meter?

The whole idea of having a pre-payment meter is so you don't get bills, but sometimes this happens out of the blue. Some of the common reasons this happens are because:

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Energy

• The supplier has billed you completely by mistake - for example their records may be wrong, and show you have a credit meter not a pre-payment meter
• Sometimes if your meter has been changed from a credit meter and you owed your supplier some money, they might send a bill for the amount you owe (though they would normally put a debt onto the new meter, so you can pay it off through your key, card or tokens).
• The pre-payment meter may have been set wrongly, so a 'catch-up' bill is needed. But again, debts are usually put on the meter rather than demanded through a bill.
• You may have used someone else's key or card - for example, the one that belonged to the people who lived in your home before you. All the money you pay on somebody else's card will have gone into their account, not yours. If your supplier is different to the previous occupant's supplier and you use the old card, the money you have paid will have gone to the wrong company. This is called a 'misdirected payment'. You can get your money transferred from the wrong company to the right one, but it can take quite a long time. However, you shouldn't have to pay the right company up front while waiting for a refund from the wrong company - the transfer should happen direct between the companies.
• You may have used someone else's card to buy tokens, or might you have bought tokens from an unofficial source.

If you get a bill, telephone your supplier as soon as possible.