Prepayment

If you've put money on your key or card but this isn’t transferring onto your meter:

• Check the key or card is inserted properly
• Try wiping the device with a clean dry cloth and then re-insert the key or card

If it still doesn't work please contact us.

For us to make a decision on removing your prepayment meters we need to carry out a credit check with you. If this is successful then we can usually arrange for an engineer to visit your property within 10-14 working days. We do not charge any fees for changing your meter and we’ll discuss different payment options and tariffs available once the meter has been changed. You can also find a full range of our credit meter tariffs here.

In order to carry out the credit check we need to speak to you directly. Please contact us and we'll be happy to help you.

Your electricity meter collects a standing charge and any debt on a daily basis even if no electricity has been used. Please make sure that enough credit is put on the meter to cover these charges. If you don't your meter will go into debt which will be collected the next time you put money on your meter.

Your meter will first check to see if anything is owed before giving you credit for gas. If you have a weekly repayment rate the meter will take this amount from your first top up after a Wednesday morning each week.

Prepayment accounts can show an outstanding debt or credit for the following reasons:

• If your meter readings have been estimated
• Your payments haven’t been added to your account
• You’ve previously been sent a refund in error
• If an incorrect amount was set to collect on your meter
• Your meter may not have the correct prices
• You're using another suppliers key or card

You can put money on your key or card at any service station or shop where you see the PayPoint or Payzone signs, or at all participating Post Offices. You can find your nearest store to top up by using our prepayment store locator tool.

Once you've found your nearest top up point just follow these steps to add new credit to your prepayment meter.

• Hand over your key or card to the shop assistant and ask for a top up to the value you want. You can only top up in full pounds.
• Once you've paid, they'll take your key or card, pop it in their machine and add your new credit. Please make sure you keep your receipt.
• When you insert your key or card into your meter at home your credit will be transferred.

You may notice that you need to put more money in your meter over the winter period as you turn on your lights, heating and other appliances more often. If you'd like some information about ways you can lower the amount of money you put in your meter by reducing the energy you use, you can find useful tips on our saving energy pages.

If you owe any money that you're paying through your meter, you'll need to pay the weekly fixed amount plus the energy used in your home. If you don’t top up one week your meter will take more next time.

If you’re concerned that your meter is still taking too much money, please take the settings from your meter and contact us. We can then check that your meter is set correctly for you.

Electricity meters and emergency credit
When your electricity meter beeps, or if you've got less than £1 of credit left. At this point, we can give you £5 emergency credit. To get your emergency credit, just insert your key into the meter and it will transfer your £5 credit.
We won't cut you off at night, even if you run out of credit.
Friendly meter times are 6pm-9am in winter and 7pm-10am in the summer. This is where you’ll still get electricity even if you run out of credit and your meter will collect the value of energy used when you next top up.

Gas meters and emergency credit

When your gas meter beeps, or if you've got less than £2 of credit left. At this point, we can give you £5 emergency credit. To get your emergency credit, just pop your card in the meter and press the red button ‘A’.

Find out more about prepayment emergency credit or contact us for more help.

It’s part of your agreement to top up your meter with credit every week even if you aren’t using energy. This is to ensure that your debt is repaid in line with your repayment agreement.

Don’t worry, for emergencies your meter will make £5 available to you (your emergency credit). You’ll need to pay this back when you next top up. If you want to use your emergency credit and you’ve got less than £2 left; put your card in the meter then press the red button ‘A’.

Press and hold the red button on your meter until it beeps, your meter setting screens should now be showing. Keep pressing the red button and the number in the bottom corner of the screen will change. Your collection rate is shown on screen 26. This amount is taken on your first top up after each Wednesday.

Press the red button once (without holding it down) this will show your “owed” screen. This is how much you owe the meter for your emergency credit and standing charge.

We still have to send you a statement at least once a year, to show you the charges for any energy used, and also details of any payments made to your account.