Updated on 20/01/25 by Emmanuelle_OVO:
If you’re a pay as you go customer whose vulnerable or relies on your supply for mains powered electrical equipment (supply critical customers) & we’ve been trying to reach you it may be because you’ve not topped up in a while & might be without power. If we aren’t able to get in touch we will send a visitor (after 72 hours of being off supply) to check in and talk about how we can help.
We also want you to know that if you can’t afford to top up, we’re here to help. Don’t worry
if this doesn’t apply to you – we just want to make sure that anyone who needs support gets it quickly.
These topics may be helpful:
Quick hints and tricks to see if you can get back on supply yourself! - Is my gas supply actually off? & Is my electricity supply actually off?
Click on the link for Pay As You Go Smart Meter off supply?
Pay As You Go Smart Meter with top up issues?
Need financial support or questions about your debt balance? Get advice here
Top up issues and frequently asked questions
How can I top up my Pay As You Go meter?
You can add credit to your meter via the following options. Top up anything between £1 and £200 at a time.
Helpful to know: you’ll need to add credit to your electricity and gas meters separately (if you have both).
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OVO Energy Top-up app
Download the OVO Energy Top-up app from the Apple App Store or Google Play to add credit anytime, anywhere. You’ll need to use your top-up card numbers – this is the 20-digit number on your gas or electricity Pay As You Go top-up card that we sent you. The app also lets you track all your top-ups and save bank cards to make the process easier -
PayPoint shop or Payzone shop
You can top up at any PayPoint shop. Just show them your top-up card numbers or the barcodes in your OVO Energy Top-up app -
Find your nearest PayPoint/Payzone shop
Visit paypoint.co.uk or payzone.co.uk and pop in your postcode -
Top up online
Make payments online here
When you buy credit, it’ll usually reach your meter within 40 minutes. If the signal in your home is ever too low to pick up your credit, you can add it yourself. You’ll need to use the 20 digit “VEND” code on your payment receipts.
I've lost my top-up card – what do I do?
You don't need a physical card in order to top up. If you still have the numbers (you can find these on an old top-up receipt), then you can top up online or on the OVO Energy Top-up app. You can also input the numbers into your OVO Energy Top-up app, which will give you a barcode that you can use to top up at the shop. Another option is to take your receipt to a shop and they can use the top-up card numbers to do a manual top-up.
We charge £5 for replacement top-up cards. If you'd like us to send you one, let us know via chat here. Just click the green chat icon on the bottom right of your screen (8am to 6pm Monday to Friday and 9am to 2pm on Saturday).
Or call us on 0330 175 9669 during the same times.
I topped up but my credit hasn't appeared on my meter – what should I do?
For first generation smart meters (with a keypad)
There are 2 ways to top up manually:
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The easiest and fastest way is to use your In-Home Display (IHD)
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press the Account button
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Choose the fuel you want to top up
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Enter your PayPoint code
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Press enter
Then your top-up will appear on the screen.
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Use your gas or electricity meter:
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Press A on your gas or electricity meter
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Enter the code from your receipt
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Tap B to confirm
Then your top-up will appear on the screen.
If this doesn’t work, please check your code and try again.
For second generation smart meters (usually either an Aclara electricity meter with 2 buttons, or a Flonidan gas meter with 3 buttons)
There are 2 ways to top up manually:
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The easiest and fastest way is to use your In-Home Display (IHD):
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Tap the menu icon at the bottom right of the screen
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Press Top-Up
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Choose the fuel you want to top up
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Press OK
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Enter your PayPoint code
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Tap OK
The IHD will then confirm that your money has been added to your meter.
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Use your Aclara electricity and Flonidan gas meter.
For electricity, use your Aclara meter:
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Press A on your meter until you see Enter Top Up Code
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Press and hold A to begin typing
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Enter your code using the A and B buttons to navigate through the digits
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Press and hold B when complete
If successful, the top-up amount will appear on the screen.
For gas, use your Flonidan meter:
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Press C on your gas meter to enter the menu
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Using A and B, scroll to Prepayment and press C
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Tap A and B until you see New Payment
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Press C to select it
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Use A and B to enter your code
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Tap C again
EDMI meters
Electric
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Press the OK button to enter the main menu
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Press and hold the OK button on the Main Prepay screen
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Press and hold the OK button on the Prepay Top-Up screen
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To enter the Top-Up Code number, use the arrow buttons to increase or decrease the digits and the OK button to move on to the next digit.
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When all digits have been correctly entered, press and hold the OK button to confirm the Top-Up Code. If successful, confirmation of the top-up amount accepted will appear, e.g. £10.00.
Gas
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Press the OK button to enter the main menu
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Press the OK button to enter the Prepay menu
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Press the OK button to enter the Top Up menu
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To enter the Top-Up Code use the arrow buttons to increase or decrease the digits and the OK button to move on to the next digit
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When you've selected all 20 digits correctly, press and hold the OK button to enter the code into the meter. If successful, confirmation of the top-up amount accepted will appear, e.g. £10.00.
How to top up Youtube Tutorial series:
(Electricity Secure Meter)
(Gas Elster Meter)
(Smart Energy Tracker)
(Aclara SMETS2 Meter)
(GEO In Home Display)
(Gas EDMI Meter)
(Landis & Gyr Meter)
(Electricity EDMI Meter)
(Gas Secure Meter)
(Electricity Landis & Gyr)
(Aclara SMETS2 Meter)
Need some more information about your smart meter? Check out the following smart meter manuals:
What happens if I run out of credit during the night or at the weekend?
As long as you had credit at the start, even emergency credit, you won’t lose power during these times:
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During the night – between 6pm and 9am, Monday to Saturday
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Saturday from 4pm through until Monday morning at 9am.
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All day Christmas Day, Boxing Day, New Year’s Day, and Easter Sunday
Do I need a top-up card to top up my smart meter?
No, you don’t. When you set up the top-up app, you’ll be asked to enter the number on your top-up card. This will create a barcode in the app that you can use to top up at a PayPoint.
Why do I have to keep my supply topped up if I'm not using any energy?
Even though you might not be using any energy, there’s a daily standing charge. Also, any debt you might be repaying through your meter will continue to be charged. So if you're away from home or not using any energy for a period of time, please make sure there’s enough credit in the meter to prevent the supply from going off. If not, any appliances that need continuous supply, such as your fridge or freezer, might be at risk.
Why is my In-Home Display (IHD) balance different from my app balance?
The app balance gets updated once a day after midnight. If you've used energy or topped up since midnight, then your app balance will be out of date.
It might also be that your meter isn’t communicating with us, in which case your balance won't update in the app. But your IHD will usually communicate with your meter throughout the day to stay up to date.
Got a meter error code?
Our Help Centre has a list of every error code you may find on your meter and what that means.
How will I pay my debt back on a smart meter in Pay As You Go mode?
If you use any emergency credit, you'll need to pay it back in full from your next top-up. So if you can, make sure you buy enough credit to pay back the emergency credit, and still have some left for you to use for energy.
If you're paying back a bill debt or we lend you some credit when you contact us, we’ll load the debt to your meter and set the amount you pay back at an affordable daily rate. This is called your daily repayment rate. We’ll base it on what you have already told us about you and your home.
Once we’ve loaded the debt to your meter, your daily charges will be calculated by:
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The amount of energy you’ve used
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Our daily standing charge
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The daily debt repayment rate
Any top-ups you make will be added to your meter balance.
Please make sure your meter has enough credit on it to cover standing charges and debt repayments, even while you’re away and not using energy. Or, you might come back to find your credit has run out and your supply has disconnected. You can avoid this by getting our OVO Energy Top-up app and opting into low balance notifications.
If there’s an emergency with your meter
If there’s an emergency with your meter or you can’t top up and the advice above hasn’t helped, you can chat with us online. Just click the green chat icon at the bottom right of your screen. Or call the team on 0330 175 9669 – we can help.
Opening hours
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Mon-Thu 8am to 8pm
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Friday 8am to 6pm
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Sat-Sun 8am to 5pm
Got a question about your Pay As You Go energy use, top-ups, keys, cards, or anything else? Why not see if you can find the answers in our dedicated PAYG Forum category.
There are also tons of helpful resources and information available on our OVO Help pages.
If you or anyone in your household is vulnerable, or just needs a little extra assistance at a difficult time in your lives, our Priority Services Register is a free support service you might find useful.
Struggling with your energy bills? Our Winter Support Package might be helpful to you.
