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Best answer by Jess_OVO

Updated on 28/07/25 by Emmanuelle_OVO:


I hope the team have managed to get things sorted already. There’s some great advice below which might help get the top-ups added to your meter manually if you’re still in need:

 

Do I have a SMETS1 or SMETS2 meter? How can I tell the difference?

 

A SMETS1 meter has a meter keypad with numbers, and a red and blue A and B button. 

 

If you have a SMETS2 smart meter, it’ll just have the 2 red and blue buttons, but no keypad. 


 

Why isn’t my top up showing on my meter or IHD?

 

It’s normal for smart meters to lose signal from time to time, just like mobile phones. This means it might take longer than usual for your top-up to show up as energy credit. It shouldn’t take more than an hour to see your top-ups on your meter, but you can always add them manually too. Read on for more info. 


 

How do I top up my SMETS1 meters manually?

 

After making a payment, it takes up to 30 minutes (for electricity) and 60 minutes (for gas) for the money to show on your meter. If it doesn’t, you can give it a little push.

 

For this, you’ll need the 20-digit code on your PayPoint receipt. This is why it’s always best to keep your receipts safe.

 

  • Press A on your gas or electricity meter

  • Enter the code from your receipt

  • Tap B to confirm and it’s all done!

 

If you top up online or via your app, PayPoint will either email them to you or send them via text.

 

If you’ve lost power and your top-up takes your balance above £0, your meter will start doing safety checks. If it detects gas, the power won’t switch on, so make sure all gas appliances are off before trying to reconnect. If the meter has disconnected, you can reconnect it by pressing A, A, B (SMETS1) or holding A and B at the same time (SMETS2).

 

Why isn’t my top up showing on my SMETS2 meter or IHD?

 

Smart meters can stop communicating with us for a number of reasons. If your top-up hasn't appeared on your meter, follow the instructions below to add your credit manually.. 


 

How do I top up my SMETS2 meters manually?


There are 2 ways:

 

1. Using your IHD – this is the easiest and fastest way:

  • Tap the menu icon at the bottom right of the screen

  • Press Top-Up

  • Choose the fuel you want to top up

  • Press OK

  • Enter your PayPoint code

  • Tap OK

  • The IHD will then confirm that your money has been added to your meter

 

2. Using your meter
 

For electricity:

  • Press A on your meter until you see Enter Top Up Code

  • Press and hold A to begin typing 

  • Enter your code using the A and B buttons to navigate through the digits

  • Press and hold B when complete

  • The meter will show you one of these messages: Top Up accepted or Invalid

  • Press A to continue

 

For gas:

  • Press C on your gas meter to enter the menu

  • Using A and B, scroll to Prepayment and press C

  • Tap A and B until you see New Payment

  • Press C to select it

  • Use A and B to enter your code

  • Tap C again

 

If you’ve lost power and your top-up takes your balance above £0, your meter will start doing safety checks. If it detects gas, the power won’t switch on. If the meter has disconnected, you should be asked to press any button following a top-up to trigger a reconnection.

Not found the answers you need? These topics might be helpful:
 

 

18 replies

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T
Rank 1
Tenzn
Rank 1
July 21, 2024

Still no Gas credit. Tried entering into what we think is the gas meter. We have also followed YouTube tutorials.It keeps saying ‘rejected’. I feel sick. Never had this trouble with Eon.  This pay as you go it’s not a fixed annual contract is it? I can leave at anytime? £49 down the drain. 

Blastoise186
Super User
Blastoise186Super User
Super User
July 21, 2024

It’s possible you may have topped up the wrong meter due to an error on your part of that of the shopkeeper - that’d be not OVO’s fault as you absolutely 100% must check you’re targeting the right meter with the right barcode. However, OVO can look into this and see what they can do to resolve it - a refund may be one option.

Please call 0330 175 9669 in the morning, or use Live Chat via https://ovoenergy.com/help to use Live Chat.

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    Abby_OVO
    Community Manager
    Abby_OVO
    Community Manager
    July 22, 2024

    Hey @Tenzn 

     

    Sorry to hear this.

     

    Blastoise186 has left really good advice hear already, as we can’t access accounts here at the Forum we can’t see what exactly has gone wrong but the Support Team can trace what’s happened.

     

    Please get in touch with the Support Team so they can help you sort this out. Keep us updated with how you get on.

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    P
    Newcomer
    PaulineBrown
    Newcomer
    August 27, 2025

    My gas top card is not working, I've tried a number of times, I can not top up online as I don't deal with that only cash.

    My ihd is also not showing my gas balance and hasn't forgotten a while.

    Nukecad
    Super User
    NukecadSuper User
    Super User
    August 27, 2025

    Can you explain more about what you mean when you say that your card is “not working”?

    I think you probably mean that you can't put any money on it in the shops?

    If that is what you mean then can you describe what happens at the shop when you try?

    I said, Hey - Watts going on.
      Ben_OVO
      Community Manager
      Ben_OVO
      Community Manager
      August 28, 2025

      Good morning ​@PaulineBrown.

       

      Thanks for your post, and welcome to the OVO Forum! ​@Nukecad thanks for your helpful reply here - we definitely need some more information.

       

      Sorry to hear of the issues you’re having here. If your IHD isn’t showing gas usage then this could be a simple fix for our PAYG Support Team by running what we call an ‘XJOIN’. An Xjoin is a remote command that Support can send to your IHD to get it showing usage again. However, this will only work if the smart meter itself is actually working.

       

      If the smart meter has dropped out of communication, and is not sending us meter readings, then this will need to be fixed before the IHD can start showing usage. Also, if your top up card isn’t working, then this could indicate that the smart meter is not in communication. 

       

      All in all, we will do our best to help on the Forum, however I think the best course of action would be to contact our PAYG Support Team to ask them if they can see any problems on our side. Best case scenario they get your IHD working again and get a new card sent out to you. Worst case is your smart meter is faulty and, if so, they’ll book an appointment to get it replaced free of charge.

       

      Let us know how you get on!

       

       

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      Newcomer
      Catherine1960
      Newcomer
      November 20, 2025

      My gas meter was inside the house but there was work to be carried out on the property so the gas fitters had to move my meter outside.There was insulation cladding and roughcasting done on the property and since then my Gas is still the same on the home display it hasnt gone down any.But i went ouside to check and the amount had gone down but as i said not on the home display.I bought a topup yesterday and put it through my home display it said top up fine with a green tick then said push a button on your meter to speed things up.Went out to the meter the top up was not added .Any help would be appreciated.Thank you 

      Abby_OVO
      Community Manager
      Abby_OVO
      Community Manager
      November 21, 2025

      Hey ​@Catherine1960 

       

      Sorry to hear you’re having issues here.

       

      Have you tried putting the top-up code in on the meter instead? Please give that a try if not, as it sounds like the connection may be struggling to reach the gas meter now it’s been moved.

       

       

      If you’re not sure how to do this on your meter type, please take a photo of the meter and we’ll link you to the correct guide.

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