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Meter not accepting 13 digit UTRN code

  • December 17, 2025
  • 2 replies
  • 117 views

Hullo, when i bought credit for my pay as you go electric smart meter yesterday something very odd happened.

I gave the till assistant my card and asked her to put £49 on it which she did and then she gave me my receipt and card back.

As there is a signal problem with my electric and gas meter, i always have to top up manually entering the long code on the receipt, i did this as soon as i got home and to my surprise after i entered the code , a message appeared on the screen saying , “this credit has already been used”. OUCH !! £49 gone just like that.

On my top-up receipt at the top, there is a number that is the same as the number on my top-up card and when i checked the number on the receipt there was 1digit different to what is on the top-up card, instead of being a 4 there is a 3.

How can this happen that the card number is different on the top up receipt. I am very confused.

I did manage to eventually get through to an Ovo advisor on the phone and explained what happened and she asked me to send the receipt but gave me no explanation why it happened. Today i am still £49 out of pocket and awaiting a refund.

 

Best answer by Zebra

Hi Abby, and thanks for the reply.

The problem is solved. I received an email from OVO regarding this and they talked about my Gas card instead of my electric card not working, then the thought came to me that maybe the shop swiped my gas card twice and missed my electric one, as i gave her both cards at the same time. I entered the code manually on gas meter and the credit was accepted and that confirmed that the shop swiped the gas card twice and missed the electric one.

 

The first 13 digits on both cards are the same apart from a 3 and 4 and that is what i must have been focusing on.

 

I will not get caught out like that again.  

Many Thanks and Merry Christmas.

2 replies

Abby_OVO
Community Manager
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  • Community Manager
  • December 18, 2025

Hey ​@Zebra 

 

Sorry to hear you had some trouble with that top-up, though I’m glad to hear a refund has been arranged.

 

It’s not something we’ve seen before, and imagine it’s more likely to have been an issue at the shop? It’s unclear what could have happened, especially if the Support Team were unable to see why this might have happened, it would suggest it wasn’t something caused by our system.

 

Hopefully this isn’t something that occurs again, perhaps worth double checking, if using the same shop next time, before leaving that the codes match? 

 

Do let us know if you have any other issues with this.


  • Author
  • Rank 1
  • Solved
  • December 18, 2025

Hi Abby, and thanks for the reply.

The problem is solved. I received an email from OVO regarding this and they talked about my Gas card instead of my electric card not working, then the thought came to me that maybe the shop swiped my gas card twice and missed my electric one, as i gave her both cards at the same time. I entered the code manually on gas meter and the credit was accepted and that confirmed that the shop swiped the gas card twice and missed the electric one.

 

The first 13 digits on both cards are the same apart from a 3 and 4 and that is what i must have been focusing on.

 

I will not get caught out like that again.  

Many Thanks and Merry Christmas.


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