Pinned F.A.Q.

Pay As You Go - Help and Support

Pay As You Go - Help and Support
Emmanuelle_OVO
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Userlevel 7

Updated on 15/04/24 by Abby_OVO

 

Help and Support

 

 

I can’t afford to top up or pay for my energy. What can I do?

 

There are steps you can take if you’re not able to pay for your energy: 

  • You can activate the emergency credit on your meter. 

  • If your emergency credit runs out, get in touch via one of the ways below. We can take you through the different options, for example borrowing credit that you can pay back over time. 

You can always talk to us if you’re worried or struggling to pay for your energy. We’ve supported lots of people in similar situations and we can help you, too. Chat with us here. Just click the blue chat icon at the bottom right of your screen. Or call us on 0330 175 9669.

 

Not sure how to activate the emergency credit on your smart meter? Check out our topic hub with guides on how to do this for your meter type:

 

 

How will I pay my debt back on a meter in Pay As You Go mode?

 

We’ll put the debt onto 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:

  • The amount of energy you’ve used

  • Our daily standing charge

  • 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 stopped working. You can avoid this by getting our OVO Energy Top-up app (you can download it from the Apple App Store or Google Play) and opting into low balance notifications to avoid running out of credit, even when you’re not home.

 

If you’d like to pay a different way, you can chat with us here. Just click the green chat icon at the bottom right of your screen. Or call us on 0330 175 9669. We’re always happy to help.

 

How to get in touch about my OVO Pay As You Go account

 

The best way to get in touch with us is via chat here. Just click the green chat icon on the bottom right of your screen. We’re here to help anytime from 9am to 5pm Monday to Friday and 8am to 2pm on Saturday. Or call us on 0330 175 9669 during the same times.

 

If you’re with Boost

Find answers or chat with Boost at boostpower.co.uk/help. Or call them on 0330 102 7517.

 

If there’s an emergency with your meter

 

You can chat with us here. Just click the blue chat icon at the bottom right of your screen. Or call the OVO PAYG Team on 0330 175 9669 – we can help.

 

If you’re not sure Pay As You Go is right for you, and are interested in switching to pay monthly you can contact the Pay As You Go Support Team. 

 

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.

 

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.  

Struggling with your energy bills? Our Support Package might be helpful to you.

Renewable Energy? Big Fan.

97 replies

K
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I don’t have any way of topping up our card how can I top up? My electric has run out 

Blastoise186
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You need to call Support immediately. 0330 175 9669

Securing energy by zapping security bugs... For that is The Blastoise Way!
K
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They are now closed till Monday and I have 5 children in the house and no electric??

Blastoise186
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Userlevel 7
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They're always watching the social media channels. Try those.

If you have young children in the house, I strongly recommend switching to Pay Monthly. 

Securing energy by zapping security bugs... For that is The Blastoise Way!
Abby_OVO
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Userlevel 6

Hey @Kmshields 

 

I’m sorry to hear about the issues you’ve had topping up. Have you been able to get topped up, and are you back on supply now?

 

Blastoise186 made a good recommendation that you could potentially switch to Pay Monthly. With young children in the home, it’s understandable that going off supply can be a worry, but with Pay Monthly, there’s no need to top up just to keep the supply on, so you wouldn’t risk going off supply this way.

Location: Electric Avenue
S
Rank

Can anyone confirm if upon the complete usage of ( or almost ) my emergency credit, which currently stands at £15.00 for both supplies, will the smart meter automatically disconnect the supply?

I type this at 2103hrs on Fri 3 November and am wondering if there is any grace period over the weekend? 

As it stands I am unable to top-up my accounts for several days and after this weekend I am unsure as to weather or not I will have any power or heating.

Does OVO Energy outdo other energy suppliers on this matter by been just that considerate and understanding towards it’s customers? I hope so.

This is the first time I have been in this position. So any help and advice will be greatly appreciated.   

Firedog
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Userlevel 7
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Running out of credit at night or weekends | OVO Energy 

That’s what they say, anyway. Cross your fingers 🤞

I think Support have a bit of discretion for those in a temporary spot. Call or message them tomorrow if you’re on the brink. There are different numbers and Twitter accounts for OVO and Boost PAYG, so make sure you get the right one.   

Noel | I have no official status; I'm just a volunteer who comes here to help other customers. My gear: Aclara SGM 1416-B Electricity-only E7 meter; Chameleon IHD3-PPMID-AAA
Blastoise186
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In this situation, you’ll need to ask for Discretionary Credit/Additional Support Credit. This will give you a £50 boost if granted - but you’ll have to pay it back.

It gets applied both as a credit and a debt on your meters, so until it’s fully paid back, your credit will deplete faster than normal.

Securing energy by zapping security bugs... For that is The Blastoise Way!
I
Rank

How long till I can top up via the app? Understand it's being fixed?

 

Blastoise186
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Userlevel 7
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I’ve just checked the system. https://ovoenergypayments.paypoint.com seems to be working.

Or was this another issue?

Securing energy by zapping security bugs... For that is The Blastoise Way!
I
Rank

I have topped up via app couple of years now, no problem until 9 October, when money loaded on gas but electric meter didn't load my payment. I waited till following day then phoned and spoke to Ian (Scottish) who had me go down to meter outside (I'm on 2nd floor) then said he would arrange an engineer to come out within 3 hrs.  I phoned again an he after the time range was supposed to come and another guy checked and said no booking made for the end but he put my money on the meter immediately (Ian said it had to be done following morning?). Jump to Saturday 28 October and I put money on electric meter but it didn't load and, stupidly, tried to load more on several hours later. Needless to say, both amounts say in pending payments of my bank acct and had to wait till 3 November for bank to release it back into my account (£35 together).  I then tried online payment £5 this time and it rejected, I ended up with £10 in pending again. Last Saturday and today I've gone to appoint and showed my scan code on the app and tried twice now and that rejects me but at least I was paying cash, so got to walk away with my money!  At 71 I hoped to enjoy retirement, instead I am trying to deal with some debts, bank change, trying to get my account with Ovo to work and problems with my accommodation problems!  Sorry, I've had nearly two weeks from bell and health is not too good either!

I
Rank

Oh joy! Decided to try the telephone number again and spoke to Lisa- she's sorted out - a serial number was missing and I've checked the app and it shows a payment I made last week. Talk about brilliant! Thank you!

Jeffus
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Userlevel 7
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Oh joy! Decided to try the telephone number again and spoke to Lisa- she's sorted out - a serial number was missing and I've checked the app and it shows a payment I made last week. Talk about brilliant! Thank you!

Great news @Iris71 

Perhaps post on the ovo Trustpilot site thanking Lisa

https://uk.trustpilot.com/review/www.ovoenergy.com

Emmanuelle_OVO
Rank
Userlevel 7

Hey @Iris71,

 

I’m really glad to hear this has finally been sorted.

 

I’d strongly advise going onto a pay monthly meter, so that you don’t have to worry about topping up or going off supply. I’d also advise signing up for the Priority Services Register so that you can be alerted to any planned outages in your area. 

Renewable Energy? Big Fan.
I
Rank

I have waited as although Lisa seems to have moved the £5 to my acct on the app, it hasn’t changed the balance on my ihd - do i need to do anything? press a button on the meter or something?  Sorry if i sound daft, but i am dealing with several crises at the same time so my brain is overloaded - i just haven’t the capacity to figure out all the information provided online by Ovo.  I am not going to try topping up yet.  If no one can advise, i will wait till tea time and try ringing them again..

I
Rank

thanks Emmanuelle for your response, i am supposed to be on the Register but have never had warnings of outage.   As for pay monthly, my finances are in a bad state so this is the only way i can keep some control, i definitely couldn’t cope with large amounts going out on direct debit!  At least with payg when i am short, i don’t use heating and wrap up instead.  I am watching my ihd all the time - and the electric just flies out, but i do my best to limit what i use.   perhaps you could answer my previous question about getting my top up from the app to the ihd?  thanks so much

Blastoise186
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Userlevel 7
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There should be a UTRN Code in the app from those transactions. If you punch that code into the IHD under Top-Up, it should push through to the meter.

Securing energy by zapping security bugs... For that is The Blastoise Way!
I
Rank

thanks, but nothing showing on app history, only top ups that say declined and two paypoint attempts say on receipts that they failed - account not active!  Going by that, i would guess that she wouldn’t have been able to put it on as rejected top up would have gone back to the pending payments in my bank acct but as i was in process of changing banks, i can only guess that it did find its way back to me.  should i therefore phone in tea time to check my account is active?  that is the main thing,  that i can top up and carry on as normal.

 

Blastoise186
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Userlevel 7
Badge +1

In this situation, the Current Account Switching Service should ensure that money finds its way back to you eventually, but OVO wouldn’t be responsible for that element - your bank should be able to locate it.

A completely rejected top-up is basically null and void for all purposes and gets automatically reversed/refunded back to your payment method. If it’s reversed, it drops off completely like it never existed. If it’s refunded, it’ll go out and come back in.

I’d suggest talking to the Support Team for what to do next.

Securing energy by zapping security bugs... For that is The Blastoise Way!
I
Rank

 

thanks. i went to paypoint and successfully loaded £10 but came home and, foolishly, tried to put more on via app and it has rejected it.  i will phone support team later as phone charging now.  

Emmanuelle_OVO
Rank
Userlevel 7

Hey @Iris71,

 

I completely understand your preference to pay as you go, but it doesn’t make the rates you pay cheaper. Of course, it’s entirely up to you what works. 

 

Energy prices are really high at the moment but there is lots of support available. This topic might be helpful to you:

 

 

 

Ways to get financial support

If you’re struggling financially or you’re worried about your energy bills, we’re here to support you. Find out about the different ways we can help here.

How do I register for the Priority Services Register (PSR)?

Check out the Customer Support package here: https://winter-support-package.ovoenergy.com/

Renewable Energy? Big Fan.
B
Rank

Does anybody know how I can view my top up history, I have the Ovo top up app but it only shows last 2 top ups and when I go online it says as I'm payg use the app. 

Thanks in advance for any help 😊

Blastoise186
Rank
Userlevel 7
Badge +1

Try https://ovoenergypayments.paypoint.com .

Securing energy by zapping security bugs... For that is The Blastoise Way!
B
Rank

Thanks will do 

N
Rank

OVO have left my disabled vulnerable and 80 year old mother in law cut off without electric and gas this afternoon and after being on the phone for over an hour they cut me off I guess because it was 6 o'clock leaving off time.

This was after they fitted new meters this morning because they said they couldn't connect with the original ones despite the fact that they are only a few months old to change the mode from pay go to monthly account which was already set up at the beginning of the month.

We had to go and bring her to our house after they left her like this. I just don't know how to get them to sort this. 

This saga has gone on ever since she moved into this sheltered council bungalow the week after Christmas. This is the second time she's been cut off despite OVO having taken her direct debit. No one will take ownership of the problem. Desperate now please help!

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