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Updated on 12/11/24 by Shads_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.

 

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 8am to 8pm Monday to Friday and 9am to 5pm on Saturday and Sunday.
  • Or call us on 0330 175 9669 - Opening hours: Mon-Thu 8am to 8pm, Friday 8am to 6pm, Sat-Sun 8am to 5pm.

 

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.

You can call 0330 175 9669 or use the Live Chat at the link I gave you - it’s open today for PAYG customers.

Hey @Rickster, 

 

With smart meters, you typically top up through the OVO Pay as you go app, or you can do it at a local paypoint. You can find more information about this on our help centre under the payments and topping up section.

 

@Blastoise186 is right in saying that you don’t need a physical card and you can read about this here.

 

Let us know if this helps 🙂

I have £65 in my meter and I went to the shop to buy £100 more,the guy said the balance on my card was nowas £220,my meter won't let me put the money onto my existing balance still says £65???

Hi @Cokey321,

 

I’m sorry to hear this.

 

Do you have a smart or traditional meter?

 

It may be worth contacting the Pay As You Go Support team via chat here so they can look into this further for you. Just click the green chat icon on the bottom right of your screen. They’re available to help anytime from 9am to 5pm Monday to Friday and 8am to 2pm on Saturday. You’d also be able to contact the team on 0330 175 9669 during the same hours.

 

Please let us know how you get on. 

 

 

I don't live at the property and cant see the amount remainng in the top up app so have no idea what the balance is and when it needs topping up. Am I missing something? Can others see their balance in the app?

What is the point of an app that doesn't give you your balance. Most annoying.

TIA for any advice and help.

Hi @JessicaM3000 ,

I think you’ll want to chat with the Support Team about that. Try 0330 175 9669 and they’ll take a look.

If you can’t go there regularly, PAYG might not be the best option though - you may want to consider Pay Monthly instead.

Hey @JessicaM3000 

 

Sorry to hear about this.

 

One of our volunteers has already left some really good advice here as you’ll need to get in touch with the Pay as you go Support Team who’ll be able to help here.

 

We’ve got a couple of other topics that may also be helpful for you:

 

 

Let us know how you get on.

I'm having trouble topping up online for gas and electricity.  I've just come from boost.  When I go to top up it asks for a 16 digit number that I haven't got.  Please help

Hi @Worby.claire ,

If you call OVO on 0330 175 9669 the Support Team there can give you those details.

Hope this helps.

Hi @Worby.claire,

 

It seems our forum volunteer has already given some great advice here.

 

These threads may also be helpful:

 

 

Hello, I recently topped up my meter on the 28th of November 2024 with £38.00, and there was already £18 on it; totaling £58.00. Today, the 30th, the balance has dropped to £23.00. I'm concerned that the billing may be incorrect. I live alone in a two-bedroom flat, using only the bedroom and occasionally the living room for a few hours daily. There's no heating in my kitchen or bathroom, and I don't understand the high consumption. My boiler is off, so there's no hot water except in the shower. The sinks in both the bathroom and kitchen lack hot water. I only use the storage heater in the hallway for a few hours at night, from around midnight to 3:30 am. Why then am I paying £15 per day? Could Ovo's charges be too high, or is there a way to rectify the cost of heating my flat?

Do you perhaps have a debit on your account, so you would be paying a bit back each time that you top-up?

Other than that:

My boiler is off, so there's no hot water except in the shower.

I only use the storage heater in the hallway for a few hours at night,

 

When you say “boiler” do you really mean an electric Imersion heater, or is there a gas boiler?

Electric showers, and electric storage heaters will use a lot of electricity.

Think about what else you are, or may be, using-

Presumably you are also cooking using electricity, boiling an electric kettle. and so on.

Are you doing the washing up in cold water, or are you boiling a kettle for it?

How are you keeping yourself warm during the day?

To see where you are using electricity and what you are using it for:
Do you have a smart meter set to half-hourly readings?
That can show you just when the electricity is being used and how much is used, either on your online account or on you In Home Display.

For example this is mine from yesterday, looking at it I can see what times I was using more electricity and so can work out what I had turned on at those times that was using it:

6:30-8:00 in the morning was an electric heater and a kettle.
10:00 was a kettle
12:30-13:00 was some cooking and a kettle
18:00-19:30 was the washing machine and cooking my tea.
The rest of the day was just my general ‘background’ use, the fridge, my computer, lights, etc.
(My heating and hot water is gas).

The other thing I’m wondering… Do you actually have a Smart Meter?

Please post photos of your current Meter(s)

Reply


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