Pay As You Go Smart Meter - Top up issues

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 in 3 simple ways. 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).

1. 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

2. PayPoint 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

3. Find your nearest PayPoint shop
   Visit paypoint.co.uk and pop in your postcode

4. 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:

1. The easiest and fastest way is to use your In-Home Display (IHD)

• press the Account button

• Choose the fuel you want to top up

• Enter your PayPoint code

• Press enter

Then your top-up will appear on the screen.

2. Use your gas or electricity meter:

• Press A on your gas or electricity meter

• Enter the code from your receipt

• 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:

1. The easiest and fastest way is to use your In-Home Display (IHD):

• 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. Use your Aclara electricity and Flonidan gas meter.

For electricity, use your Aclara meter: 

• 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

If successful, the top-up amount will appear on the screen.

For gas, use your Flonidan meter:

• 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

EDMI meters

Electric

1. Press the OK button to enter the main menu

2. Press and hold the OK button on the Main Prepay screen

3. Press and hold the OK button on the Prepay Top-Up screen

4. 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.

5. 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

1. Press the OK button to enter the main menu

2. Press the OK button to enter the Prepay menu

3. Press the OK button to enter the Top Up menu

4. 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

5. 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:

SMETS1 Secure Guide

SMETS1 Aclara Guide

SMETS2 Aclara Guide

SMETS1 Elster Guide

SMETS2 Elster Guide

SMETS2 EDMI Guide

SMETS2 LNG Guide

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:

• During the night – between 6pm and 9am, Monday to Saturday

• Saturday from 4pm through until Monday morning at 9am.

• 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:

• 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 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

• Monday to Friday: 8am to 8pm

• Weekends: 9am to 5pm

If you’re with Boost

• Find answers or chat on the Boost website

• Or call them on 0330 102 7517