Traditional PAYG meter with blank screen

Hey ​@wb93,

We appreciate you coming back with an update and are happy to hear that you have sorted things out. Don’t be a stranger in the forum if you have further questions.

😃

Brief area power cut and now electric meter old key style not working. Blank screen and attempted to put £40 but this won't work.

Did not realise an issue until trying to top up.

Called OVO who said engineer will visit end of month (gave specified date), but can not do anything before then. This is to install a smart electric meter.

They anticipate my electric currently on will run out tomorrow morning then I should call back when this happens so they can send engineer. Advised £40 top up did not register so take a photo of receipt and when new meter installed, let them know.

worried electric may cut off in middle of night and will need to wait hours to turn back on. Person on phone did not disclose balance left.

Was there any credit at all left on the meter before the power cut? If so, you should be covered until 09:00 tomorrow (Monday) morning by so-called Friendly credit, which prevents the supply being cut off when you can’t do anything about it.

[From When is 'friendly credit' or non disconnect mode | The OVO Forum]

 
It might not be easy to get through to Support on a Monday morning, when the weekend’s accumulated faults all have to be dealt with immediately, so be prepared to persevere. If your supply has cut out, make sure to say you’re off supply as early and as insistently as possible, repeatedly if necessary. 

Thank you so much for this. There was around £9 left Friday night and the attempt to top up was Saturday after 7pm so would assume there would be around £5 left then. Good to know should be safe until 9am, this was not explained. Many thanks

Good to know should be safe until 9am, this was not explained. Many thanks

You should be OK for much longer than that.

If the traditional meter has gone blank because of a Power Cut then it will have switched into ‘Free Vend’ mode, so it will not cut out at all.

It’s basically switched from PAYG to being a credit meter, ie. use the power now pay later.
It’s slightly more complicated, but the impostant thing is that it won’t run-out of credit.

Of course any electricty that you use will still have to be paid for later, as will the standing charges.
That will be sorted out once you have the new meter, but I’d keep putting some top-up money to one side until then.

Support also seem to have been a bit confused with what they told you - In ‘Free vend’ mode your supply will continue until the meter can be swapped out.

That’s one reason why the computer wasn’t letting them book an emergency engineer - your supply is still working, and they only send emergency engineers if/when there is no supply.

There are a number of previous threads about this “blank screen following a power cut” situation, here is one:

PS. With a traditional meter the perspn on the phone has no way of knowing how much credit was still on it when you had the power cut and it switched to free vend.
That will have to be retrieved from the meter after it has been swapped out (if it can be retrieved).
Again that’s something that can only get sorted out after you have a new meter.

Thank you so much. I had read a similar thread but posted due to advice from the ovo agent. I do hope the 'free vend' is in operation as would save some inconvenience.  This is reassuring,  thanks again.

Long story short, it used to be possible to just reset these meters and pull them out of Free Vend Mode.

These days however, they just get replaced with Smart Meters - it’s better for everyone anyway.

Welcome to the Forum ​@Nicolaaa, and thanks to all who’ve given great advice on this post.

​@Nicolaaa if you do go off supply before the appointment date, please contact our Support Team straight away and we’ll get an engineer out to you within 3 to 4 hours to get the meter changed as an emergency.

If there are any vulnerabilities / disabilities within your property, I’d recommend signing up to the Priority Services Register. This is a free service with multiple benefits, including being contacted by the network operator to alert you of incoming powercuts where possible. Theyll also look to get your property back on supply with priority if there’s an outage.

You can find out more, and sign up, here.

Thanks

Who is responsible for informing customers they have been left on free vend for 6 years? I thought after seeking legal advise it’s the supplier’s responsibility, is that right?