Emergency credit
Emergencies happen, so we build a limited amount of emergency credit into your meter to tide you over until you can top up your key or card. The arrangements are slightly different for gas and electricity.
Electricity
If your credit is running low
When your credit drops to £1, your meter will bleep and you will see the letter ‘E’ flashing on the display. You should top up your key as soon as possible.
If you run out of credit and you can’t top up
Don’t worry! If you run out of credit and you can’t top up, just activate your £5 Emergency Credit.Put your key into the meter or take it out and re-insert it
The ‘E’ displayed on your meter will stop flashing but will remain visible and your meter will bleep 3 times to confirm you are using your Emergency Credit
Remember: you will have to pay back the amount of Emergency Credit you use the next time you top up your credit and insert your key into the meter
If you use up your Emergency Credit
Don’t worry! We have arranged a “Friendly Non Disconnect Period” for you. Your meter won’t cut off overnight between each period of 6pm and 9am Monday to Saturday or all day Sunday if there’s credit on it at the start of the period. *This allows you to top up when the shops are open.
*These times may vary depending which area of the country you live in. Please contact us for further details of times in your area.0845 272 1022 Lines are open 8am to 7pm - Monday to Friday and 8.30am to 1pm on Saturday.
Getting back to normal after using your Emergency Credit
It’s very easy, you just have to add enough credit to your key to repay the Emergency Credit you’ve used and to cover your normal usage. If you’ve used all of your £5 Emergency Credit, you’ll have to top up at least £6 to get your supply back on. If you have used additional credit above the emergency credit level during the friendly non-disconnect period, you will also need to repay all of this before you get your supply back on.
Gas
If your credit is running low
When the meter reaches £2 or less credit it will display a message saying ‘Emergency Credit Available’. You should top up your card as soon as possible.
If you run out of credit and you can’t top up
Don’t worry! We have arranged for an Emergency Credit facility for you that you can use when you can’t top up straight away.
Just follow these simple instructions:
Put your card into the meter – the display will show your card has no credit and how much Emergency Credit you have. This is usually £5.
If you decide not to use the Emergency Credit take your card out.
If you want to use the Emergency Credit, press button A and take the card out of the meter.
Your meter display will show E/R when you are using Emergency Credit or if you haven’t paid it back in full after using it.
When you have used all of the Emergency Credit, the display will show £0.00
At this point your gas supply will go off and you will have to buy credit.
Getting back to normal after using your Emergency Credit
It’s very easy; you have to repay the Emergency Credit you have used in full plus top up some credit to cover your normal usage. Your meter won’t be back in credit until you have repaid the Emergency Credit in full.
Remember that when your meter is in emergency credit mode, you’re using electricity which you haven’t paid for and you’ll need to pay back the next time you top up your meter.
You can only benefit from the Emergency Credit again if you pay it back in full after every time you use it.
Trouble paying for your energy? Get in touch; we may be able to help.