Help with Pay As You Go (Smart)

Pay As You Go (also known as Prepayment) simply means paying for your energy as you use it. This payment method can make it easier to budget for your energy needs alongside other household bills.

What if my top up doesn’t work?

Don’t worry when you top up through the ScottishPower App or using the barcode at a shop, you’ll always get a Unique Transactional Reference Number (UTRN).

This 20-digit number acts like a receipt - so, if your top up doesn’t automatically apply to your meter, you can manually type your UTRN into your In-Home Display or directly into your meter. Once you’ve typed in the UTRN number into the meter, the credit should show on your balance.

We have some video guides below demonstrating how to enter a UTRN number into your meter. The buttons that you use to complete this process will vary depending on the type of smart meter you have

How to enter UTRN on EDMI electricity pre-payment smart meter

How to enter the UTRN on Honeywell pre-payment smart meter

I have topped up but I’m still off supply. Why is this?

You may need to reconnect it. Further advice on how to reconnect your meter can be found here.

It is worth noting that:

• Top ups can take up to 1 hour to update on your meter.

• If you are topping up for the first time having not used your supply for a period of time, you may have built up daily standing charges, which are applied to your meter even when you’re not using energy.

• Similarly, if you have an agreed debt recovery rate and haven’t made regular top ups, you may have built up debt. To start using energy again, you’ll need to top up enough to clear any debt on your meter, plus the amount of credit you’d like to add

How do I get my smart meter back on supply?

If your gas or electricity meter goes off supply, you’ll need to reconnect your meter. Before starting the process, you’ll need to top up or activate the emergency credit function on your meter. This is because your meter requires credit before we can reconnect the supply. To help get your meter back up and running, we’ve outlined the steps you need to follow below. Please note that the instructions and screen displays mentioned may differ slightly depending on the type of meter you have.

If you have an electricity meter:

• Before attempting to reconnect your meter, please turn off all major electrical appliances.

• To turn your meter on, press and hold the middle or ‘Okay’ button.

• From the home screen on your meter, wait until the message “Armed Hold Okay” is displayed.

• Press the middle or ‘Okay’ button and your supply will turn back on.

If you have a gas meter:

• If you’re reconnecting your gas meter, make sure all your gas appliances are turned off (including your boiler) before you start.

• To turn your meter on, hold the middle or ‘Okay’ button.

• From the home screen on your meter, wait until the message “Armed Enable” is displayed.

• Your meter will now carry out a gas appliance check. Once complete, press the middle or ‘Okay’ button again - your gas supply should now be back up and running.

• If you didn’t turn off all your gas appliances at the start, the valve will re-close as a safety precaution. If this happens, you will need to make sure all your gas appliances are switched off and then repeat the process by going back to step 1.

I have received an error message when attempting to top up via the app

Any system errors should only be temporary meaning you’ll able to use the app at a later date to top up. If you require to top up immediately to prevent your supply going off, please use your barcode to top up at your local Post Office or Payzone outlet.

If we have not completed the process of setting up your smart Pay As You Go account, there may be a slight delay in you being able to top up via the app. The below error message will be displayed when you attempt to top up.

We understand this is a challenging time for all our customers and if you're struggling to afford your energy, we want to help as much as possible. In the first instance, please click here for details about organisations that may be able to assist you with budgeting for your energy and other household bills.

We send you an annual statement to show your energy use for the year. This is for your information and shows your current account balance.

Why do I need to provide a final meter reading?

We need a final meter reading to accurately measure the amount of energy you've used, which allows us to arrive at a correct account balance and then issue your final bill.

Why does my final balance show a debt?

There are a number of reasons why your final account balance may show debt.

• The final balance could be based on estimated readings (if this is the case, please contact us to provide your correct final readings). Please note, there may be times your smart meter stops communicating with us and we may need to rely on an estimate.

• There could be missing payments that haven’t registered on your account. If so, please contact us with the missing payment information (value, date of payment).

• If you had any debt transferred onto your meter you may not have completed the repayment plan before leaving the property, in which case the balance will now be due for payment.

• Daily standing charges are applied to the meter each day and if top ups are not made to cover these, then a debt may accrue

The below video provides further details on your Pay As You Go bill

How can I get a replacement barcode?

If you have damaged or lost your barcode, you can find and view your barcode by logging into the ScottishPower App. Alternatively, if you set up your account with an email address, an email would have been sent to you, which includes your barcode. We can also arrange for a new barcode to be issued to you. Please note that we no longer issue payment cards, so you will need to keep this barcode safe. You can get in touch via our live chat (7 days per week 7am – 11pm) – it’s the quickest way to contact us. Our phone lines are prioritised for vulnerable customers, but if you still need help, contact us on 0345 270 0700.

If you are off-supply, there are a few things to check before notifying us of a meter fault.  Firstly, please make sure you have enough credit in your meter and top up if you need to.  For help with this please see information shown above in this page. Should you still need support, please first chat to us on our live webchat at scottishpower.co.uk/livechat. If your issue remains unresolved, please call us on 0345 270 0700 (lines open Monday to Friday 9am to 5pm). If you are off supply and need help outside of our normal opening hours please call us on 0345 058 0005 (lines open 5pm-8pm Monday to Friday & 9am-4pm Saturday).