Information for customers with a traditional Pay As You Go (Prepayment) meter
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.
How do I top up?
You can take your key or card to any Post Office, PayPoint or Payzone outlet to top up your meter with credit.
Then, simply buy enough credit (i.e. top up) to keep your meter topped up and to cover any debt recovery rates set on your meter.
Please keep the receipt as proof of purchase to confirm your transaction has been successful.
You can top up from as little as £1 for gas and electricity up to a maximum of £99 per transaction per fuel if you are topping up at a Payzone or Post Office. If you are using a Pay Point, the maximum top is £75 per transaction.
Once you've topped up, simply insert your key or card into the meter and the credit will transfer over. You'll need to top up again when your credit starts to run low.
What happens if I don't top up?
Please note gas pay as you go meters do not have the friendly non-disconnect function and once you run out of credit, the supply will turn off.
Top tip: Errors can sometimes appear if your key card needs to be cleaned. Try cleaning your key card with a damp cloth
There's an error on my meter
Check to see if there is an error message on your meter. If you have an online account please login and select the option 'Key Card Help' for instructions on what to do. If you do not have an online account, the below guide provides information on what action to take if you experience an issue with your electricity or gas meter
Electricity Meter Errors
Gas Meter Errors
I need a replacement key or card
You can order a new key or card by simply logging in your online account. Once you have logged in, please select the option 'Key Card Help' and then 'I need to order a new key or card'.
I've topped up my gas but it didn't work
If you haven't made regular top ups throughout summer, you'll 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'll 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. Up to 70% of any top-up may be taken to clear any debt you owe on your meter.
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. Each time that you top up we obtain information from the meter, including a reading, so by topping up regularly it will ensure your annual statement is accurate.
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 a debt:
Why does my meter show a debt? I have received my prepayment statement and this shows I have an outstanding balance?
If you have a debt on your meter or have received a statement showing an outstanding balance, this may have be due to some of the following reasons
If you have a debt on your meter or have received a statement showing an outstanding balance, this may have be due to some of the following reasons
I am paying back a debt, how is this collected from my meter?
If you are paying back a debt through your meter, a DRR will have been set on your meter.
To view the DRR on your electricity meter, please insert your key into the meter and press the blue button until you reach screen S. This will display the current debt on the meter and pressing the button again to screen T will confirm the DRR that the debt is being re-paid at.
The weekly DRR is divided by 7 days and an equal amount collected each day of the week, provided there is enough credit on the meter.
To view the DRR on your gas meter please insert your card into the meter, which will then beep once before displaying the amount of credit on the card.
Please remove the card and press the red button A on the meter until this beeps again. Once this beeps you can then press button A again and scroll through the different screens. Screen 27 shows the debt set on the meter and screen 24 shows the DRR set to repay this.
The DRR is recovered on a weekly basis from Wednesday to Wednesday. The meter will collect 70% of each top up you make during this period until the maximum DRR for the week is paid.
The below video provides information about your Pay As You Go bill
I have moved into a property that has a prepayment meter, but I have no supply?
The supply may be temporarily disconnected due to no top-up being made to the meter. If you have already notified us of your home move, and have your new electricity key or gas card, you simply need to top up your meter at a Post Office, Pay Point or Payzone.
If you have not yet notified us of your home move, please contact us on 0345 270 0700, Monday to Friday, 9am-5pm to complete a home move request. We will supply you with your key/card, and you can top up and restore your supply. You will remain off supply until you have notified us of your home move.
I am moving home - how long will it take to get an electricity key / gas card for a traditional prepayment meter?
You first need to complete a home move request and let us know your move-in date. This is best done within a week of your move. Once we have set up your account, we can arrange for you to pick up a key/card on the same day from a Post Office, Pay Point or Payzone. Alternatively, we can post the key/card to you, which should arrive within three working days of your account being set up.
If the previous tenant has left their electricity key inside the prepayment meter, you can use this to buy credit. However, it is also important that you still contact us to setup your account as this will ensure your meter is reset and you are not paying any debt that has been set on this.
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).
Last updated: 16 November 2023