Billing FAQs
A Pay-As-You-Go (PAYG) Meter also known as a Keypad meter is a great way to budget if you’re struggling to keep on top of all household bills. The Payment & Account Resolutions Team can install a PAYG Meter into your home to help you manage your electricity account, meaning one less bill you don’t have to worry about.
The balance on your account will be transferred onto your PAYG meter and your meter will be set to collect some of your arrears with each top up made, this won’t be more than 20% of each top up. You’ll see this on your top up receipts as “PC contribution”.
If you have spoken with us, when setting the meter, we’ll agree a repayment plan/rate that works for both you and us and take into consideration your individual circumstances and ability to pay. For example, if your agreed recovery rate is 20% and you buy a £10 top up, you will get £8 credit on your meter and £2 will be paid off your outstanding balance.
To help keep track of this, we’ll send you an annual account statement and we'll let you know as soon as the outstanding balance has been cleared.
You can also call us on 03457 455 455 and make additional payments to reduce the arrears, this may be particularly useful during months of lower usage.
Please call us if you are finding this arrangement difficult or if you would like up-to-date information on the amount of your arrears or for information on your estimated time to repay the arrears.
The Payment & Accounts Resolution Team will carry out a few checks to ensure your current meter is compatible for a PAYG Meter.
All PAYG meters have Friendly and Emergency Credit features.
When you turn the low-credit warning sound off you will automatically get £3 Emergency Credit. If you do not turn the warning sound off, your supply will switch off. Should this happen, simply press any button and your £3 Emergency Credit will come back on after a few seconds.
To give you enough time to buy a top-up, Friendly Credit is given automatically on:
Weekdays - if your Emergency Credit runs out after 4pm, Monday-Thursday, the supply will stay on until 8am* the following day.
Weekends - if your Emergency Credit runs out after 4pm on a Friday, the supply will stay on until 8am* the following Monday.
Holidays - Friendly Credit will not run out on any of the following dates and your supply will stay on until 8am* the following working day: 1st January, 17th March, 12th July and 25th December.
*All times stated are GMT - please add 1 hour during Summer Time. 11am with Economy 7 and for other tariffs on request.
Remember, the next time you buy electricity, the amount of Emergency Credit and Friendly Credit used will be deducted from your balance.
With our Keypad Pay-As-You-Go option, you will get access to our free app, Energy Online, allowing you to top-up on your mobile or tablet.
