What is Smart Pay As You Go?

Smart Pay As You Go is a type of smart prepayment meter which comes with an in home display so you can see how much energy you’re using. A Smart Pay As You Go meter will give you a lot of control over your energy usage and how much you want to spend. You’ll see your balance in real time and be able to pinpoint which appliances and devices are costing the most in terms of both energy and money.

You’ll still pay for your energy as you use it but you’ll have more ways to top up including phoning us or visiting a PayPoint, and can even set up alerts when your credit is running low. For more information on how to top up visit our ‘how do I top up my meter’ FAQ.

How do I top up my meter?

You will receive a barcode for each smart prepayment meter you have. To add credit to your meter simply take your barcode to your nearest PayPoint. You can find your nearest PayPoint here https://consumer.paypoint.com/. We will add your top-up automatically but it’s important to keep hold of your receipt until you get home and can check your meter has successfully updated. If the credit hasn’t been added you will need to add your unique 20 digit code which can be found on your receipt.

Alternatively, you can call our Customer Services team on 0330 111 5050 (Mon-FRI, 9am-5pm) to top up your meter over the phone.

There is a minimum top up amount of £1 and a maximum top up amount of £149.

I’ve lost my barcode, what should I do?

Please contact our Customer Services Team to request a new barcode and they’ll be happy to email you a replacement.

How do I find a PayPoint venue?

You can find your nearest PayPoint venue by going online here. https://consumer.paypoint.com/.

My top up hasn’t appeared on my meter, what should I do?

If your top up hasn’t reached your meter you’ll need to enter your UTRN (unique 20 digit code) into the meter to manually update the top up. You can find your UTRN on the bottom of your top up receipt or if you added credit to your meter by calling our Customer Services Team, they’ll be able to provide you with this information. If your receipt doesn’t have a UTRN it’s likely that the top up hasn’t been successful. Please speak to the cashier at the PayPoint terminal you visited who will be able to help you.

To enter your top up manually, follow the steps below:

EDMI 

· Select the ‘top up’ menu

· Use the left/right buttons to scroll through digits 0-9 and press ‘ok’ to select a number

· If you need to change a number, press return to delete the currently selected digit

· Once you have entered the last digit of your UTRN the screen will display ‘WAIT’ for up to 10 seconds

· If the UTRN is valid the screen will display ‘DONE’

· If for whatever reason the UTRN has not been accepted, the screen will show ‘FAIL’ and you will be prompted to re-enter your UTRN.

L&G 

· Press the A button to access the add credit screen

· Press the B button to enter your UTRN

· Press A to move through the digits 0-9 and B to select the number

· Hold the B button down for a few seconds to confirm your UTRN

· If the UTRN is valid the screen will display ‘Invalid re-enter code’ and you will be redirected to the screen to re-enter your code

What happens if I run out of credit and can’t get to a shop to top up?

If you’re running low on credit during So Energy working hours you can call our Customer Services team to top up your meter over the phone. If you’re unable to call us or visit a shop your meter will have £5 available for emergencies (emergency credit) which will be paid back the next time you top up.

Please remember that you will still be charged for the energy you use but don’t worry, you won’t be disconnected during our friendly hours, 4pm to 10am Monday to Friday, weekends and bank holidays. This gives you an opportunity to top up once our phone lines are open again or you can get to a shop.

What is emergency credit?

When you’re running low on credit and not able to top up your meter, your meter will have £5 available for you to borrow to help ensure you’re not disconnected. Emergency credit will need to be paid back so when you next top up you’ll need to ensure you cover the cost of the credit you’ve used plus the top up amount you want to add to your meter.

If your balance has fallen below £5 the emergency credit facility will be come available. Please note that if the balance has fallen below zero and you haven’t activated the emergency credit, it will not be available and you supply may have been disabled.

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To activate the emergency credit, use the left and right arrow buttons to scroll through the menu until you see the emergency credit – ‘EMGCY CREDIT’ - and press and hold the return button.

If emergency credit isn’t available the in home display will show ‘NO CREDIT’

L&G 

· Press the A button to wake up the meter

· Next, press the A button to display the emergency credit acceptance screen. You should see ‘Accept EmCr’ if there is emergency credit available to use

· To accept the emergency credit press B

Do I need to send you a meter reading?

You won’t need to submit meter readings if you’re on our Smart Pay As You Go tariff, your meter will automatically provide us with a reading so you don’t have to, however you can always submit more readings. You can read more about So Energy and smart meters here.

What will happen to the debt on my account?

The debt will remain on your account and will gradually be paid off each time you top up your meter. For each top up you make, 30% of the amount will go towards paying off your debt and 70% will be added to your meter for example, if you topped up by £10, £3 would go towards paying off your debt and £7 will be added to your prepayment meter. If you have debt to pay please remember that you’ll need to cover debt and ongoing usage when topping up your meter.

You can always make a larger, one-off payment by contacting our Customer Services Team on 0330 111 5050.