If you export electricity to the grid and you don't have a smart meter, you might have two meters installed instead: a generation and an export meter. This is most usual when you have a 

Still not sure? Have a look at the diagram below.

What is the difference between a generation and an export meter?

What is the difference between generation and export meters?

Find out all the details you need to know on 

our migration page for prepayment customers

What do I do if I'm a Shell customer with a prepayment meter?

What do I do if I'm a Shell customer with a Prepayment meter

If the energy bill at your property is in 

, you can decide whether to get a smart meter installed, but we recommend letting your landlord know first. Smart Energy GB have provided an 

If the energy bill is in your landlord's name, it's their decision, but you can still ask.

 Can I get a smart meter if I rent my property?

Top up meters are a convenient and cost-effective way to manage your energy bills. With Smart Pay As You Go (SPAYG), you have even more control over your energy usage and benefit from our most affordable standard tariff. However, Smart Pay As you Go may not be suitable for everyone, and it’s important to consider your specific needs before choosing this payment method. 

Smart Pay As You Go might not be the best choice if you require a constant supply of hot water or electricity, due to the risk of being disconnected if you run out of credit. If you're already using prepayment and have concerns about its safety, 

 to let us know if you would benefit from any extra support while you’re a prepayment customer with us. For example, if you have medical equipment which requires a constant electricity supply, the Priority Services Register lets us know straight away to provide support if there’s a prolonged outage.

We only recommend prepayment meters if your meters are easily accessible and you’re able to top up safely. With Smart Pay As You Go, you’ll be able to top up online or using the app, but you might still need to access your meters or use a store to top up. 

We do our best to ensure you don’t lose energy supply. We offer 

 hours during weekends and evenings, allowing you to run out of credit without losing supply. Additionally, each Smart Pay As You Go meter has £10 

 available for unexpected situations. Please note these amounts will need to be repaid the next time you top up. We have more information about how we can help if you’re 

Is Smart Pay As You Go the right option for me?

We know it can be scary to ask for help, but if you have prepayment meters and are unable to top up, please

We may be able to offer you extra credit as a loan (also called 

), which can be repaid in manageable daily instalments and deducted from your balance when your meter is in credit. This way, we can make sure that the repayment fits comfortably within your budget.

tell us a bit more about your financial situation

to help us work out what additional support you’re eligible for. We also have 

more information about the support we offer

It's might also be worth reading our article on 

whether smart prepayment is the right option for you

Is there support available if I’m struggling to pay?

Is there support available if I'm struggling to pay?

With Smart Pay As You Go you can top up your meters using the 

 (using a payment card, or the PAN barcode from the Octopus app or online account).

In the Octopus app or your online account

Go to the ‘Top up’ section, where you can choose how much you want to add to each meter.

After we’ve processed your payment, we’ll send it to your meter. This shouldn't take more than a few minutes. We'll send an email and notification to confirm your top up once it's complete.

If you prefer to top up in store, you can use:

There are separate cards for your gas and electricity meters, which have minimum top up amounts:

In the PayPoint store, ask the cashier to scan the barcode on your top up card, or type in the long number underneath it. Once you’ve paid for your top up, make sure to keep your receipts.

The Octopus app and online account both show your current live balance. You’ll see how much credit you’ve got, and how long we estimate this will last. 

You can also check your balance on the meter itself. If your meter:

Sometimes it can take up to an hour for your top up to show up on the meter and in your Octopus account. If you can't see it on your meter after an hour please 

If Octopus can’t communicate with your meter, or your top up hasn’t worked, we’ll send you a 20 digit code to top up. This code is sometimes called a UTRN, and can be entered into your meter manually to add credit.

You can see your top up history in the Octopus app and online account. You’ll also see a UTRN code next to each top up. The code will also be printed on your receipt if you topped up in a store. 

If you can’t see a 20 digit number or the code doesn't work, 

If you’ve topped up and you’re still off supply, you’ll likely need to turn the meter back on. Find out 

If your meter has a numerical keypad (manufactured by 

If the meter shows a ‘rejected’ message, it’ll also tell you the reason for the error. You might need to try entering your top up code again, or check your code hasn’t been used already. If you see the message ‘invalid’ on the screen, 

If your meter has 'A' and 'B' buttons (manufactured by 

If the meter shows an ‘invalid payment code’ message, check the code hasn’t been used already, then try entering it again. 

If your meter has an 'OK' button and a 'return' button (manufactured by 

The ‘return’ button is the one with the arrow pointing up and to the left.

If the meter shows a message saying ‘FAIL’, try entering the code again. If that still doesn’t work, 

Example: if the first digit of your Top-Up code (UTRN) is 6, you will need to press the K1 button 6 times and then press the K2 button to move the current position 1 digit to the right. Once you have entered all 20 digits and are happy this is correct then you can long press K2 to submit.

Topping up with Smart Pay As You Go

When you’re getting low on credit, you’ll have access to £10 Emergency Credit. This makes sure your home has electricity or gas until you’re able to top up.

, you can activate emergency credit on your In-Home Display (the little screen which shows you information about your meter).

Want to know how to check if your Smart Pay As You Go meter is using emergency credit? We've 

If the meter screen is off, press either button once to wake it up. The screen will show a message about activating emergency credit.

Press either button once to activate emergency credit.

Important: If your supply is already off, make sure any electrical appliances are switched off before 

Don't worry: if you run out of credit during these times, your supply won't be shut off

Instead, the cost of any energy you use will be added onto your meter as debt, and will be deducted the next time you top up. You’ll need to repay any Friendly Credit you use in full before you can use it again.

Using Emergency Credit and Friendly Credit on your Smart Pay As You Go meter

Using Emergency Credit and Friendly Credit on your Smart Pay As You Go

Your meter can have 3 different kinds of debt:

You’ll see any energy debt you’ve built up in your Octopus account, or on the meter itself. And depending on the type of debt, you’ll pay it back in different ways.

If there’s debt on your meter that isn’t yours, get in touch with us with proof of the date you moved into the property (eg. a tenancy agreement or contract). If we're connected to your meter, we’ll be able to double check your balance on the moving day, so you don't need to do anything else.

Paying back Emergency Credit and Friendly Credit

When your meter runs out of credit, there’s Emergency Credit (which can be used at any time) and Friendly Credit, which is available 4pm - 10am Monday - Friday, all weekend and Bank Holidays.

If you use up all £10 of your Emergency Credit, or if you use any Friendly Credit, your meter will start to build up debt. Your daily standing charge will also be added to this debt. 

You’ll have to pay back any Emergency Credit, Friendly Credit, and standing charge debt in full the next time you top up. Any top up that's left after the debt has been repaid will be added to your meter as credit.

If there’s debt on your meter from a previous supplier, or from a previous Direct Debit account with Octopus

If you’ve got debt that was transferred over to us from a previous supplier, you’ll pay this back at a default rate of £3.50 a week. If you'd like to change this amount,

If we’ve transferred debt to your meter from a previous Direct Debit account held with Bulb, we’ll arrange a repayment plan with you individually. We’ll take an agreed amount off your meter balance every day until the total debt has been repaid.

If we’ve added discretionary (temporary) credit to your meter

We’ll take an amount off your meter balance every day until the additional support credit has been repaid. This will be repaid at a default rate of £3.50 a week, unless we've agreed a different amount with you.

Paying back debt on your smart top up (prepay) meter

Paying back debt on your smart prepay meter

If you're unable to top up your meter for a long period of time, your meter will build up standing charge debt. Standing charge is the cost of keeping you connected to the network. The fee is taken from your meter every day, even if you're not using gas or electricity.

So if you top up your meter after a long period of time, and your credit doesn't last as long as you were expecting, some of it may have been taken to repay standing charge debt.

You can look up the cost of your daily standing charge at 

Topping up after a long period of time

Your meter might be sleeping! Press one of the buttons on the meter to see if it wakes up.

If you have a prepayment meter and the screen shows the word "OFF", then you will need to reconnect that meter before you can use electricity or gas.

If you’re off-supply for electricity or gas:

If you’ve tried the above and it hasn’t turned your power back on, or you’re having trouble following the reconnection instructions, 

get in touch with us and one of our team will help

Why is my meter screen blank?

, where you can see common troubleshooting advice, use our IHD helper service, and request help from our team.

Why is the screen of my In-Home Display (IHD) blank?

This depends on the type of prepayment meter you have.

How can I tell if I'm using prepayment emergency credit?

You can reconnect your supply via your In-Home Display (IHD, the small screen included with a smart meter install), and also on the meter itself.

If you can't get your meter working after following the instructions here, 

Reconnecting supply via your In-Home Display (IHD)

Note: you can only reconnect your electricity meter from your IHD. You can only arm your gas meter, but you will still need to physically press buttons on the gas meter for your supply to reactivate.

How do I reconnect my Smart Pay As You Go meter after being disconnected?

How do I reconnect my Smart Pay As You Go meter?

If you lose your card, please contact us on 0808 164 1088  or email us at 

Once you have a new card, if you find the old one it will no longer work.

In the meantime, if you have a smart prepayment meter you still top up using the Octopus app, your online account, or using the top-up number (PAN) which you can find on your online account, and any top up email we have sent you.

What should I do if I lose my prepayment top up card?

that Octopus have installed or can operate, you can use your online account or the phone app to make top ups. You can also call or email us to request a top up.

The most you can top up online or through the app is £81 per transaction.

If you prefer to top up in store, you can top up at 

We can also send you an email containing your PAN if needed. There are separate cards for your gas and electricity meters. And there is a minimum top up amount:

In the PayPoint store, ask the cashier to scan the barcode on your top up card, or type in the long number underneath it. Once you’ve paid for your top up, make sure to keep your receipts.The most you can top up at a PayPoint vendor is £75 per transaction at PayPoint.

You can make multiple transactions if you'd like to top up more.

 you will need to take your electricity key or gas card to any Paypoint or Payzone store to top them up:

Please keep the receipt from the top up until the credit has been transferred to the meter.

The most you can top up is £75 per transaction.

There is a hard limit of £255 total credit on an 

. If you try and top up above that limit, the top up won't be added to your meter.

Where can I top up my prepayment meter?

Where can I top up my meter?

We are able to support certain types of smart prepayment meter, and we're working on adding more models to our list.

If you currently pay by Smart Pay As You Go and would like to join Octopus, we will sign you up in credit mode to ensure you don't lose your energy supply during the switch. We can then switch your meter back to Smart Pay As You Go mode within a few working days. Just fill in 

 after the switch has completed to let us know you'd like to change to Smart Pay As You Go.

Can I still sign up with you if I have a Smart Pay As You Go meter?

If you are struggling with the charges on your meter, or topping up, 

 and one of our friendly team members will see what we can do to help.

Click here for more information on how we can help

 along with details to contact independent experts if you need extra support. 

There's also lots of useful information available on 

I can’t afford to pay off the debt on my meter, what can I do?

You need to pay for the energy you use, but if there is debt on your meter which is not yours we will be able to help. Please send the following information to hello@octopus.energy.

There is debt on my meter that is not mine, can you wipe it?

Why is there debt from a previous tenant on my meter?

When your meter is running low on credit, you are able to access emergency credit all year round.

is available on both your smart gas and / or electricity meter.

Want to know how to check if your smart prepayment meter is using emergency credit? We've 

is available on a non-smart electricity meter.

, once you are down to the last £1 of your electricity credit, or £2 of your gas credit, you just need to insert your electricity key or gas card to activate the emergency credit.

Please be aware that any emergency credit you use will be taken off your balance the next time you top up.

emergency credit runs out and you can’t afford to top up

 then please contact us as soon as possible so we can help.

You can email us via emergencies@octopus.energy, or call us on 0808 164 1088. Our phone lines are open 9am - 5pm Monday to Thursday, and 9am - 4pm on a Friday.

We may be able to provide you with additional support to get back on supply. You will need to pay back any borrowed credit, but we can spread the cost so you’re only ever paying what you can afford.

What is emergency credit?

What is Emergency Credit?

Friendly credit hours are a feature on prepayment electricity meters that let customers keep using electricity, even after you run out of credit (or emergency credit) during evenings, weekends or Bank Holidays.

Our friendly credit hours depend on whether you have a traditional (non-smart) or smart prepayment meter.

In very rare cases - if you have a much older model of prepayment meter, you may not be able to access friendly credit. We can get this sorted by replacing your meter; please 

If you run out of credit during these times, the supply won't shut off

. You'll move automatically onto 'friendly credit' if you hit £0 on your meter. The cost of any energy you use will be added onto your meter as debt, and will then be deducted the next time you top-up.

I'm in a friendly credit period, but my meter has switched off?

here's what to do when you've got no gas or electricity

Smart Prepayment