When you top up your meter, you are essentially buying credits, you then use these credits to power your appliances and heating. If you run out of credit, you go ‘off supply,’ which means that your gas/electricity supply will be cut off and your appliances and heating will no longer work. To stay on supply, you need to top up with credit before you run out.
Topping up is easy and can be done at any Post Office, Payzone, or PayPoint outlet. And if you have a smart Pay As You Go meter, you can also top up via the ScottishPower App - it’s a convenient way to top up, wherever you are.
When you top up, you use your credit to pay for:
When deciding if Pay As You Go is the right payment method for you, you should consider the points below:
It’s an easy way to budget
With regular top-ups, you can easily keep tabs on your energy costs, helping you stay on track with your budget.
Using our friendly credit hours
Using our friendly credit hours function means your energy won’t turn off if you run out of credit, during times when it may be difficult to top up, such as overnight, Sundays and bank holidays. Our friendly credit hours for traditional electricity meters are overnight 6pm – 11am, all-day Sunday and bank holidays. And if you have a smart meter, your friendly credit hours will run from 7pm –12pm, April to October and 6pm – 11am, November to March. Just remember, you’ll need to pay back the amount you used the next time you top up. Please note, the friendly credit hour’s function is not available for traditional gas meters. Read more in our handy meter type guide.
Accessing Emergency Credit
Your Pay As You Go meter comes with £10* emergency credit to keep you powered up when your balance is less than £1. However, to use the emergency credit you will need to activate it whilst your meter has some credit left and will have to pay it back the next time you top up. If you use all your emergency credit before you top up your energy supply may be temporarily disconnected. Read more about emergency credit on our new to Pay As You Go support centre page.
*£30 if you have a traditional gas meter during the winter months.
Being able to build credit for Winter
Pay As You Go lets you pay for and save up energy during the summer months, to build extra credit for the colder winter season when you tend to use more energy.
Repaying outstanding balances
With a Pay As You Go meter, you can work with us to set up a manageable repayment plan to pay off any outstanding balances. A portion of each top-up goes towards paying off what you owe, giving you more control over your energy usage and account management.
Want to switch to another payment method from Pay As You Go?
You can request the removal of a Pay As You Go meter at any time. Just be aware there may be some steps involved, like a credit check, settling any outstanding balances and we may require a security deposit. For more information on opting out of Pay As You Go read our Pay As You Go customer charter.
Pay As You Go isn’t good for spreading out your payments evenly throughout the year
If you like to spread your payments evenly throughout the year another payment method, such as Direct Debit, might be best for you.
Find more information on Pay As You Go, in our Pay As You Go customer charter and on our support centre.
Last updated: 20 August 2024