What is Smart Pay As You Go?

This payment method can make it easier to budget for your energy needs alongside other household bills. With Smart Pay As You Go, you can top up in-person or via the ScottishPower app. Whereas if you have traditional Pay As You Go you can only top up in-person.

If you’re looking for quick answers our Pay As You Go help guide might be able to help.

Top up on the ScottishPower app or at any Post Office, PayPoint or Payzone outlets. Credits cover electricity and or gas, standing charges, and any payments you may be making towards an outstanding balance.

What if my top up doesn’t work?

Don’t worry, when you top up through the ScottishPower app or at an outlet, you’ll always get a Unique Transactional Reference Number (UTRN). This will be on the paper receipt from the shop or through the ScottishPower app.

This 20-digit number acts like a receipt - so, if your top up doesn’t automatically apply to your meter, you can manually type your UTRN into your In-Home Display or directly into your meter, but please remember it can take up to an hour to update on your meter. Once you’ve typed in the UTRN number into the meter, the credit should show on your balance.

We have some video guides below demonstrating how to enter a UTRN number into your meter. The buttons that you use to complete this process will vary depending on the type of smart meter you have

How to enter UTRN on EDMI electricity Pay As You Go smart meter

How to enter the UTRN on Honeywell Pay As You Go smart meter

I have topped up but I’m still off supply, why is this?

You may need to reconnect your meter. Further advice on how to reconnect your meter can be found here.

It is worth noting that:

• Top ups can take up to 1 hour to update on your meter

• If you're topping up for the first time having not used your supply for a period of time, you may 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 an outstanding balance recovery rate and haven’t made regular top ups, you may have built up an outstanding balance. To start using energy again, you’ll need to top up enough to clear any outstanding balances on your meter, plus the amount of credit you’d like to add

I have received an error message when attempting to top up via the app

Any system errors should only be temporary meaning you’ll able to use the app at a later date, to top up. If you require to top up immediately to prevent your supply going off, please use your barcode to top up at your local Post Office, PayPoint or Payzone outlet.

If we haven’t completed the process of setting up your Pay As You Go account, there may be a slight delay in you being able to top up via the app. When a meter is newly installed and there is this delay, we’ll add extra initial credit to the meter to help you. The below error message will be displayed when you attempt to top up.

Credit advance - Get credit to use now and pay it back later

If you’re struggling to top up your smart meter and are at risk of going off supply or have gone off supply, you can request a credit advance via the ScottishPower App. This means you’ll get credit added to your meter to keep your energy supply running. We’ll ask you to pay this back in small manageable amounts deducted from your meter over time, this is also known as a repayment rate.

If you’re off supply, there are a few things to check before notifying us of a meter fault.  Firstly, please make sure you have enough credit on your meter and top up if you need to.  Should you still need support, please first chat to us.

If your issue remains unresolved, please call us on 0345 270 0700, lines are open Monday to Friday 9am to 5pm. If you’re off supply and need help outside of our normal opening hours please call us on 0345 058 0005, lines are open 5pm-8pm Monday to Friday and 9am to 4pm Saturday.

If your gas or electricity meter goes off supply, you’ll need to reconnect your meter. Before starting the process, you’ll need to top up or activate the emergency credit function on your meter. This is because your meter requires credit before we can reconnect the supply.

To help get your meter back up and running, we’ve outlined the steps you need to follow below. Please note that the instructions and screen displays mentioned may differ slightly depending on the type of meter you have.

If you have an electricity meter:

• Before attempting to reconnect your meter, please turn off all major electrical appliances

• To turn your meter on, press and hold the middle or ‘Okay’ button

• From the home screen on your meter, wait until the message “Armed Hold Okay” is displayed

• Press the middle or ‘Okay’ button and your supply will turn back on

If you have a gas meter:

• If you’re reconnecting your gas meter, make sure all your gas appliances are turned off (including your boiler) before you start

• To turn your meter on, hold the middle or ‘Okay’ button

• From the home screen on your meter, wait until the message “Armed Enable” is displayed

• Your meter will now carry out a gas appliance check. Once complete, press the middle or ‘Okay’ button again - your gas supply should now be back up and running

• If you didn’t turn off all your gas appliances at the start, the valve will re-close as a safety precaution. If this happens, you will need to make sure all your gas appliances are switched off and then repeat the process by going back to step 1

The below video provides further details on your Pay As You Go bill