How will I pay my debt back on a traditional Pay As You Go meter?
If you use any emergency credit
You'll need to pay it back in full from your next top-up. So if you can, make sure you buy enough credit to pay back the emergency credit, and still have some left for you to use for energy.
If you're paying back a bill debt or we lend you some credit when you contact us
We’ll agree how you’ll pay it back at the time. We can spread the cost and you won’t need to pay it back in one go. You can pay it off gradually through your meter, a week at a time.
Part of your gas top-ups will be used for your weekly repayments. This is collected from the first top-up you make from Wednesday each week. Your electricity repayments will be spread out evenly throughout the week. So please make sure you’re making regular top-ups to cover these repayments and the energy you use.
If the repayment rate is ever set too high, please get in touch. (For information on how to check your repayment rate, see "Understanding your electricity meter screens” or "Understanding your gas meter screens"). We’re here to support you and we’ll always find a repayment plan that works for you. Once you've repaid the credit we lent you, your meter will automatically stop taking repayments. You’ll just pay for the energy you use from then on.
Paying back a debt on a Traditional Gas meter
How does it work?
Your meter will try to take the full weekly debt payment from the first top-up you put onto the meter after 2am on a Wednesday morning.
If you haven’t bought enough credit, the meter will take 70% of your top-up as payment towards the debt and you’ll be able to use what’s left for gas.
The meter will carry on doing this until you’ve paid back everything from the ‘owed’ screen. Because you pay for your debt when you top-up, you should top-up every week so you don’t miss a payment. The meter will stop taking debt payments when you’ve paid back what you owe.
What happens if you miss a payment?
If you miss a payment you’ll still need to pay it. The owed screen will show you how much credit you need to buy to catch up on your payments. If you don't, a debt will build up on your meter and your supply could stop. To get your gas back on, you’ll need to top-up your meter. Remember if you haven’t paid back all of what you owe, your meter will leave you with 30% of your top-up to use for gas.
What can your gas meter tell you
To look at the screens, press the red button ‘A’.
The first screen shows your credit.
The second screen shows how much you owe for any emergency credit you’ve used, debt and standing charge. This is the ‘owed’ screen.
Press and hold red button ‘A’ to get to the screens below. To cycle through the screens, keep pressing the button.
You should then see one of the screens listed below:
| No. | What that means |
|---|---|
| 00 | The amount you last topped-up. |
| 01 | The amount of money that was taken from your last top-up to pay towards your debt. |
| 02 | The amount that was taken from your last top-up to pay back any emergency credit used. |
| 03 | The amount of money from your last top-up that went on to your meter as credit for you to use. |
| 09 | Your tariff’s price per unit. |
| 10 | Your tariff’s price per unit. |
| 25 | The minimum weekly payment towards the amount you owe us. |
| 26 | The maximum weekly payment towards the amount you owe us |
| 27 | The total amount you owe us that you’re paying back through the meter. |
Explore our meter guides
Need more help with your meter? Check out our easy-to-follow guides on topping up, reconnecting your meter, activating emergency credit, and troubleshooting common issues.
