For around four million UK households, prepayment meters are an essential part of managing energy costs.
How do you know if a prepayment meter is right for you? What does the latest price cap mean for energy costs? How do prepayment meters work, and what are the pros and cons?
This article explains everything you need to know about prepayment meters for 2025.
What is a Prepayment Meter?
A prepayment meter provides pay-as-you-go electricity or gas.
Instead of the typical monthly Direct Debits or quarterly bills, pay-as-you-go electricity and gas enable you to top up the meters with credit. This will give you a set amount of energy to use before you need to top it up again. Prepayment meters show you how much credit is left, along with details of any standing charges or energy debt.
From 1 October to 31 December 2024, the prepayment price cap was £1,669 per year. From 1 January to 31 March 2025, it will rise again to £1,690 per year.
However, this cap isn’t a maximum on your total bill—it all depends on how much energy you use.
For more information on the energy price cap, click here.
Types of Prepayment Meters
There are three main kinds of prepayment meters: electric key meters, gas card meters, and smart prepayment meters.
The first two — key meters and card meters — function similarly. Smart prepayment meters offer a few extra features.
Key Meters
With a key meter, you use an electronic key that contains your tariff details. You top up the key and insert it into your meter to load the credit.
Card Meters
Card meters work much like key meters except you use a card to top up instead of a key. For both types of meters, when you top up, your updated information, including the meter reading, is sent directly to your energy supplier.
Smart Prepayment Meters
With smart prepayment meters, you don’t have to visit a shop or deal with keys and cards to top up gas and electricity, although you still can top up in a shop if you prefer. You can top up meters by adding credit online, by phone, or via an app, and you’ll receive alerts if your balance is running low. Once you top up gas or electricity on your smart meter, the credit is added remotely. They also include an in-home display that shows your energy use in real time, in pounds and pence, so you can monitor your usage.
Learn more about smart meters here.
Can I Upgrade to a Smart Prepayment Meter?
If you don’t have a smart prepayment meter yet, most energy companies will upgrade you to one for free. Renters should discuss it with their landlord before making the switch, but the landlord should not unreasonably prevent it.
In certain debt cases, energy suppliers might push for a prepayment meter installation, though this shouldn’t apply to some vulnerable customers. If you believe prepayment isn’t right for you, speak to your supplier to discuss other options or reach out to Citizens Advice to understand your rights and explore next steps.
Pros of Prepayment Meters
- If you’re in debt or struggling to budget, prepayment meters can help you manage the cost of your energy usage more effectively.
- They eliminate the risk of large, unexpected energy bills.
- You don’t need a bank account or credit check to use a prepayment meter.
- Prepayment meters will have an “Emergency Credit” facility, offering a set amount of extra credit in case you run out of your pre-paid credit. This means you have time to top up your meter before losing your gas and electricity supply.
- Prepayment electricity meters have a “Friendly Credit” or ‘no-disconnect’ mode that operates at certain hours of the day and/or night, when it’s most inconvenient to be without energy. This means you won’t lose supply, even if Emergency Credit has not been activated or has run out.
- Between 1 January to 31 March 2025, the prepayment price cap is slightly lower than for Direct Debit customers — £1,690, compared to £1,738.
Cons of Prepayment Meters
- Topping up can be inconvenient if you don’t have a smart prepayment meter.
- The best energy deals are typically not available to prepayment customers.
- Lost cards or meter keys can cause problems.
- Prepayment users tend to pay more in the winter since suppliers can’t spread the costs evenly across the year, unlike with Direct Debit accounts. Direct Debit payments can build up credit in the summer months to help cover the higher energy usage in colder months. It may help to spread out your top-ups evenly over the year to build up a credit on your prepayment meter during the summer months, ready for the winter.
Compare the Market has some useful tips on saving energy here.
Solving Common Problems
You can’t access your prepayment meter
If your meter is placed too high, outside in a hard-to-reach area, or locked in a shared cupboard, you can ask your energy supplier to move it somewhere that’s easy to access.
You might have to pay to have your meter moved but moving it yourself is illegal. If you're on the Priority Services Register, your supplier should move the meter for free.
The screen is blank or showing an error message
If your prepayment meter displays a blank screen or an error message like "error," "call help," or "battery," it’s likely there’s a fault with the meter.
If you see an error message or the screen remains blank, notify your supplier immediately, or you risk being left without power. If your gas or electricity has already stopped, but not because you have used all your credit, your supplier is required to either fix the issue remotely, or send someone to repair or replace the meter within 3 hours (4 hours on weekends or bank holidays). If your power is still on, your supplier still needs to take appropriate action within the same time frame, but this may not require a visit to your property straight away.
You can’t top up nearby
If you find it hard to get to a shop to add credit to your prepayment meter, let your supplier know, especially if:
- You live alone and have a health condition or disability.
- You would have to travel a long distance or the journey is difficult.
- The cost of getting to the shop is significant.
Your supplier may offer alternatives such as:
- The ability to top-up via text message.
- A smart meter that can be topped up online.
- A credit meter that allows you to pay monthly or quarterly.
Your key or card is lost or damaged
If you lose or damage your key or card, contact your supplier. They may replace it for free the first time, but could charge if it happens again.
This new meter top-up key or card can be sent in the post already programmed, or picked up and activated at your local top-up outlet.
You can’t afford to top up your meter
In 2023, 800,000 people went without gas or electricity for more than 24 hours, and 1.7 million people were disconnected at least once a month, according to Citizens Advice. Worryingly, 5.3 million households are currently in debt to their energy supplier.
If your prepayment meter runs out of credit outside of “Friendly Credit” hours, and your “Emergency Credit” has been used or has not been activated, your supply will turn off. It may not be possible to restore your supply until your meter is topped-up again and in positive credit.
If your prepayment meter has run out of credit and your supply is off, you may need to repay any “Emergency Credit”, “Friendly Credit”, or any outstanding amount owed before your supply will come back on. You may also need to account for any debt repayment plan that you and your supplier have agreed upon. This could mean you need to top-up a bit more than you usually would. Be aware of how this could affect your budgeting.
If you can’t afford to top up your prepayment meter, or are having trouble topping it up, contact your supplier immediately. They should provide temporary credit, which can be added remotely. However, this means you’ll have to pay back the credit next time you top up your meter.
If you run out of temporary credit, your supplier may offer extra temporary credit if they agree you are ‘vulnerable’. For example, if you are disabled, over State Pension age, or have a long-term health condition.
Ofgem rules require your supplier to offer you support, including payment breaks, access to hardship funds or by reviewing your existing plan. Your supplier will work with you to create a payment plan you can afford.
Faced with high energy bills, some individuals may try to save money through meter tampering or bypassing their meter completely to avoid paying for the energy they use. This is illegal. It’s also extremely dangerous. Meter tampering can cause gas leaks, fires, even explosions and fatal injuries.
You might also be offered fraudulent prepayment meter top-up cards or keys by people who claim they are from a legitimate energy company. These can be door-to-door salespeople, but falling for their tricks will mean you’ll end up committing illegal and dangerous energy theft without even realising it. Your supplier will also detect that the payment for the energy hasn't been made and will charge you for the energy used, so you will end up paying twice.
Stay safe. Tell us what you know about energy theft by calling 0800 023 2777 or by filling in our online form. You will stay 100% anonymous. We won’t ask who you are, we’ll just pass on what you know.
For more information about help and support with your energy bills, click here.
How to Top Up a Prepayment Meter
It’s essential to know how to top up meters, no matter which type of prepayment meter you use.
- Manual Top-Up: Your energy supplier will give you a top-up card or key, and you can add money at shops with PayPoint or Payzone facilities, as well as Post Offices. It’s wise to make a note of nearby shops and Post Offices and their opening hours, especially during holidays.
- Adding Credit to Your Meter: After topping up your key or card, you insert it into your meter to transfer the credit. Then, take the key or card out again and keep it somewhere safe.
- Topping Up a Smart Prepayment Meter: With a smart prepayment meter, you can use your top-up card or barcode to top up at shops and Post Offices, but you can also add credit via an app. If the app isn’t working, you can add credit online or by phone. If there are issues with the credit transferring to your meter, you can contact your supplier who will provide a 20-digit number to manually enter into the meter. Some suppliers also allow you to set up auto top-ups, so when the credit on your meter falls below a set balance, it will automatically top up with your pre-selected amount.
Standing Charges
What is a standing charge?
As well as paying for the energy you use, you also pay a standing charge for electricity and gas. It’s a daily fee for being connected, that covers the energy network providers’ costs for delivering energy to your property.
On a prepayment meter, you need to have credit available to cover the standing charge — even on days when you don’t use any gas or electricity. Even if you don't have any credit on your meter, the standing charge for electricity and gas still applies. When you next top up, you'll have to pay back any standing charges that you owe.
Many people are worried about their energy bills. Energy theft is never a solution. Remember: meter tampering is extremely dangerous. Prevention and identification is protection.
Always report suspicions of energy theft to Stay Energy Safe on 0800 023 2777 or by filling in our online form. You will stay 100% anonymous. We will never ask for your contact details, we don’t see your phone number, and your IP address is scrambled. Nobody but you will know you contacted us.