For millions of 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 2026.
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.
Prepayment meter prices are capped, but this cap isn’t a maximum on your total costs – that depends on how much energy you use.
You can find the latest prepayment meter price cap, updated every quarter, in our guide to the energy price cap.
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.
In most cases, you can keep the same smart meter when switching supplier. Your new provider will remotely update your meter – and your IHD – with your new tariff details, so price changes are applied automatically.
Some older, first-generation smart meters may temporarily lose smart functionality when you switch supplier and may require upgrading. Until it is, you will need to provide meter readings manually and add top ups by inputting a 20-digit UTRN or top up code.
In some instances, it will revert to a credit meter, where you pay when you get a bill, until your new supplier can switch it back to pay-as-you-go.
If you have a smart prepayment meter, when the Ofgem price cap changes, your new rates are updated automatically, reducing the risk of delays. With traditional prepayment meters, new prices are applied when you next top up after the price cap change, which can mean a short delay before updated rates take effect.
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.
Can a supplier force me onto a prepayment meter?
If you’re behind with your gas and electricity bills, your supplier might either:
- install a smart meter in prepayment mode
- remotely switch your smart meter to prepayment mode
However, they can only do this once they have taken all reasonable steps to agree payment with you. Prepayment meters must be a last resort in order to avoid disconnecting your supply, and energy suppliers must follow Ofgem rules before moving you onto or installing one in your home.
Your supplier must:
- Attempt to contact you 10 times, by post, email or phone call. If your supplier only has your postal address, they don’t have to contact you 10 times.
- Visit your home to carry out a welfare check, to see if it’s safe and practical for you to be on a prepayment meter.
- Offer you other ways to repay money you owe, for example through a repayment plan or payments through your benefits.
- Avoid installing PPMs for highest-risk households, including households that require a continuous supply for health reasons, households with an older occupant aged 75 years and over (if there is no other support in the house), households with children under 2 years old, households with residents with severe health issues including terminal illnesses or those with a medical dependency on a warm home, and where there is no one within the household that has the ability to top up the meter due to physical or mental capacity.
- Assess customers who may be struggling to pay their energy bills where children under 5 years old are living in the house, or people with serious medical or health conditions.
- Ensure the lead supplier representative present wears audio or body cameras on all warrant installations or site welfare visits, when checking for vulnerabilities ahead of an involuntary installation or remote mode switch. All audio and footage will be available for audit.
- Give a £30 credit per meter on all warrant installations and remote switches, so customers aren’t at risk of being without power when a prepayment meter is installed.
- Reassess the case once a customer has repaid all debts they owed.
You can learn more about the rules suppliers must follow here.
Customers can challenge installs they believe are unsafe or unsuitable. If your supplier is trying to move you to prepayment and you don’t think they should, contact them and explain your situation. They should check what support they can offer you. If they still want to move you to a prepayment meter after you’ve contacted them, you can make a complaint.
Check how to complain to your energy supplier here.
Pros of Prepayment Meters
- The prepayment price cap is slightly lower than for Direct Debit or quarterly bill customers.
- 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 can top up the amount you want to spend, when you want to, and can check how much credit you have left.
- 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 prepaid credit. This means you have time to top up your meter before losing your gas and electricity supply.
- Prepayment electricity meters also 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.
Cons of Prepayment Meters
- Going out to the shop to top up can be inconvenient if you don’t have a smart prepayment meter.
- Prepayment customers can access energy deals, but options may differ.
- Lost cards or meter keys can cause problems.
- Following any price changes, traditional prepayment meters don’t update the prices until you next top up. This could leave you paying old rates, and paying too much or owing extra. Smart prepayment meters update automatically straight away.
- 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.
For useful energy saving tips click 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 so that you struggle to access it to top up, you can ask your energy supplier to move it somewhere that’s easier 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, and your prepayment meter needs moving, your supplier should move it for free.
If your meter cannot be moved, it must be replaced with one that lets you pay for energy after you’ve used it. This applies if you have a disability or illness that risks your health if your energy were to be cut off, or makes it hard for you to top up, understand or use the meter.
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 recent years, many households have experienced self-disconnection or energy debt. If you can’t afford to top up your prepayment meter, or are having trouble topping it up, contact your supplier immediately.
You might be able to get temporary credit called ‘friendly hours credit’ or ‘friendly credit’ if you run out of credit during certain times.
Friendly hours credit gets added automatically and lets you keep using electricity at night, at weekends or on bank holidays. Check with your supplier if you’re not sure if you can get friendly hours credit and what hours apply.
If you run out of credit in normal hours or you can’t afford to top up, you can access ‘emergency credit’. The amount depends on what your supplier has set it as, but is normally around £10. If you have a smart pay-as-you-go meter, you can normally access this using your in-home display. If you have a traditional prepayment meter you can access it by inserting your electric key or gas card in the meter when it is below a certain balance.
You’ll need to pay back any friendly hours credit or emergency credit you used next time you top up your meter. This could mean you need to top-up a bit more than you usually would. Be aware of how this could affect your budgeting.
Check how to get temporary credit for your prepayment meter here.
If you can’t afford to top up your meter, Ofgem rules mean that your supplier must offer you support.
This may include ‘additional support credit’ if you’re in a vulnerable situation and have few options to pay or while you work out ways to pay. You should contact your supplier straight away and explain your situation.
You’ll normally need to pay back the additional support credit from your supplier but they must work with you to agree a payment plan you can afford.
You can also ask for:
- A review of your payments and debt repayments
- Payment breaks or reduction
- More time to pay
- Access to hardship funds
- Priority Service Registration – a free support service if you are in a vulnerable situation
If you can’t afford your energy bills, help is available. Citizens Advice can offer guidance on getting temporary credit, what to do if you keep running out of credit, and how to speak to an energy advisor if you can’t afford to top up.
You can also learn about support schemes, discounts and advice in 2026 here.
Report energy theft
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.
Standing charges apply daily, so debt can build up even if no energy is used. This is why some prepayment meter customers can unexpectedly find that they owe money to their supplier.
On a prepayment meter, you always 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.