MILLIONS of people in the UK use prepayment meters to pay for their energy.
But with the cost of bills predicted to soar over the coming months, many will be worried about what’s to come.
The most recent predictions are that annual energy bills could reach an eye-watering £6,500 next year, and inflation hit 10.1% in July.
However, if you are an energy customer paying through a prepayment meter and are worried about your energy being switched off, there is help on offer.
Pre-payment meters are essentially pay-as-you-go meters where users pay for energy before using it.
People might be concerned if their credit runs out their energy will be cut off.
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But some energy companies provide emergency credit to customers whose balances are running low.
This credit can be used to tide people over.
It’s worth noting that the emergency credit will have to be paid back next time you top up.
Your energy firms will agree repayments with you, but you’ll need to factor this into your finances.
The Sun approached So Energy, Scottish Power, Octopus Energy, Shell Energy, Utilita, Utility Warehouse, EDF and OVO Energy to find out what they offer customers.
A So Energy spokesperson said it offers customers a £10 emergency credit.
However, you have to activate the credit.
If you don’t and your balance falls below zero, the credit will not be available and your supply may be disabled.
A Scottish Power spokesperson said it offers £10 emergency credit to customers whose balance is showing less than £1.
Again, you have to activate the emergency credit.
You can figure out how to activate the emergency credit by checking out Scottish Power’s YouTube video.
Scottish Power also has a safety feature on its prepayment meters that means if you run out of credit between 6pm to 11am Monday to Saturday, and all-day Sunday and bank holidays, your energy supply won’t turn off.
However, this feature is not available to customers with traditional gas meters.
Octopus Energy customers can get £10 emergency credit for gas meters and £5 for electricity meters.
They just have to insert their empty gas card or electricity key in their meter when it has less than £1 showing for electricity, and £2 for gas.
A Shell Energy spokesperson said it offers £10 emergency credit for both gas and electricity prepayment meter customers.
A company spokesperson said it offers £15 emergency credit for those with smart-installed prepayment meters.
However, if customers run out of credit between 2pm to 10am, all-year round, their meter won’t switch off automatically.
Utility Warehouse didn’t respond to our request for comment.
However, their website says customers on prepayment meters can get £10 emergency credit.
You’ll know when your credit is running low as a low credit alert will pop up on your meter.
If it’s a traditional meter for electricity, an ‘E’ will flash up on your screen to let you know emergency credit is available.
To use it, you have to put your key in the meter, and the meter will beep three times to confirm you’ve started using the emergency credit.
If it’s for gas, a message saying ‘PRESS BUTTON A to accept the Emergency Credit’ will pop up and you have to press the A to start using the credit.
There are different processes for smart meters. You can visit Utility Warehouse’s website for more details.
OVO Energy owns Boost Energy and SSE Energy.
Boost Energy prepayment meter customers can get £5 emergency credit whether they’re on a traditional or smart meter.
SSE Energy customers can also get emergency credit, but you’ll be shown how much when you go to use it.
You can use the credit once your balance goes below 50p on an electricity meter or below £2 on a gas meter.
But, this won’t happen automatically and you have to action the emergency credit.
EDF didn’t respond to our request for comment, but it’s website says it offers customers emergency credit.
If it’s an electricity meter, you’ll be able to get the emergency credit when your balance drops to 50p or less.
You’ll get a warning beep and see a flashing ‘e’ on the screen.
You can get emergency credit on your gas meter when you’ve run out of credit completely.
Again, you just have to take your card out of the meter and then put it back in to activate the emergency credit.
It didn’t say how much you’ll get for each type of energy though.
Of course, it’s worth checking with your own energy provider how to access emergency credit and what amounts you’ll get depending on the type of energy.
If you’re on a pre-payment meter and you’re worried about paying for your bills, there are options available to you other than emergency credit.
You don’t have to just stop using up your energy if you think you might run out of credit.
Most companies should offer you help if you contact them and tell them you’re struggling with costs.
Andy Shaw, debt advice policy officer at StepChange, said the best first port of call was to contact your energy supplier if you’re struggling to pay for energy.
He said: “Energy companies have a regulatory responsibility to support customers who are struggling or who may be vulnerable, due to age or health reasons.”
He said using up emergency credit was one option they might give you.
He added: “While the extra credit will need to be paid back, you can ask to agree these arrangements in a payment plan, and suppliers must work with you to agree a payment plan that is affordable.”
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