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What happens if you run out of emergency electric?
You have £10 of emergency credit on your electricity prepayment meter that you can use in case of emergency. If you run out of credit and emergency credit, you won’t be able to turn your electricity on. You’ll also start going into debt for any daily standing charges and debt repayments you miss.
How does emergency electric work?
We never want you to be without an energy supply, so we put £10 of emergency credit on your electricity prepayment meter. This gives you some extra time to get to the shop and top up. You can use your emergency credit when the balance on your electricity meter drops to 50p or less.
Does emergency electric come on automatically?
It won’t happen automatically, so you’ll need to action it on your Pay As You Go meter. And you’ll need to pay the emergency credit back in full before you can use it again. Just follow the instructions below.
What time does electric not go off?
We don’t want you to worry about running out of credit in the middle of the night – at weekends or bank holidays. That’s why many electricity prepayment meters have ‘non-disconnection hours’ at times when it’s hard to get to a shop. If your meter type has the non-disconnection function, you won’t get cut off if you run out of credit at these times:
- Monday to Friday 6pm to 11am
- Anytime on weekends and Bank Holidays, until 11am the next working day
What is the maximum amount you can put on an electric key?
How much can I top up in one go? –
At a PayPoint you can add up to £49 to your key or card every time you top up. At a PayZone or Post Office you can add up to £99 to your key or card every time you top up.
Can I put emergency electric on without key?
To access your Emergency Credit you must have the key or card in the meter. You’ll need to pay back the Emergency Credit next time you top up, and any remainder will be put on as credit. If you use all your Emergency Credit and don’t top up to replace it, you may not have an energy supply until you have repaid it.
What happens if my smart meter runs out?
If your supply has gone off after running out of credit, then, for safety reasons, you’ll need to manually turn the meter back on. Top up in your usual way but remember to include enough money to repay the emergency credit for energy you may have used. Use the instructions to restore your supply after you’ve topped up.
Does emergency credit run out at weekends?
Pay As You Go Payments and topping up As long as you had credit at the start, even emergency credit, you won’t lose power during these times:
During the night – between 6pm and 9am, Monday to Saturday Saturday from 4pm through until Monday morning at 9am. All day Christmas Day, Boxing Day, New Year’s Day, and Easter Sunday
How long does friendly credit last?
Friendly Credit hours finished and you’ve lost supply? – Friendly Credit hours keep you on supply from 2pm-10am and over the whole weekend – even if you’ve run out of credit. To avoid going off supply after Friendly Credit hours end, we advise you to top-up so you have some positive credit on your meter. This will mean you won’t have to manually restore your energy supply if it turns off.
What are the worst hours to use electricity?
Winter
| Time Zone | Peak hours | Off-peak hours |
|---|---|---|
| Eastern | 6-10 a.m.; 6-10 p.m. | 10 a.m.-6 p.m.; 10 p.m.-6 a.m. |
| Central | 5-9 a.m.; 5-9 p.m. | 9 a.m.-5 p.m.; 9 p.m.-5 a.m. |
| Mountain | 7 a.m.-10 p.m. | 10 p.m.-7 a.m. |
| Pacific | 6-10 a.m.; 5-8 p.m. | 10 a.m.-5 p.m.; 8 p.m.-5 a.m. |
What if there is no electricity for a day?
Life with no electricity and living off the grid – could you survive? Every year, thousands of families will experience power cuts due to natural disasters, bad weather or power line faults. A small storm that damages one power line can mean a power outage for hundreds of families and homeowners, causing total disruption in their daily routines.
- So how does having no electricity affect you? You will notice that you can’t turn on the lights in your home and that there is limited street lighting available.
- With dark evenings and no light to guide the path for us, it makes many vulnerable targets.
- There would be no power to use your fridge or freezer, telephone lines would be down and phone signal lost.
Your mobile phones will be useless as the battery dwindles, with no back up charging option. Your gas central heating won’t work and your water supply would soon stop pumping clean water. It sometimes takes a lot for some people to realise that without electricity it isn’t just internet and Wi-Fi that is affected, it also means no cash machines, no lifts, no power to keep the factories going, and no petrol pumps.
It is seen as the end of normality as we know it. Two critical things we need in our life are heating and water, and without electricity, these are both compromised. The gas central heating in our homes works with electric controls and circulating systems and pumps. Water systems are dependent on electrically managed systems and pumps, so even if water is still accessible in your home, you would still have to purify it before drinking.
A 50% of the public said they would not be able to survive for more than 2 weeks without electricity, proving our dependency on readily available power. Of those polled, a staggering 75% predicted that within two months, they would be dead. We are all, in some way or another, dependent on electricity, and when that luxury is taken away from us, we are extremely vulnerable. 
Please feel free to share our ‘The Reality of life with and without electricity’ infographic on your website, by simply copying and pasting the embed code below:
What time is best for electricity?
When can I get cheap electricity with TOU rates? – Electricity is often cheaper late at night or early in the morning, so if you run your heaviest loads during those times, you’ll be able to save on your electric bill. These are typical off-peak hours when not as many people are using electricity.
What happens if I top up the wrong electric key?
Prepayment Traditional prepayment meters are programmed by the key or card that you use to top up. This means that if you top up using a key or card from a previous supplier, you’ll still be paying their unit rates and standing charges. You’ll also miss out on other important things too, like our friendly credit hours and emergency credit,
What happens if I run out of emergency credit Scottishpower?
Topping Up – How do I top up? You can take your key or card to any Post Office, PayPoint or Payzone outlet to top up your meter with credit.
Then, simply buy enough credit (i.e. top up) to keep your meter topped up and to cover any debt recovery rates set on your meter. Please keep the receipt as proof of purchase to confirm your transaction has been successful. You can top up from as little as £1 for gas and electricity up to a maximum of £99 per transaction per fuel if you are topping up at a Payzone or Post Office. If you are using a Pay Point, the maximum top is £75 per transaction. Once you’ve topped up, simply insert your key or card into the meter and the credit will transfer over. You’ll need to top up again when your credit starts to run low.
What happens if I don’t top up?
Your meter has £10 emergency credit built in. This is to help keep your energy supply on until you are able to top up or this credit runs out. Once you run out of emergency credit, your supply may be temporarily disconnected until you top up your meter. Emergency credit has to be repaid – To return the meter to normal after using emergency credit, you must repay any amount of emergency credit used plus standing charges and any payments you are making towards a debt (if applicable). It’s important to also top up enough credit to cover the cost of the energy you will use. If you run out of credit during periods when it may be difficult to top up, your electricity meter’s friendly non-disconnect period, which is a safety function to ensure your energy supply won’t turn off, will be activated. This lasts from 6pm – 11am Monday to Saturday and all-day Sunday and bank holidays, providing there was credit at the start of the period. Again, you’ll need to pay any credit you use over this period the next time you top up. Please note gas pay as you go meters do not have the friendly non-disconnect function and once you run out of credit, the supply will turn off.
Can a smart meter cut off power?
If you have a ‘smart meter’ – If you have a smart energy meter in your home, your supplier could potentially disconnect your supply remotely without needing access to your meter. However, before they do this, they must have:
contacted you to discuss options for repaying your debt, eg through a repayment plan visited your home to assess your personal situation and whether this would affect you being disconnected, eg if you’re disabled or elderly
If they don’t do this and they try and disconnect you, make a complaint to your supplier.
Can a smart meter stop working?
Just like your mobile phone, your smart meter can sometimes lose connection to the network. Your meter should reconnect automatically and update your readings once the connection to the network is back up and running.
What happens if my smart meter runs out?
If your supply has gone off after running out of credit, then, for safety reasons, you’ll need to manually turn the meter back on. Top up in your usual way but remember to include enough money to repay the emergency credit for energy you may have used. Use the instructions to restore your supply after you’ve topped up.
What happens if I run out of emergency credit Scottishpower?
Topping Up – How do I top up? You can take your key or card to any Post Office, PayPoint or Payzone outlet to top up your meter with credit.
Then, simply buy enough credit (i.e. top up) to keep your meter topped up and to cover any debt recovery rates set on your meter. Please keep the receipt as proof of purchase to confirm your transaction has been successful. You can top up from as little as £1 for gas and electricity up to a maximum of £99 per transaction per fuel if you are topping up at a Payzone or Post Office. If you are using a Pay Point, the maximum top is £75 per transaction. Once you’ve topped up, simply insert your key or card into the meter and the credit will transfer over. You’ll need to top up again when your credit starts to run low.
What happens if I don’t top up?
Your meter has £10 emergency credit built in. This is to help keep your energy supply on until you are able to top up or this credit runs out. Once you run out of emergency credit, your supply may be temporarily disconnected until you top up your meter. Emergency credit has to be repaid – To return the meter to normal after using emergency credit, you must repay any amount of emergency credit used plus standing charges and any payments you are making towards a debt (if applicable). It’s important to also top up enough credit to cover the cost of the energy you will use. If you run out of credit during periods when it may be difficult to top up, your electricity meter’s friendly non-disconnect period, which is a safety function to ensure your energy supply won’t turn off, will be activated. This lasts from 6pm – 11am Monday to Saturday and all-day Sunday and bank holidays, providing there was credit at the start of the period. Again, you’ll need to pay any credit you use over this period the next time you top up. Please note gas pay as you go meters do not have the friendly non-disconnect function and once you run out of credit, the supply will turn off.
