To get reconnected you will need to follow these steps.

  1. Top up your account – you can add credit to your account via your online smart prepayment account, text message, or by calling us on 0345 034 2400 or 0800 254 0022. Remember you will need to top up with enough credit to bring your balance above £0.
  2. Enter your unique transaction reference number (UTRN) – you only need to do this if your top up fails to apply to your meter. You’ll be told if it’s failed to apply on the payment confirmation screen. We’ll also send you a text. Your text will contain your UTRN. More on this below.
  3. Reactivate your energy supply – for safety reasons, you will need to manually activate your supply from your in-home display or smart meter(s). This step applies to everyone whose meter has automatically disconnected.

What happens when I top up?

Once you’ve topped up, we will attempt to reconnect your meter. This could have the following outcomes:

Payment partially successful 

If we are unable to connect to your meter(s) when we take your payment, your payment confirmation screen will say “Payment partially successful” and will inform you that we’ve taken your payment but we haven’t been able to apply the credit to your meter. You’ll also receive a text message. Your text message will contain a unique transaction reference number (UTRN) that you can use to manually register your top-up on your meter. 

Once the meter has been topped up, the supply will be ‘armed’ and ready for you to manually activate. 

For this scenario you will need to follow the How to enter a UTRN and How to reactivate your supply processes below.  

Remote reconnection successful

In many cases we will be able to connect to your meter after you have topped up. This means your supply will be ‘armed’ and ready for you to manually activate.

For this scenario you will need to follow the How to reactivate your supply process below. 

Follow the step-by-step instructions to reconnect your supply. The best way to avoid having to reactivate your energy supply is to make sure you top-up when you’re notified that your balance is getting low.

How to enter a UTRN

If we are unable to connect to your meter you will need to manually enter your UTRN, which will add credit to your meter and arm your supply. We will let you know if we’ve been unable to apply your credit to your meter on your payment confirmation screen, which will say ‘Payment partially successful’. You’ll also receive a text message. Your text message will contain your UTRN.

Please note, the top up credit we send you via the UTRN will always be £1 only. This does not reflect your actual top up amount and is only used to trigger the reconnection process on your meter.

How to enter the UTRN will depend on the device (In-home display, Electricity meter and/or Gas meter) you’re using. If you are a dual fuel customer, you will need to enter a UTRN for each fuel type.

In-home display

  1. Press the Menu icon and then press ‘Top-up’.
  2. Select the fuel you want to top up – Gas or Electricity.
  3. Enter your UTRN and then press ‘OK’.
  4. You will see a ‘Top up Sent’ message. Press ‘OK’ to finish. Repeat this for each fuel type, electricity and/or gas.

Once your top-up goes through, you’ll see your new balance. The top-up should reach your electricity meter within a few minutes, but it can take up to 30 minutes for gas, as the meter only ‘wakes up’ every half hour.

Electricity meter

  1. Short press the ‘A’ button to scroll through the options on the screen until you reach the ‘Enter UTRN’ option. Then long press the ‘A’ button to select this option.
  2. Enter your UTRN. Press the ‘A’ button to increase the number on the screen, when you’re ready to move onto the next digit press the ‘B’ button.
  3. Once you’ve entered all the numbers of the UTRN, press and hold the ‘B’ button to confirm and validate your entry.

Gas meter

  1. Press any button to wake up the display, then press button ‘C’ to bring up the menu.
  2. Use the ‘B’ button to scroll down to ‘Prepayment’, then press button ‘C’ to select this option.
  3. Scroll down to ‘New Payment’ and press the ‘C’ button to select this option.
  4. Enter your UTRN. Press the ‘A’ button to increase the number on the screen, when you’re ready to move onto the next digit press the ‘B’ button.
  5. Once you’ve entered all the numbers of the UTRN, press the ‘C’ button to confirm and validate your entry.

How to reactivate your energy supply

For safety reasons, after you’ve topped up you will have to reactivate your energy supply manually. We will let you know when your energy supply is ready to be reconnected via email or text message. Your electricity meter will be ready to reconnect within minutes, however it can take up to 30 minutes for your gas meter to be ready due to its battery saving sleep cycle.

How to reconnect your supply will depend on the device (In-home display, Electricity meter and/or Gas meter) you’re using. If you are a dual fuel customer, you will need to reconnect both fuel types.

In-home display (Electricity only)

  1. Press the Menu icon and then ‘Activate’, followed by ‘Yes’.
  2. Then press continue and your IHD will show ‘Your Electricity Supply is now active’.
  3. Press ‘OK’ to finish and return to the home screen.

Electricity meter

  1. When the meter is ready to be reconnected, the screen will display ‘Relay Armed. Please press button A&B to reconnect’.
  2. Press and hold the ‘A’ and ‘B’ buttons for about 10 seconds, you will hear a click when the supply has been reactivated.

Gas meter

  1. Turn off all Gas appliances.
  2. At the bottom of the display the following messages will flash alternatively ‘Turn off appliances’ and ‘Press button to connect’.
  3. After pressing any button, the meter will check that there is no gas flow.
  4. If there is no gas flow the supply will be restored.
  5. If there is gas flow detected, you must start the process again after checking all gas appliances are off.

If you have any questions or need help getting reconnected, please call us on 0345 034 2400 or 0800 254 0022 – we’re here to help.

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