Electricity Smart Meters and £66 energy help

coffeeplease

Is anyone who has an electric smart meter receiving the monthly energy help? If so, do you use an app to top up, and how exactly do you do that? Or are you being sent paper vouchers via post, and how do you use them with a smart meter that does not use a card or key to top up? 

Keep_pedalling

Only pre-payment customers get vouchers, smart meters are no different to older meters the allowance is just taken off the bill, reduces your DD payments or is provided as a refund by your supplier.

macman

If you have a smart PPM then the credit is automatically applied to your meter by the supplier, no voucher is necessary.
If the credit has not been applied to your account, then it is possible that your supplier is not receiving the smart meter data.
Top ups are done via an app or online, it depends on the supplier.

coffeeplease

Thank you, that is really informative, I appreciate you for that. I understood from gov uk that smart meters are to be automatically topped up at the beginning of the month(s); no voucher is part of the equation and customers with PPM SM don't have to do anything.

But that seems not to be the experience of some customers.

The problem is that customers with PPM smart meters, who top up only with an app (not a card or key), are being sent paper vouchers to redeem in shops where they usually top up with cash or a debit/credit card. The credit gets transferred to their app and then to their smart meter. 
The shop insists they must use a card or key to top up with a voucher. The utility company says they do not need a card or key to top up with the voucher. But they are not explaining exactly how to top up using a voucher when using an app instead of a card or key. Probably because they don't know how. Probably because it isn't possible. 

I think what may be happening is that some utility companies are not managing the scheme correctly. They are sending vouchers when they should have a system in place that is automatically topping up their meters.

I am hoping that anyone with this same issue will join in and can explain what, if any, solution they have found for this problem.

MWT

coffeeplease said:

I am hoping that anyone with this same issue will join in and can explain what, if any, solution they have found for this problem.

If this is a problem you have yourself, please tell us which supplier you are with as the answer does vary between them...

You can be sent a voucher if your smart meter has lost communication with the supplier and in those cases you will need to enter a code on either the meter or the IHD (small display you were given to use with the smart meter). 

coffeeplease

Thank you very much. This is a problem with a Boost smart PPM and voucher. What code to enter on the meter or the IHD, do you refer to? The 10 digits under the bar code on the voucher, or some other code? Entering the 10 digits under the bar code did not work -the meter did not recognise it.

sewingqueen

If your smart meter is not communicating with your supplier you will be issued with a UTRN which is a 20 digit code. Lots of videos online on how to enter these depending on the meter model. If there is not a 20 digit code on your letter there is a chance your supplier has issued the wrong type of voucher

alibean121

coffeeplease said:

Thank you very much. This is a problem with a Boost smart PPM and voucher. What code to enter on the meter or the IHD, do you refer to? The 10 digits under the bar code on the voucher, or some other code? Entering the 10 digits under the bar code did not work -the meter did not recognise it.

With boost you will need to go to the shop with the voucher then give them the 16 digit code you see in the app - you’ll have one for gas and one for electric. The 16 digit code you need will be right on the landing screen of the app. It will say Electricity and the code will be underneath.

This is the card number to be used by the shop to process the topup. You may have been sent a card at some point with that number on but no worries if not - just read it out from the app and they can type it into the machine same as they would if the card didn’t swipe.

You cannot use the voucher with the app or directly on the meter so stop wasting your time with that.

alibean121

Also sorry you say sometimes they top up with cash so whatever they’re doing to make that work will operate with the voucher instead. Presumably that’s done at the pay point shop?