topic INACTIVE SIM in Pay as you go

INACTIVE SIM

Sanaseen — Fri, 26 Jun 2026 14:47:41 GMT

Hi everyone. I live abroad and have not been to the UK in two and a half year. I have a PAYG SIM which i have been topping up every 5-6 months. The SIM is in another phone which i hardly use. I forgot to top up in April. An SMS was sent by EE reminding me but unfortunately i was too busy to check my other phone. The deadline was 29 April. I did top up on 15 May without noticing the SMS. Now i have an inactive SIM. How can i re-activate the SIM with the same number? Thanks.

Re: INACTIVE SIM

XRaySpeX — Fri, 26 Jun 2026 15:47:02 GMT

Sounds like your PAYG SIM may have gone into hibernation due to non-use. If it has, topping-up now would be too late.

When did you previously make a chargeable action? EE PAYG SIMs are deactivated after 6 months of non-chargeable use. You then have a further 3 months period of grace to call EE to reactivate it before it is lost completely.

You needed to make a chargeable action like making a chargeable call or text, topping up or buying a Pack or Add-on, not just using your mins, texts or data from your pack.

Re: INACTIVE SIM

Sanaseen — Fri, 26 Jun 2026 16:12:18 GMT

Last top up was on 15th May, 2026. Deadline was 29th April

Re: INACTIVE SIM

XRaySpeX — Fri, 26 Jun 2026 16:29:05 GMT

T'was too late!