Pay as you go number mistakenly deactivated

[amberh99]

I recently switched my EE number to a pay as you go plan in August 2025, as I am travelling another country and getting an E-SIM for that country, but also wanted to keep my UK number. I have a dual sim in my phone currently with my Canadian E-SIM and my UK physical SIM. 

I was told in order to keep my UK EE number, I needed to complete a chargeable action within 180 days. I successfully topped up my phone in August a few weeks after I changed it to pay as you go. Over the last few months I’ve received texts from EE and have checked my balance, so I assumed all was fine and my number was still active.  However earlier this week (October 2025) I attempted to send a text or make a call and it would not work. I then logged into my EE account, only for it to tell me my EE account was deactivated. 

Why has this happened and how can I fix this? It has not been 180 days so not sure why my number has been deactivated and my EE account closed. I can’t even call 150 as my phone number with EE just isn’t working and won’t allow me to make any calls with it. Help!

[XRaySpeX]

When did you last leave the UK?

[amberh99]

I left the UK 14th July 2025. I spoke to an EE guide who set my monthly contract to change to pay as you go in early August 2025 (can’t recall the exact date) so I was still using my monthly contract plan with data roaming until this date in August while abroad. I checked multiple times with this person I spoke to that I would be fine to make the switch to pay as you go while abroad, and didn’t need to do it in the UK as I had read online about people having issues with this. I was assured this would work and I didn’t need to do anything while still in the UK. I’m now fearing I was given incorrect information. 

I successfully topped up my balance via the EE app and checked my balance a few times via text all while abroad. It seems only the last few weeks I haven’t been able to check my balance. I’ve been able to log into my EE account until this point as well, it’s only now it’s saying my account was deactivated. 

[Schockwave · Accepted solution]

@amberh99 you will be unable to use your pay as you go number until you return to the UK or get someone to activate it here in the UK, as pay as you go Sims have to be activated and used in the UK first. When you changed from monthly to pay as you go, you need to give 30 days notice and then activate the pay as you go number, so your only way of getting it activated is to send the SIM card back to the UK to someone who can activate it and make a chargeable call or text and then send it back to you. 

You have 6 months before your SIM card goes into hibernation and eventually will be completely disconnected, as you can read here:

https://community.ee.co.uk/t5/Pay-as-you-go/What-is-pay-as-you-go-and-flex-hibernation-and-how-do-I-...

[Rach_H]

Hi @amberh99,

Welcome to the Community!

If you've moved your account to Pay As You Go then your online account will likely still be linked to your Pay Monthly account, which is why this is showing as closed. 

It might be worth giving our team a call from another line, so they can take a look into this for you.

Rach

[XRaySpeX]

You are not at the mercy of PAYG hibernation (deactivation after 6 months non-use) but of trying to use a PAYG SIM abroad 1st.

1. As it was switched to PAYG while you were abroad you can't now use it until you return to UK. EE PAYG SIMs need 1st activating on EE's home UK network before they can be used abroad. 
2. You need to call CS to delete your old contract MyEE a/c & then you can set up your new PAYG MyEE a/c afresh, using the same mobile no. & email addy if desired. You can't mix them under MyEE.