topic Re: Details on PAYG minimum usage & credit validity period in Account and services

Details on PAYG minimum usage & credit validity period

suakasaya — Sat, 04 Nov 2023 13:57:54 GMT

I have a few questions about the requirement to make at least one chargeable activity every 180 days to keep the number active. Let’s say the chargeable activity we’re talking about is outgoing call.

1. When does the 180-day period start for the SIM card’s active status? Is it counted from the last time I topped it up with credit, or from the last time I made an outgoing call? (Say if I do a credit topup in January, my last outgoing call is in March, will the card expire in June or August?)

2. Does the credit have validity period? If so when does it expire? (Say if I topup the number with £20 credit in January, but during the 180 days I only manage to use £10. Will the rest £10 be forfeited after June? Or will it be available for as long as I keep the number active?)

I’d greatly appreciate any responses from anyone on this topic. Thank you in advance!

Re: Details on PAYG minimum usage & credit validity period

Geluk — Sat, 04 Nov 2023 15:33:46 GMT

180 days from last chargeable usage ie either text or call. Credit added to your SIM does not expires, as is shown when you log in to your 3 account.

Re: Details on PAYG minimum usage & credit validity period

suakasaya — Sun, 05 Nov 2023 13:10:40 GMT

Ah okay I see, thank you so much!

Re: Details on PAYG minimum usage & credit validity period

suakasaya — Thu, 09 Nov 2023 09:20:03 GMT

Hi, Geluk, sorry for bothering you again. Is there any way to check the exact expiry date of the SIM card? I couldn’t seem to find it anywhere in the app.

Re: Details on PAYG minimum usage & credit validity period

suakasaya — Thu, 09 Nov 2023 09:24:49 GMT

Re: Details on PAYG minimum usage & credit validity period

JohnM — Fri, 10 Nov 2023 16:19:56 GMT

Hello Suakasaya,

There is no information on the My3 App that will show the expiry date, the 180 days runs from your last chargeable usage ie an outbound call, text, or mobile data connection.

Hope this helps 🙂

John M

Re: Details on PAYG minimum usage & credit validity period

Qiew — Sun, 17 Dec 2023 18:20:09 GMT

Gekuk mentioned that 180 days from last chargeable usage ie either text or call. He didn't emphasise to incl. Data usage. Who is correct? Is there any amount of data usage required to be qualified ?

Re: Details on PAYG minimum usage & credit validity period

JonathanB — Mon, 18 Dec 2023 13:14:57 GMT

Hi @Qiew,

Data usage will also qualify as long as it uses some of the data allowance from an add on, or some of your cash credit.

Thanks,
Jonathan

Re: Details on PAYG minimum usage & credit validity period

Retiredyoung — Sat, 23 Dec 2023 16:00:40 GMT

My balance hadn't updated after sending 2 text messages in December since the new website required re-registering in November. I contacted 3 by phone today and was told that you get given 2 free text messages, even if you don't top up your credit. This was a surprise as at no time did 3 advise me of this and I can't find anything on their website. I had sent my first text to keep my account active (180 day rule) and as this hadn't registered against my balance resent another one 11 days later. This still hadn't decreased my balance. 3 advised me to send another text, which I did and this did finally make my balance decrease by 15p. Can anyone else confirm if this has happened to them or confirm that the 2 free text messages is monthly or what, as obviously customers may get their accounts/credit suspended.

Re: Details on PAYG minimum usage & credit validity period

James150 — Mon, 19 Feb 2024 11:02:03 GMT

@Retiredyoung- I can confirm that I had the same behaviour - I needed to send three texts before my balanced decreased. This was on a new PAYG SIM which registered and activated today.

Re: Details on PAYG minimum usage & credit validity period

ChrisAO — Mon, 04 Mar 2024 01:35:12 GMT

Just FYI albeit late in the day, same for me.

Re: Details on PAYG minimum usage & credit validity period

ChrisAO — Mon, 04 Mar 2024 02:24:32 GMT

@JohnM or @JonathanB AIUI as stated in https://www.three.co.uk/content/dam/threedigital/terms-and-conditions/paym-and-payg/payg-terms-and-conditions-effective-from-8-november-2023.pdf the 180 days does NOT include from a Top-Up as it does on some other networks. Could you please confirm I've understood correctly (or not!). Thanks.

Re: Details on PAYG minimum usage & credit validity period

JonathanB — Fri, 08 Mar 2024 11:34:19 GMT

Hi @ChrisAO,

Great question! In the t's and c's you'll see that it also refers to adding a voucher. I double checked this with my contacts, just to be 100% and any top up will also reset the timer. A credit/debit card or other top up method effectively creates a dummy voucher in the system, so don't worry, it doesn't need to be a printed voucher from a shop.

Re: Details on PAYG minimum usage & credit validity period

ChrisAO — Fri, 08 Mar 2024 23:31:15 GMT

Those Ts&Cs are badly written and so confusing. Looking at it again I see a voucher is mentioned at the start of the document in Summary Section C, and again in para.9.1.(i) but no mention of the other forms of top-up (or the fact that they create a "dummy" voucher), so thanks for clarifying the situation.

I don't suppose we can expect them to update the document to clarify this, as it took them nearly two months to produce an updated Price Guide (even the Price Guide page is full of confusion)!

Re: Details on PAYG minimum usage & credit validity period

bronxboy1 — Thu, 29 Jan 2026 08:54:30 GMT

I trust it is OK to "bring back to life" an old thread. I would like to confirm that adding a £5 or £10 top up - BUT NOT USING THE TOP UP - will reset the 180 day clock.

I normally use a 3 PAYG number I have for when I visit USA - I normally go every 3-4 months, and use data while in USA, so the 180 day rule has never been an issue. While in the UK I only use the number to receive calls, so I only add funds (and use to buy a data pack) when going to USA.

However, my last usage was on 10 Aug 2025, and I have not topped up since. I am planning a trip to USA in April/May. What I would like to do is top up £10 before say 5 Feb 2026 (just before 180 days since last usage) BUT NOT USE THE TOP UP until April or May.

Will simply buying the top up reset the 180 day clock? I know above it was answered YES - but the reply is nearly 2 years old, and rules can change.

Many thanks for your help.

Re: Details on PAYG minimum usage & credit validity period

PeteG — Fri, 30 Jan 2026 10:05:19 GMT

Hello there.

Yes, adding a top up to the account counts towards the clock, and will give you a fresh start.

Pete.