Any remaining PAYG credit can be used up beyond that date, but no credit or products can be added. That said, I shouldn't think it woild be permitted to use the remaining credit as the card has an expiry date printed on it.
I know this thread has been dormant for a few days, but I just wanted to digress slightly to share my experience regarding refunds of PAYG credit on expired Oyster Photocards (eg 11-15 and 16+) that was mentioned earlier. To me, it's a matter of principle to get all refunds due, rather than "donate" them to TFL -
but this won't happen without action on your part.
You can't use the credit an expired Oyster Photocard - it won't work the barriers, so a refund is the only option. TFL are quite efficient at writing to about-to-expire Photocard holders to invite renewal or application for the next level up (eg 11-15 moving to 16+), collecting another £10 fee along the way, but they fail to mention that you are
entitled to a refund of your unused PAYG credit. They could easily mention this in the letter but choose not to do so - probably a nice little earner for TFL?
The complication is that the card has expired. In this situation, the only way (that I'm aware of) to get a refund is to phone the Oyster Helpline. But they will only speak to
the responsible adult who applied for the card (unless the holder is now over 18). From the reaction I got, it's not a common request and can require considerable persistence. Ive done this two years running (16+ cards are only valid for 1 year) and it was hard work both years. At various stages I was told: (1) it wasn't possible as they couldn't access expired cards; (2) when they traced the expired card, they didn't know how to refund the credit (because refunds could only be made to the same card, which had expired - Duh!); (3) I was passed to the Oyster Photocard Applications office - but this is a totally separate, sub-contracted operation in Northampton that deals only with issuing new Photocards and has no power to access the live system nor to make refunds; (4) finally, they agreed it could (and should) be done, and I got my refunds both years. It really shouldn't be so difficult to recover own money!
Also (and this applies to all Oyster refunds), the Oyster Helpline will often tell you that they can only refund
onto another Oystercard, which you must pick up at a nominated Tube station ticket gate within 8 days - tricky if you're not a regular Tube traveller. But in fact they
can also refund
to your online Oyster account (if you have one) or by
BACS transfer to a bank account - but it's a matter of luck whether the Helpline operator will know this. On occasions, I've been told point blank that it wasn't possible, only to phone back and have it done without question.
