HOUSEHOLDS still have time to submit their meter readings – but the rules vary between energy suppliers.
Brits were urged to take their readings before midnight on October 1 ahead of bills rising, but you didn’t have to submit them straight away.
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If you’re on a traditional meter and don’t send regular readings to your supplier, you risk being charged too much.
To avoid it, simply take a photo of your meter and submit it to your supplier.
If you’re on a smart or pre-payment meter, you don’t need to do this.
The average household energy bill rose from £1,971 a year to £2,500 on October 1 under the government’s energy price guarantee.
The support caps the cost per unit households pay, so your actual bill could be more or less than £2,500.
How much you pay will depend on how much energy you use.
To help customers, energy suppliers have given extra time to submit their meter readings without being hit by higher prices.
It comes after E.on, British Gas, EDF, SSE and OVO’s websites all crashed on the meter reading day earlier in March.
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On September 30, customers also faced delays to get onto their supplier websites for the same reason.
When do I need to submit my meter reading?
If you’ve taken a photo of your reader, below are all the submitting deadlines for the leading energy suppliers.
If you’ve missed the deadline, late is still better than never so it’s worth getting in touch with your supplier.
- British Gas: October 14, via its online form
- Bulb: October 3
- EDF: October 7, via its online form
- E.on: Five days after October 1, i.e. October 6
- Octopus Energy: Submit within a week of October 1
- Ovo Energy: Call the supplier if you want to submit a reading after September 30
- Scottish Power: October 5
- Shell Energy: 30 days from October 1, i.e. October 31
- SSE Energy: Call the supplier if you want to submit a reading after September 30
- Utility Warehouse: Five days after taking your meter reading
Why it’s important
Taking a meter reading before the new price cap came into force will help you to be billed accurately.
It means you – and your energy firm – know exactly how much energy you have used under the lower price.
If you don’t send in meter readings, your provider will send an estimated bill, which could be much higher than what you’re actually using.
At the same time as bills rose, households also started receiving a £400 energy rebate, which will go out in installments.
In other energy news, millions of pensioners who usually get the winter fuel allowance will receive £300 on top from November.
