Why You Definitely Should Submit A Meter Reading This Week

Submit a meter reading to your energy supplier this Thursday 31st of March to avoid being overcharged on your next bill!

From April 1st 2022, the energy price cap set by Ofgem will increase by a huge 54%, an increase to the average household bill of around £700 extra per year. This means that if you are on a standard variable tariff, your bills are likely to become more expensive (if you are on a fixed-rate contract, then your tariff will not be able to increase until the end of your fixed term). It's important to note that the energy price cap isn’t an absolute cap on bills, but it’s instead a cap on the rates a supplier can charge for each unit of gas and electricity used.

While the global increase in energy prices is hitting the consumer hard, there’s a quick and easy action that we can take that may help save a few extra pounds.

Submitting energy meter readings is a task very easily forgotten about, with many people going months without updating their supplier with accurate readings. If there’s ever a crucial time to do it, it’s this Thursday March 31^st. By submitting a reading on this date, you tell your provider exactly how much energy you’ve used before the price increase, and you won’t be charged extra for this energy once the tariffs go up.

When energy suppliers don’t have up to date readings, they create their own estimate readings – these are then used to charge you when accurate readings aren’t provided. If a reading isn’t provided on Thursday 31^st March, then they would have to estimate how much energy was used before the price rise, and there’s no guarantee that this estimate (and therefore your bill) won’t be higher than it should be.

If you take regular readings then this could save you a little bit of extra cash – if you haven’t submitted a reading in a long time then this could be vital in ensuring you avoid a much larger unwelcome overcharge.

In the long run, you should send regular meter readings to your energy supplier (unless of course, you have a smart meter, which does this for you automatically). Once a month is usually enough for accurate billing. This can prevent hefty bills coming in later down the line if your estimated bills end up being far lower than your actual usage, and the last thing you want when moving out is to be in significant debt to your energy provider!