Urgent warning for thousands of energy customers to act before July 8 – or face bigger bills
CUSTOMERS of two major energy suppliers have just a couple of days left to submit their meter readings or they could face bigger bills.
Households who get their gas or electricity from either E.ON or Octopus Energy have until July 8 to give their latest readings.
People should give an up to date meter reading to ensure they get accurate bills, rather than estimated.
If they don’t it could mean they are overcharged – though they would get credited later when they do give reading – or undercharged and they might have to pay higher bills later to make up difference.
The average household energy bill has fallen by 7 percent after Ofgem lowered its price cap in response to wholesale prices.
The regulator has dropped the cap from the previous £1,690 for a typical dual fuel household in England, Scotland and Wales to £1,568, a fall of £122 over the course of a year.
This is around £500 less than the cap in July last year when it was £2,074.
The average household is expected to spend £83 on energy in July, compared with £127 in June.
This is due to the lower cap and lower usage due to warmer weather, comparison site Uswitch calculated.
It’s worth bearing in mind that you don’t need to submit a meter reading if you’re on a fixed energy tariff, a smart meter or a traditional prepayment meter.
You may want to double-check that any smart meter readings being sent are correct so you’re not overcharged though.
It is important that you take a reading every three months when the price cap changes to make sure you are not being overcharged – or underpaying and owing money later on.
The deadline you have to submit a reading varies from supplier to supplier.
Some companies will allow you to backdate the reading if you miss the exact date it was meant to be submitted.
But that may not always be the case so it is worth speaking to the customer service team at your energy supplier to double check.
Here’s what you need to know if you get your energy from another company.
British Gas
British Gas customers can submit their meter readings on any date before July 14.
Customers can do this on their online account, via the British Gas app, over the phone or a form which can be found on the firm’s website.
You can call 0330 100 0056 Monday to Friday between 9am and 5pm.
Scottish Power
Scottish Power customers have until July 5 to submit any meter readings.
Readings will be back dated to June 30.
They can do this on their online account, via its app or over the phone on 0800 027 8000 24 hours a day.
EDF
EDF customers can send backdated meter readings until the end of July 9.
They can do this via their online accounts, WhatsApp, SMS or a form on the supplier’s website.
Ovo Energy
Households with Ovo Energy have up to 10 days after July 1 to submit their backdated meter readings – July 11.
Customers can do this via their online accounts, app, or over the phone on 0330 303 5063 Monday to Friday 9am to 5pm.
How to take a meter reading
Smart meters
If you have a smart meter, you don’t need to take a reading, as this is sent to your supplier automatically.
But it is worth making sure that your meter is sending readings correctly, as sometimes smart meters can have issues.
Take a photo of your meter on July 1, and compare it to what is showing when you log into your energy account.
It is worth keeping the photo as you can submit it to your provider later if there are any disputes.
Electricity meters
If you have a digital electricity or gas meter, you will see a row of six numbers on the display dashboard – five in black and one in red.
You will need to note down the five numbers in black and ignore the red number.
If you are on an Economy 7 or 10 tariff you may see two rows of numbers.
You should take both down.
If you have a traditional dial meter, you will have to read the first five dials from left to right and ignore any red ones.
If the pointer is between two numbers, write down the lower number. If it’s between nine and zero, write down nine.
If the pointer is directly over a number, write down that number and underline it.
Citizens Advice says that if you’ve underlined a number, check the next dial to the right.
If the pointer on that dial is between 9 and 0, reduce the number you’ve underlined by 1. For example, if you originally wrote down 5, change it to 4.
Gas meters
If you have a digital metric meter showing five numbers then a decimal place, you only need to write down the first five numbers from left to right.
If you have a digital imperial meter your meter will read four black numbers and two red numbers – note down the four black numbers only.
If you have a dial gas meter follow the same steps for those with a dial electricity meter but ignore underlining any figures.
Once you have taken a meter reading you can take a picture of it and send it to your supplier through whichever means.
According to comparethemarket.com, how often you should submit readings will depend on how often you pay.
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