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Daily Record
Daily Record
Lifestyle
Levi Winchester & Nicola Roy

British Gas customers given one week warning to avoid soaring energy bills

Anybody with British Gas as their energy provider has been given a week's warning to act now or face higher bills in the future.

At the beginning of July, the Ofgem price cap that limits how much people can pay for their energy per unit price was lowered from £2,500 to £2,074 per year.

And now that the Government's Energy Price Guarantee has come to an end, people are being urged to submit a meter reading before July 14 - otherwise British Gas will estimate their usage and customers could end up paying more than they need to.

The Mirror reports that you can upload the details of your meter reading via the British Gas website.

You'll be asked for separate figures for your gas and electricity meters, as well as the date you took them on. For those with a smart meter or a prepayment meter, this happens automatically, so you don't need to take a reading.

The Ofgem price cap sets a limit on what you pay for each unit of gas and electricity you use, as well as the maximum daily standing charge.

Smart meter owners won't need to submit their meter readings to British Gas (Getty Images/iStockphoto)

You’ll be on the price cap if you’re on a standard variable rate (SVR) tariff - this is roughly around 29 million households.

Direct debit customers will have seen their gas unit price fall from 10.31p kWh to 7.51p, and electricity dropping from 33.21p to 30.11p. And the standing charge, which is a fixed daily amount you have to pay for energy remains at 29.11p per day.

Households are being reminded that there isn't a total cap on how much you'll expect to pay on your bills.

Instead, it illustrates what the average usage is likely to be over the course of a year. You may end up paying more or less, depending on how much energy you use, as well as how you pay your bill.

If you’re a prepayment customer, the price cap is falling to £2,046 a year and for those who pay on receipt of bill, the price cap is now £2,211.

For these payment methods, the unit rates may be slightly different.

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