MoneySavingExpert founder Martin Lewis says even people who have just paid an energy bill should submit a meter reading to their energy company today. He has encouraged consumers to take their meter readings before the higher price cap comes into force on Friday (April 1).
The consumer expert was asked during a radio appearance about what to do if households have just paid their gas and electric bills for the quarter. A listener queried whether she would need to take a meter reading if her next bill was not due for another three months.
Speaking on BBC Radio 5 Live, Martin said: "Yes, assuming you're not on a smart meter because your bill is predicated on what you use on a day and therefore what we're doing by doing a meter reading is we're telling them everything up to this point should be charged at the cheap rate and everything afterwards is effectively going to be charged at the more expensive rate.
"Otherwise you're relying on them to estimate your pre and post-usage. Paying your bill, or paying a direct is separate to allocating how much energy you've used and what the rate that will be charged for the energy usage is."
He added: "It's about that line in the sand that gives you an absolute firm 'everything up to this point was at the cheap rate' and we get out of the vagaries of how the energy companies choose to estimate and allocate what usage was pre-price cap and what usage was post-price cap rise."
Martin clarified that the meter reading day applies to anyone on a price cap tariff. People who are on a fix are not on the price cap. He said it is specifically for people who are not on smart meters, but he is strongly advising those consumers to still take a photograph of their meter.
