BILL CHECK
Energy customers at two major firms have just HOURS left to submit meter readings – or risk higher bills
Customers who don't take a reading could have to pay more
ENERGY customers at two major firms have just hours left to submit their meter readings, or they could risk landing higher bills.
Households with Octopus and E.On Next must submit the check by the end of the day to ensure that their energy bill is accurate after prices fell on April 1.
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Regulator Ofgem's energy price cap dropped from £1,928 a year to £1,690 a year for a typical household earlier this month.
Households are usually urged to take meter readings on or around the date a new price cap comes into effect.
This stops suppliers from estimating your usage and potentially charging you too much.
Customers who don't take a reading are billed on estimated usage and will likely pay more.
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But even if you took your meter reading close to April 1, you don't have to submit it straight away.
Many firms actually offer longer for customers to submit the reading, but you must do it by that date.
Octopus Energy is letting customers submit their meter readings up until the end of today.
They can do this via their online accounts, a form on its website, app or email.
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The supplier has more than six million customers in the UK.
E.On Next customers can also submit their backdated meter reading today.
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Households can do this via their online account, app, by email or over the phone on 0808 501 5200.
The phone line is open from 9am to 5pm, Monday to Thursday and 9am to 4pm on Fridays.
Utility Warehouse customers will need to submit their meter readings today too.
They can do this on their online accounts, via the app or over the phone on 0333 777 0777.
It's definitely worth figuring out how to take a meter reading to ensure you're not overcharged.
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.
How do I calculate my energy bill?
BELOW we reveal how you can calculate your own energy bill.
To calculate how much you pay for your energy bill, you must find out your unit rate for gas and electricity and the standing charge for each fuel type.
The unit rate will usually be shown on your bill in p/kWh.The standing charge is a daily charge that is paid 365 days of the year - irrespective of whether or not you use any gas or electricity.
You will then need to note down your own annual energy usage from a previous bill.
Once you have these details, you can work out your gas and electricity costs separately.
Multiply your usage in kWh by the unit rate cost in p/kWh for the corresponding fuel type - this will give you your usage costs.
You'll then need to multiply each standing charge by 365 and add this figure to the totals for your usage - this will then give you your annual costs.
Divide this figure by 12, and you'll be able to determine how much you should expect to pay each month from April 1.
What are the other meter reading deadlines?
British Gas customers can submit their meter readings on any date before April 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.
Households with Ovo Energy have up to 10 days after April 1 to submit their backdated meter readings - April 11.
Customers can do this via their online accounts, app, or over the phone on 0330 303 5063 Monday to Friday 9am to 5pm.
Deadlines for EDF and Scottish Power have already gone.
How to take a meter reading
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.
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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Meanwhile, a major energy brand is now redundant after 1.3million customers switched to its new parent brand.
Plus, an energy supplier has extended a "no-brainer" initiative offering millions of customers half-price energy.
Do you have a money problem that needs sorting? Get in touch by emailing [email protected].
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