Martin Lewis issues warning British Gas, EDF, EON and Octopus Energy customers

People could end up paying more if they don't act

The founder of Money Saving Expert, Martin Lewis, has urgently advised households to submit a meter reading "within a few days" of October 1 to guarantee that energy bills are accurately fair. Owing to the new price cap set by Ofgem, which came into effect on October 1, energy bills witnessed a hike of 10 percent, potentially increasing the average household's annual bills by approximately £149, reports the Express.

Lewis highlighted the risk of paying in excess if households fail to provide an up-to-date meter reading, as energy firms will otherwise base their billing on estimates. On his podcast last week, quoted by the Mirror, he stated: "Now I say it's meter reading week because it really doesn't make much difference."

He continued, explaining that estimated usage may lead to inaccurately high charges post-hike: "If you don't do a meter reading and you pay by monthly direct debit, your usage is estimated and it's your energy firm that, using an algorithm, will decide how much was before the price went up and how much was after."

He cautioned: "If it estimates too much after the price went up, you will pay more. I'm not suggesting that they're trying to diddle by doing that, more you might just fall foul of the algorithm."

Nonetheless, Martin Lewis also pointed out that some consumers might benefit inadvertently from this estimating process.

He clarified: "You might also gain from it. The way to make it totally fair is to give a meter reading within a few days on either side of October 1."

Lewis reassured his audience that "Most firms you can do it a day or two before and a couple of days afterwards and backdate the meter reading as long, as it's an honest one."

"If you've got a working smart meter, working being the operative word, you don't need to do this because your smart meter is sending in readings anyway."

The energy price cap sets the ceiling on the rate suppliers can charge customers per kilowatt hour (kWh) of energy used, with energy watchdog Ofgem revisiting this figure quarterly. This doesn't cap total energy bills which are still dependent on individual household consumption.

Above-average consumption results in higher payments than the cap stipulates. Starting from October 1, those on standard variable tariffs paying by direct debit will be charged an average of 24.5p per unit for electricity, plus a standing charge of 60.99p daily.

Gas users will see an average unit cost of 6.24p paired with a daily standing charge of 31.66p.