During his co-presenting duties on Good Morning Britain (GMB) today (September 26) alongside Susanna Reid, Martin Lewis urged households to send their meter readings in “now”.
Martin shared that it’s “meter reading week” as energy prices change from next week.
On Tuesday, October 1, the cost of gas and electricity in the UK will be going up by 10%.
The MoneySavingExpert founder explained: “If you don’t have a working smart meter you should be doing a meter reading at some point around next Tuesday, you could do it now, you could do it a few days after.”
'It sounds geeky, it's actually probably the single biggest thing that may happen to our finances over the next couple of years.'@MartinSLewis explains why Labour hinting at 'changing the fiscal rules' could have a big impact in the long term. pic.twitter.com/TxY3gChgpw
— Good Morning Britain (@GMB) September 26, 2024
Why households should take meter readings 'now' ahead of October energy cap rise
Explaining why he is telling ITV viewers to follow his advice, Martin continued: “This is the current price, this is the new price, if you don’t do a meter reading, they’re assuming how much of usage was on the cheap price, how much usage was on the expensive price, so they could assume more of it is on the expensive price than it was.
“Do a meter reading, you draw a line and you’re going to get the correct amount billed to you, not too much at the higher level.”
He added: “The other thing that goes into this, slightly different tip, if you are on a non-smart electricity pre-payment meter, specifically what dictates to your meter the price you pay is when you top up.
What is Winter Fuel Payment?
Recommended reading:
- Martin Lewis' MSE explains changes to the £200 school uniform grant in UK
- Is it cheaper to leave your heating on all day?
- 4 easy ways to save £300 on your energy bills revealed as price cap set to rise
"So my tip for you is top up now before next Tuesday and you’re on the current price and then try and keep that going as long as possible until you top up again and your meter will stay on the current cheaper price once you get into October.
“Doesn’t work with Scottish Power, who will claw that back. Other companies keep the right to claw back the extra amount that you should have paid but the vast majority don’t do it in practice.”
Martin said although he can’t “100% promise” this will happen to everyone on a non-smart electricity pre-payment meter, topping up “now” can keep you on the current cheaper rates for longer and households should “hold” until you top up again “until the last minute”.
Why are you making commenting on The Herald only available to subscribers?
It should have been a safe space for informed debate, somewhere for readers to discuss issues around the biggest stories of the day, but all too often the below the line comments on most websites have become bogged down by off-topic discussions and abuse.
heraldscotland.com is tackling this problem by allowing only subscribers to comment.
We are doing this to improve the experience for our loyal readers and we believe it will reduce the ability of trolls and troublemakers, who occasionally find their way onto our site, to abuse our journalists and readers. We also hope it will help the comments section fulfil its promise as a part of Scotland's conversation with itself.
We are lucky at The Herald. We are read by an informed, educated readership who can add their knowledge and insights to our stories.
That is invaluable.
We are making the subscriber-only change to support our valued readers, who tell us they don't want the site cluttered up with irrelevant comments, untruths and abuse.
In the past, the journalist’s job was to collect and distribute information to the audience. Technology means that readers can shape a discussion. We look forward to hearing from you on heraldscotland.com
Comments & Moderation
Readers’ comments: You are personally liable for the content of any comments you upload to this website, so please act responsibly. We do not pre-moderate or monitor readers’ comments appearing on our websites, but we do post-moderate in response to complaints we receive or otherwise when a potential problem comes to our attention. You can make a complaint by using the ‘report this post’ link . We may then apply our discretion under the user terms to amend or delete comments.
Post moderation is undertaken full-time 9am-6pm on weekdays, and on a part-time basis outwith those hours.
Read the rules hereLast Updated:
Report this comment Cancel