Households urged to send meter readings this weekend to avoid overpaying on fuel

Some 10 million households should send energy meter readings to their supplier this weekend to ensure they do not overpay when cheaper prices come into effect on April 1.

Theaveragehouseholdenergy bill is to fall to its lowest point in twoyearsfromnextmonthafter Ofgem lowered its price cap in response to wholesale prices.

The regulator is dropping its price cap by 12.3 per cent from the current £1,928 for a typical dualfuelhouseholdinengland, Scotland and Wales to £1,690, a drop of £238 over the course of a year or around £20 a month.

The average household on a standard variable tariff (SVT) is expected to spend £127 on energyinapril,comparedwith£205 in March, due to a combination of cheaper rates and lower usageastheweatherwarmsup.

Those on SVTS who do not have a smart meter and do not submit meter readings on or aroundapril1riskhavingsome of their usage after that date charged at the previous, more expensive rates.

The difference between a week's worth of energy at the old rates compared with a week inaprilwas£4.65for theaveragehousehold, Uswitch warned.

Nearly a fifth of households who do not have a smart meter (18percent)havenotsubmitted their meter readings in the last three months, and 4 per cent have not done so for a whole year, a survey for the comparison site found.

Suppliers who have not received meter readings base their bills on estimated usage, meaning households could be overpaying, while others may not be paying enough.

A quarter of those who have not submitted their readings in the last three months (24 per cent) said they forgot to, while 17 per cent said it was "too much hassle", Uswitch said.

Some 14 per cent of those who had notsubmittedreadings did not know how to read their meter,and12percentsaid they did not even know where their meter was.

Meanwhile, 22 per cent of householdssaidtheyhadmade a mistake when submitting their meter readings, with mixingupgasandelectricitymeters and writing digits in the wrong orderthemostcommonerrors.

Ben Gallizzi, energy spokesman at Uswitch.com, said: "We urge any households without a smart meter to submit their meter readings this bank holiday weekend, so their supplier has an updated and accurate view of your account on or around April 1.

"This is when the next energy price cap comes into effect, which will see the rates that households on standard variabletariffspayfortheirenergyfall for April, May and June. If you delaysubmittingyourreadings, someofyourenergyusagecould endupbeingchargedunderthe higherrateswe'recurrentlyfacing. All households without a smart meter should ideally submit a meter reading every month to improve the accuracy of their bills."

Opinium surveyed 2,000 UK adults online between March 1-5.