British Gas issues urgent ’14-day’ warning to customers over meter readings | Personal Finance | Finance

British Gas is telling customers to get their meter readings quickly. The energy company has sent out a reminder that everyone has 14 days to submit their energy meter readings. This is because there’s a new price cap that’s just started.

Ofgem, the energy regulator, has cut the price cap by 12.3 percent, which means bills should be lower for a typical home using both gas and electricity.

As a result of this new lower price cap, lots of energy companies will be changing what they charge. British Gas wants people with meters to send in their readings soon.

That way, you’ll be charged the right amount on your next bill, reports the Manchester Evening News.

On X, formerly Twitter, British Gas posted: “The new price cap starts TODAY. If you haven’t already, take your meter readings now and submit them by 14 April and we’ll use them on your next bill.”

But if you have a fixed deal, a smart meter, or you pay before you use energy, you don’t need to worry about sending in a reading. These are checked in different ways by the energy companies.

How do you read your meter?

Well, it depends on what kind you have at home. You need to know which one you’ve got so you can give the right numbers.

If your meter has five numbers in black or white, and maybe some red numbers after that, just write down the first five numbers from left to right. Don’t mind any other numbers that might be there.

Two rate digital meter

These types of meters will show two rows of numbers. To read this meter, you should note down both numbers from the top and bottom rows, ignoring any numbers shown in red.

Dial meter

An electricity dial meter will have five or more dials that turn to point to a number between 0 and 9. Each dial on the meter will turn in the opposite direction to the one next to it.

To read this meter, you should note down the first five dials from left to right, ignoring any red dials or dials marked 1/10. If the pointer is between two numbers, you should write down the lower number – if it’s between 9 and 0, write down 9.

If the pointer is directly over a number, you should write down that number and then underline it. Then, if the next dial is between 9 and 0, reduce the underlined number by 1.