Martin Lewis stresses importance of meter readings ideally before October 1

The Money Saving Expert has flagged up the 10% energy price cap increase but says get the readings done as soon as possible

From the October 1, households across the UK will be hit with a 10% increase in the energy price cap, leading to soaring bills as winter approaches. Financial guru Martin Lewis is advising consumers to take action to ensure they receive an accurate bill at month's end.

On his popular podcast, he advised: "Reminder that it's Meter Reading Week. It used to be Meter Reading Day but I managed to crash most of the big energy firms by doing so."

His past advice has prompted a rush of meter readings, causing energy company websites to crash and leaving many unable to follow his tips, resulting in frustration.

The founder of Money Saving Expert elaborated: "Now I say it's Meter Reading Week because it really doesn't make much difference. 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 added: "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. 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.", reports the Mirror.

Consumer champion Martin Lewis has offered British energy consumers a tip to ensure the accuracy of their bill following the price cap rise. On his BBC podcast, he advised: "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."

Towards the end of his podcast, Lewis revealed a particular trick for those using non-smart electricity prepayment meters to potentially save money. He pointed out: "In that very specific case, it's the act of topping up that tells the meter what you should be paying."

He explained the advantage as such: "If you top up before October 1, your meter will be told the current rates and it will not be told the new rates until you top up again so the longer you can run not topping up on or after October 1, the longer you will usually stay on the lower rate."