The Ofgem price cap is rising from £1,641 to £1,862 a year for the typical home paying by direct debit from July 1
Millions of households are being urged to take a meter reading to ensure they are billed accurately ahead of energy bills rising this week.
The Ofgem price cap is rising from £1,641 to £1,862 a year for the typical home paying by direct debit from July 1.
You are covered by the price cap if you are on a variable energy tariff, so if you are not fixed into a deal.
It is a good idea to take a meter reading near this price cap update so you are not charged at higher rates for energy used before the price cap changed.
If you have a smart meter, then you should not need to send a meter reading, as this should send regular readings to your supplier for you.
Gareth Kloet, energy expert at Go.Compare, said: “The extra cost of a single load of washing or one oven cycle may only be a few pence, but households use energy constantly and across lots of different appliances.
“That is why taking a meter reading on 30 June is so important. It helps make sure your supplier has an accurate record of the energy you used before the new, higher rates come in, rather than estimating your usage and potentially applying the wrong rate to part of your bill.
The price cap will remain in place until October, when it will be updated again. Energy analysts are expecting bills to remain high in winter.
Cornwall said it expected a typical household to be facing a bill of £1,849 from October. This will land harder as people switch their heating back on as temperatures drop.
Dr Craig Lowrey, principal consultant at Cornwall Insight, said: “The Iran ceasefire gave the markets some breathing room but this is a pause, not a resolution to the conflict.
“What comes out of the final agreement, if there is one, will matter enormously for energy prices. And even in the best-case scenario, the enduring effects from the conflict will be with us for a while.
“Infrastructure takes time to repair, supply chains take time to recover and households will be left dealing with the consequences for some time.”
He added: “October bills always hit harder than July’s because people are turning their heating on again and this year that coincides with a difficult geopolitical backdrop.
“The new Prime Minister will face real pressure to act on support for vulnerable households but the harder question is what comes after that – currently we are in a perpetual cycle of global shocks, high bills and short-term fixes.
“More permanent measures like social tariffs, moving levies into general taxation, or removing VAT on energy bills would take some of the pressure off bill-payers but there is no firm steer that these options are being actively pursued by Government at the moment.”
Ofgem will announce the price cap for October on or by August 26.
