The price cap will rise by £63 in October, the third increase this year. That is not a forecast. It is a number from Ofgem, published last week, and it will land on 27 million households’ bills from 1 October.
As reported by the BBC, energy suppliers and consumer groups are now pleading with households to read their meters before the change takes effect. The reason is simple arithmetic, not a conspiracy.
How a single meter reading saves £63
Your supplier bills you at the rate that was in force when you used the energy. If you do not submit a reading before 1 October, the supplier will estimate your usage across the rate change. Those estimates often assume you used more at the higher rate than you actually did.
Submit a reading on 30 September. That locks your consumption up to that date at the old, lower rate. Everything after 1 October is billed at the new cap. The difference on a typical 3-bed semi using 12,000 kWh of gas and 2,900 kWh of electricity is exactly £63, the full cap rise.
Ofgem confirmed the figure in its August announcement. The regulator does not send reminders. Your supplier may not either.
Who is protected, and who must act
Households with a working smart meter on the standard tariff are safe. Their meter sends readings automatically every half-hour. No action needed.
Everyone else, about 40% of UK households, according to the latest government data, must submit a manual reading. That means checking the meter, noting the numbers, and entering them on your supplier’s website, app, or phone line.
The catch is that many suppliers make the process deliberately fiddly. Some require you to log in, navigate to a buried page, and type the reading into a small box. Others accept readings only on certain days. If you cannot find the option, call them. The call may take ten minutes. The saving is £63. That is £378 an hour for your time.
Yet consumer group Which? found last year that one in five households never submits a reading. Those households are, in effect, paying a voluntary surcharge.
What this means for your EPC and eco-upgrades
Accurate meter readings do more than stop you overpaying. They give you a precise picture of your annual consumption. That number, in kWh, is the starting point for every eco-home decision.
If you are considering solar panels, you need to know your daytime usage. If you are looking at a heat pump, you need the peak winter load. If you are insulating a loft, you need to measure the before-and-after effect. Estimated bills hide all of that.
The Energy Saving Trust recommends keeping a year’s worth of actual readings before commissioning any major upgrade. Without them, installers guess. Guesses lead to oversizing, undersizing, and wasted money.
One concrete action: after you submit your September reading, set a calendar reminder for the same date every month. Twelve readings later, you have a complete dataset. That dataset is the single most useful document you can hand to an installer or an assessor.
Households on standard variable tariffs can submit readings through their supplier’s portal from now. The critical date is 30 September. Eligibility for the lower rate ends at midnight. Do not assume your supplier will do it for you.
Frequently Asked Questions
No. Smart meters on the standard tariff send automatic readings every 30 minutes. Your supplier will bill you correctly across the price cap change without any action from you.
Your supplier will estimate your usage across the rate change. Those estimates often overstate how much you used at the higher rate, meaning you could pay more than the £63 cap rise. You can still submit a reading after the date, but the supplier may not backdate it.
