Financial guru Martin Lewis has urged people not to all submit their meter readings on the same day prior to the hike in energy prices come October 1. Speaking on tonight's, September 22, live Cost of Living special of The Martin Lewis Money Show on ITV, the MoneySavingExpert.com founder told viewers to hold off bombarding energy companies with their info on September 30 - so-called Meter Reading Day.
Instead, the energy expert and financial journalist - who's long advocated that people act promptly to avoid being potentially overcharged - advised readings be spread over a week-long period instead. However, the reason he gave may not have been what the audience, both in studio and at home, was expecting.
"Let's call it Meter Reading Week instead," said Lewis. "Because there's no problem submitting a reading a few days before September 30 - it makes very little tangible difference.
READ MORE: Simple ways households can save £797 on energy bills
"Also, most firms will also let you do it for a few days afterwards and then backdate it." But when quizzed as to why by co-presenter Angellica Bell, he revealed he didn't want to crash the system - again.
"The honest answer is that when I talked about Meter Reading Day back in April (which is when tariffs previously rose) it crashed all (the energy firms') websites and all their phonelines.
"The companies got frustrated and you (the audience) got frustrated. I don't want that to happen again.
"This way makes it easier for everyone and, more importantly, right now there are many vulnerable people trying to call their energy companies for help.
"As a result, I don't want to down all the phone lines. So let's take the pressure off the day and spread it over a week instead," he added.
"It'll be less hassle for everybody if we do it that way." A new series of The Martin Lewis Money Show will begin next month.
Millions of people across the UK are facing a major increase in energy prices as the Government regulator Ofgem confirmed an 80.06% rise in the energy price cap in August, sending the average household's yearly bill from £1,971 to £3,549 from October.
The cap will come into effect for around 24 million households in England, Scotland and Wales on default energy tariffs on October 1, and will remain in place until December 31, when it will be adjusted again. Earlier this month Prime Minister, Liz Truss, in response to this rise announced a £150bn subsidy which will see average household energy bills will be capped at £2,500 for the next two years from October 1 . Read more on that, here.
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