Energy company E.On has blamed the Money Saving Expert Martin Lewis for the industry-wide website crashes that are occurring ahead of the energy price cap increase tomorrow. E.On's said on Twitter that 'Martin has once again created unprecedented demand bringing down Britain'.'
Customers are rushing to submit meter readings before Friday’s price jump. The issues – which appeared to be an industry-wide problem – as experts urged householders to submit meter readings for gas and electricity to their supplier on Thursday to show exactly how much energy they have used ahead of Ofgem’s price cap increasing from April 1.
This will prevent firms from estimating usage and potentially charging for energy used before April 1 at the higher rate.
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Responding to a customer's query on Twitter, E.On's official account, @eon_next, wrote: "Unfortunately the website and phone lines of every supplier are being hammered today. Martin has once again created unprecedented demand bringing down Britain. If you respond to our private message providing the details requested then we can assist you."
It isn't the first time the energy firm have accused Martin Lewis of 'bringing down Britain' either. In a previous Tweet, replying to social media user @brucedaisly, they replied: "Hi Bruce, Martin has once again created unprecedented demand bringing down Britain.
"But don't worry, we can take your readings here and get them recorded for you. Just contact us by private message and we'll sort it for you."
The energy firm appear to be facing issues with letting customers log in to their accounts, while customers of So Energy reported that they were unable to either log in or get through on customer helplines. According to Downdetector, the E.ON, Scottish Power, British Gas and SSE have all gone down.
Martin Lewis has since retweeted a post from Twitter user @ruthamydavidson, who tagged the Money Saving Expert and said: "The cheek of them blaming it on you!" accompanied by a red angry face emoji and a screenshot of the Tweet from E.On.
Others have also come forward to defend him online, with @mikejjennings tweeting: "I was going to go on and do a meter reading today but it's looking like that'll be pretty difficult. And @eon_next blaming Martin Lewis for the fact that their website isn't able to cope with demand? State of it".
Twitter user @DanJ_89 shared a screenshot of a Facebook post showing E.On asking customers to send their metre readings by 31 March. He added: "But harsh to blame this on @MartinSLewis when you were encouraging the same, no?"
Meanwhile @samvfood tweeted: "This is appalling blame shifting from @eon_next towards @MartinSLewis, who's definitely not the one 'bringing down Britain'. Also, how can he have created unprecedented demand ONCE AGAIN? It's either unprecedented or not. Embarrassing stuff. #CostOfLivingCrisis #MeterReadingDay".
The Manchester Evening News has contacted both Martin Lewis and E.On Energy for comment.
Households will see the biggest rise in the cost of energy in living memory from Friday when bills increase by 54%, or almost £700, to just under £2,000 a year. Gillian Cooper, head of energy policy at Citizens Advice, said: “We’d recommend sending meter readings to your supplier ahead of the price cap rise on 1 April. This means your energy company will have an accurate picture of your usage before higher rates come in.
