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Several energy company websites ran into trouble today as thousands of people scramble to submit meter readings. Today, March 31, 2022, has been unofficially labeled “National Meter Reading Day” and it appears energy sites are struggling to keep up with traffic volumes.
Of the energy companies that reported technical difficulties in the “submit a meter reading” sections of their websites, British Gas, EON, EDF Energy, Shell and Scottish Power are among the largest companies that continue to have problems this afternoon – although some customers say they were able to submit their meter readings on mobile apps instead.
According to DownDetector, a UK site which reports that UK services are experiencing problems at some point, customers of British Gas, EON and Scottish Power were among the first to report problems this morning – with hundreds of customers reporting problems at DownDetector from 10:15 a.m.
Read more:Experts urge everyone to check their gas and electricity meters immediately
Martin Lewis has fumed that ‘businesses should have been better prepared’ and that the issues are ‘not good enough’ as people rush to submit readings before April 1.
But people shouldn’t give up if they can’t submit their meter reading today, he said. Instead, they should do it tomorrow or this weekend. “The more you do today, the less likely you are to make estimation errors, so don’t panic about missing it (whether because of your problem or the company’s problem), do -just get in as soon as you can,” he tweeted.
The problems on energy websites come as experts warn UK residents to check their gas and electricity meters and record the readings on the websites of their energy suppliers. This is to prevent companies from estimating usage and potentially charging more than customers have actually used, with energy prices set to rise significantly from tomorrow, April 1.
Experts are also reminding households to send regular meter readings, ideally on the same date each month, directly to their supplier – to prevent them estimating usage each month and potentially overloading it, especially since we are entering the summer months and we generally use less heating. .
Scroll down for the latest updates on which energy provider websites are having issues – and what the companies recommend their customers do: