MONEY Saving Expert, Martin Lewis, has urged people not to panic if they failed to submit a meter reading yesterday.

From today (April 1), the new energy bill price cap rose by 54 per cent meaning energy prices will rise by as much as £693 a year for millions of households.

One piece of advice given to consumers ahead of the price hike was to submit a meter reading the day before to ensure the didn't end up paying the higher rate for energy used before the price increase.

Financial expert, Martin Lewis has been very vocal about this in the run-up to today.

Yesterday he Tweeted: “Thurs 31 Mar is energy #MeterReadingDay So firms can't assign some of your current usage to April when rates are c54% higher.

“Not smart meter? Send a reading (later in the day the better)

“Smart or prepay meter? Just take a meter pic for safety (in case of dispute)”

In a later Tweet he added this advice does not apply to people in Northern Ireland, people who are on fixes, and others on the no price cap.

Gareth Kloet, energy spokesperson at GoCompare also urged billpayers to get their meter readings in.

He said: “The cost-of-living crisis is hitting everyone. So if there’s a way to shave money off your bills this April, we would urge all bill payers to take both gas and electricity meter readings on March 31 and make sure you submit these to your supplier.”

Energy firms unable to cope with meter readings surge

Despite the expected surge in people submitting readings yesterday, many energy companies failed to cope with the demand meaning customers were unable to submit their readings.

Martin Lewis has since urged people not to panic and advised getting readings submitted as soon as possible.

In a statement via social media he added: “Many still worried as they've been unable to do a meter reading.  Don't worry if you have the reading from yesterday (or even just get it today) you normally have up to a week to submit it.”