When should I send a meter reading?
If you've got a traditional meter, or a smart meter that's in 'dumb' mode, we recommend sending in a reading every month – or if not, as often as you can.
If you have a smart meter that we're connected to, you don't need to worry about sending us readings as we can take these automatically.
When you give us meter readings, we can see how much energy you've really used, and base your bills on that instead of estimating how much you've used. As well as making your bills more accurate, regular meter readings give us a clear picture of your energy use over time, which makes our forecasts of your payments and energy costs much more accurate as well.
It's also a good idea - if you don't have a connected smart meter - to send us a meter reading when your tariff is changing. This ensures any usage you're billed for is completely accurate.
If you're a Flexible Octopus customer, you'll be notified ahead of time when your prices will change. If you want a completely accurate bill, you're best to submit a reading on - or close to - the date your prices change. For example, if your tariff is changing on April 2nd, submit a reading sometime on the 2nd.
However, if you aren't able to provide a reading: don't panic! No one will be massively disadvantaged if they can't send us one. Octopus will still need a reading for that date, but we'll estimate one from your last meter reading instead. This will probably only be a few units off what the actual reading is, if you were able to provide it.