What to do if you cannot submit a meter reading on the Shell, British Gas or Eon websites

Energy suppliers including British Gas, E.ON and EDF Energy have had their sites crash today as customers rush to submit their meter readings as the price cap rise kicks in.

The 54% increase in the price cap was announced by energy regulator Ofgem and will mean the average household will see £693 added to their annual energy bills.

Customers have reported issues in logging in to their online accounts when trying to enter meter readings. This comes after advice from Money Saving Expert founder, Martin Lewis, who urged Brits to take a reading on March 31 in order to show their energy provider exactly how much they had been using before prices rise.

Submitting a meter reading before the new prices are applied can prevent suppliers from charging customers extra for energy they used before the price cap rise..

Some sites, such as British Gas, have been appearing as offline and unable to load. EDF has reported high volumes of meter readings being submitted today and suggest that customers enter their reading via an online form, and advise people to only call the firm if they have an urgent query.

SSE is currently not able to let customers log in to their online account, but is offering an option to submit a meter reading via their website.

If you are unable to submit your meter reading due to the high volume of site traffic, then don't panic. Take a photo of your meter reading in case you need to prove to your supplier what the reading was.

Some companies don't need the reading to be submitted today, so check with your provider to see what they are allowing. For example, Octopus Energy is accepting meter readings up to five days after the price cap increase.

Octopus revealed via Twitter that they recommend submitting a reading