Reading an energy bill, whether it's for gas, electric, or water, can be difficult at the best of times. With 62 different energy suppliers supplying the UK today, there are a huge number of tariffs out there and just as many ways to read and record your bill. If you want to make an educated choice about which supplier is offering the best deal for you, it's important to be able to make sense of all of your bills first.
The meter reading
The meter reading shows the figures which measure how much electricity and gas you've actually used. But, next to this figure, will usually be a letter, either A, C, or E.
A means the reading is your actual meter reading taken when the bill was prepared - this might be the case if you have a smart meter.
C means you provided the meter reading yourself, so it should be accurate if you provided the correct information.
E means that no meter reading has been provided, so an estimate has been used.
If your bill has an 'E' next to it, it's worth checking your meter to make sure your supplier isn't overestimating your energy use and thus charging you too much. Likewise, an underestimate is worth chasing up because you don't want to have to pay a huge bill when your supplier does get a correct reading.
The tariff and the TCR
The name of your tariff will come in handy if you decide to switch, and the TCR - tariff comparison rate - gives you information about how much money you actually pay per unit of energy after all charges have been taken into account. This is the most useful part of your bill if you want to compare your current tariff to others.
Energy use
Your bill should provide information about how much actual gas and electricity you've used during this period. You might want to keep this information to compare with previous years, to make sure your energy use isn't creeping up unnecessarily.
MPAN and MPRN
If you want to switch suppliers, you might one day need your Meter Point Administration Number (MPAN) for your electricity and Meter Point Reference Number (MPRN) for your gas. The MPAN should start with an 'S' and have 21 digits, while the MPRN is just a simple 10 digit number.
What next?
Now that you know how to fully understand everything on your energy bills, you can make an informed decision about whether your current supplier is offering you the best rates. Compare your TCR to other tariffs and consider switching to a fixed rate tariff if you're currently on a variable rate, which often works out more expensive.
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