Dear Moral Money,

I am worried about my energy bills. I came off a fixed-rate tariff in January and my costs jumped by hundreds of pounds. This week, I received a letter from my supplier informing me that from April they will go up significantly more. I’m already worried about inflation, my savings are earning no interest, and my investments have taken a hit this week.

Luckily, I have so far resisted my supplier’s offer to fit a smart meter. With this in mind, would it be a terrible idea to exaggerate my meter reading when I submit it this month? That way, I can catch up to my inflated reading later when energy is more expensive, but I will be charged for it now at today’s rate. 

I doubt there is anything my supplier could really do to find out, except for physically sending someone round to check. Is it worth the risk?

DM, via email 

You are not alone in worrying about the cost of living. Rising bills, taxes and prices are hitting everybody – and as you mentioned, a particularly nasty spike is coming next month. 

However, by knowingly deceiving your energy company you will not only be committing fraud, but could make your financial situation much worse.

You would probably get away with it if you inflated your usage a little, but a big leap is likely to arouse suspicion. Your supplier could send somebody round the check your meter if they thought you were being dishonest. 

In normal times, inflating your meter reading would be an unusual thing to do, but with the incoming energy price cap rise so well publicised, firms could be on the lookout exactly for this type of behaviour. 

Even if you get away with it, your action could lead to further issues down the line. If you fail to supply regular readings, your firm will model your usage on how much it thinks you are using. 

If it thinks you are using much more than usual, your bills could go up dramatically next month, just as costs skyrocket. This will work itself out in the end, but your firm could increase your direct debit in the meantime, leading to greater outgoings just as the cost of everything else is rising.

To avoid this, and to avoid arousing suspicion, you would have to inflate your usage by an amount that probably isn’t going to make much of a difference to your bills, and certainly is not worth committing fraud over.

The best thing to do is stay on your standard variable tariff until fixed rate deals come back down in price. In the meantime, keeping an eye on your energy use throughout the day, like most people will be doing, should help offset some of the cost increase.

What do you think? Let us know in the comments section below and by emailing moralmoney@telegraph.co.uk.

You can also put any question to us (and anonymously) by using the email address above.