Category: Energy Know How

By Lynn Clarkson, Madiya Shokat and Sharon Smith, The Energy Know How Team

Lynn met a client at Brampton Parish Hall dementia cafe group. The lady has been having problems with British gas. She sent her meter readings to British gas by telephone, however, has not had a bill sent for the past two months and is anxious that she will have a large bill to pay. The lady has spoken to British gas over the phone, however, has still not received a bill. We discussed the client downloading the British gas app to her mobile phone so she can monitor her bills. I confirmed that usually when you send meter reading on the app you usually get a notification that your bill is ready to pay the following day, and you can access the bill and pay online. The lady said that this would help her, and she is to ask her sister to assist her downloading the app on her phone. I gave the lady my contact details and asked her to contact me in a weeks’ time if she is still having problems and I will meet up with her to try and assist further.

By Madiya Shokat, Lynn Clarkson and Sharon Smith, Energy Know How Team

During one of our regular visits to Maltby foodbank I was approached by Mr M. He had an issue with his former energy supplier and wondered whether I could help. I said I would look at the bills and assess them – Mr M agreed to email them to me which he did a few days after. I assessed the multiple bills which were emailed to me from Mr M however I was unable to make sense of the May bill which included all the previous cancellations and re-billing – The September bill clearly re-charged for the standing charges which had previously been refunded.

I emailed Eon a formal complaint detailing my concerns and included a signed consent form from Mr M.

I quite quickly received a response from Eon acknowledging that the bills were confusing however it was their right to correct bills when they had been issued wrong and confirmed that the standing charges had previously been refunded in error and that Mr M should and was now being charged for them.

I suggested that he should not be penalised for an error by Eon staff and that as a gesture of goodwill they should uphold the previous decision to refund them, cancel the £70.00 owing and pay some element of compensation to Mr M.

A few emails were exchanged and Eon offered as a final settlement £130.00 in total payment out of which they would take the outstanding balance and pay Mr M the difference of @ £67.00

I let Mr M make the decision on whether to accept the offer or ask for a deadlock letter and ask the energy ombudsman to rule and he wanted to accept the offer to bring the situation to a quick ending however he did request that his account and personal information be deleted by Eon on conclusion of this matter.

The acceptance and request for deletion of details were conveyed to Eon and Mr M is just waiting for his letter of apology and cheque for the credit balance.

A good outcome that Mr M was happy with.

By Sharon Smith, Lynn Clarkson and Madiya Shokat, Energy Know How Team

Whilst completing paperwork following attendance at a lunch event, a client had asked a question to one of the staff regarding the gas connection at her property. The staff member was not able to answer the question and asked me to speak with client.

She lived with her elderly parents in their home, and which is owned by them. Her father was a miner before he retired. He still gets a fuel allowance which provides them with smokeless fuel on a regular basis free of charge as part of his retirement benefits. They have a fire and back boiler (parkray) which is heated by the smokeless coal and provides the heating and hot water for the property. They have an electric cooker and appliances.

As they were not using any gas the clients’ father requested the energy company to remove the gas supply at the property to prevent a daily standing charge for a service that they did not need and would not use. The service was disconnected at the property boundary many years ago.

The clients’ parents are now quite elderly, and she is thinking about how she would manage when they are no longer around. One of the issues that is worrying her is the gas connection as the fuel allowance would end.

I explained that all gas services are maintained by the gas grid network, and it would be relatively easy to reconnect the gas although it is unlikely to be instant and she may have to wait a little while for the process to be arranged. The process would be arranged by the supplier she chose to go with however there could be a charge for reconnection/testing of the supply. The process would involve digging up the area where it was disconnected to re-connect the pipe and after testing, reinstate the path/driveway that had been disturbed.

This information put her mind at rest, and she is aware that this can be sorted when the time arrives.

She is aware to contact an energy supplier (it does not have to be the one that supplies her electricity although it may be more straightforward if she does) for the process to be arranged.

I gave the client our contact details and explained that when she needs to arrange for her service to be re-connected Rotherfed may not have an energy project in place however, they would be able to signpost her to further support services should she need them.

She was very appreciative of the information and time taken to answer her concerns.

By Sharon Smith, Lynn Clarkson and Madiya Shokat, the Energy Know How Team

A Client got in touch with Madiya from the energy team. Madiya previously met the Ms J* at the Eastwood Village Primary School who wanted some energy advice and she chose to meet at Clifton Learning Partnership as it’s close by to where she lives. She recently moved here to the UK, and she is struggling to understand how her bills work. Ms J bought her bills with her and one of the letters that she was struggling to understand was the breakdown of her bill. Madiya explained to her how much is going towards her electric and how much is going towards her gas. Ms J didn’t realise it will be one bill for both gas and electric in total as a direct debit. Ms J also realised that so far, her gas has been higher than her electric and didn’t understand why. She was asked if she is using her gas more than electric and mentioned she is cooking every day and using her gas for that as well as using the gas to make tea. Ms J was advised to lower this and try to make her tea using the kettle and when making food, see if she can make food that can last a couple of days, to save her using her gas every day. Ms J was also advised of some energy saving tips around the household to help her save on her energy annually. She was offered a green doctor as well which Madiya filled out with them. So, she is aware of the minor draught proofing that will be set out in her property. Ms J was very pleased with the amount of help offered to her.

*name has been changed.

By the Energy Know How Team, Sharon Smith, Lynn Clarkson and Madiya Shokat

I first met client B at a community event close to her home which was organised by our colleagues on the Tenant Involvement Team where they offered refreshments and a chat for attendees. A few days later Miss B called me to ask for help with an energy issue.

Miss B is visually impaired (she is completely blind) and is on the Priority Services Register with her energy provider.

She was very upset and explained that her energy provider had attempted to take over £1300 form her bank account to pay her outstanding electricity bill from her previous address. She has been told that her bills were estimated (she was at the property @ 2 years), and she had accumulated this debt despite paying @ £ 170.00 per month by direct debit.

She does not think her meters were ever read and is unable to read them herself. She thinks her carers may have submitted meter readings using online webchats during the time she was there but as her carers often change, she cannot confirm this with them. She does not recall anyone ever visiting to read the meters as would be expected if someone cannot see the meters themself.

She did not have enough money in her account for this direct debit to be taken and had no prior notification (as she should have had) of the attempt to take payment. She has now cancelled her direct debit to prevent a further attempt to take an unaffordable amount.

She has recently paid a large gas bill for her former home (Feb/March) which was again because of estimated bills – she had to borrow the money to pay this as she was worried someone would come and knock on her door to get it.

She has now received a letter stating that if payment is not made soon, then the amount will be sent to a debt collection agency, and she is extremely worried about this and very anxious.

The letter was NOT in braille, and she has had to wait for someone she trusts to read it to her.

She does receive her bills in braille but has not read anything that has ever suggested she is behind with her payments or that her bills were estimated.

It does not appear that her direct debit payment was ever reviewed (as it should be at least annually) and to the best of her knowledge she was paying what was requested and when it was requested – this bill on moving home has come as a significant shock to her.

As she has not received anything to suggest she was falling behind with her payments and due to the failure to read her meters due to her visual impairment, I suggested it would be worth making a complaint to her energy company and I agreed to help with this due to the circumstances.

The clients written consent to act on her behalf was obtained and a formal complaint has been submitted on her behalf – we are awaiting contact from the energy company.