E.on increases energy bills for elderly

[Michael Browne]

Tens of thousands of elderly customers face a rise in their energy bills, after one of the UK's biggest suppliers withdrew a tariff for the over 60s.

 

E.on has announced that it will scrap its StayWarm scheme, which offered fixed-price bills.

 

The firm blamed new rules which limit the number of tariffs that energy companies can offer.

 

The changes are part of the government's plans to cut bills, and have been backed by the Prime Minister.

 

They are being implemented by the regulator, Ofgem, and will limit the total number of tariffs to four per fuel.

 

"Due to new Ofgem rules, which includes limiting the number of tariffs we can offer, the StayWarm tariff will close as current contracts come to an end from October 7th," an E.on spokesperson said.

The customers concerned will be written to, and advised to switch to another tariff.

 

However, if they cannot be contacted, they will be automatically moved to the company's more expensive standard tariff.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-24363796

[MaxxPower]

They can't get away with blaming this one on the government. They could have removed one of their other, more expensive, tariffs instead. Eon chose instead to remove this one.

[citizenB]

I think this might have something to do with Ed Milliband's speech that he will freeze energy prices "When" he gets into government !!

[Michael Browne]

I think this might have something to do with Ed Milliband's speech that he will freeze energy prices "When" he gets into government !!

 

Yes, so E.on thought they'd get in first by freezing pensioners instead.

[citizenB]

Yes, so E.on thought they'd get in first by freezing pensioners instead.

 

That sounds about right !!

[E.ON Company Rep: Malc]

Hi All

 

Thought I'd just confirm, we have decided to close our Staywarm tariff.

 

We've decided it will close as current contracts come to an end from 7 October 13. Staywarm has not been available for customers to switch to since September 12.

 

We'll continue to honour existing contracts with the last customers moving off in October 2014.

 

Unless we're told differently, Staywarm customers will be renewed on to our standard tariff (E.ON Energy Plan). Unlike some other tariffs, our standard plan has no restrictions or tie-ins. This leaves customers free to switch tariff/supplier at any time without penalty.

 

We're trying to contact all customers affected by this decision. We're writing to customers as their contracts end and, where possible, contacting them by phone so we can discuss the options most suitable for their individual needs. We started doing this in August.

 

Hope this is of interest.

 

Malc

[E.ON Company Rep: Malc]

They can't get away with blaming this one on the government. They could have removed one of their other, more expensive, tariffs instead. Eon chose instead to remove this one.

 

Hi MaxxPower

 

As a result of the need to reduce the number of tariffs offered, we've had to make certain decisions that, we believe, are in the best interests of the majority of our customers.

 

We've removed a number of tariffs in recent months. As there's only a small proportion of customers remaining on Staywarm, it was decided to include this product among the tariffs no longer offered.

 

Also, as we continue to offer a tariff exclusively for people aged 60 and over, we're unable to offer Staywarm as well.

 

Hope this explains.

 

Malc

[afc]

Malc.

I am interested in your statement about closing Staywarm that states "we believe, are in the best interests of the majority of our customers" - perhaps you could explain this as as I cannot see how it is in the best interests of the majority of customers - should this not read in the best interests of E.ON and it's shareholders.

I cannot possibly see how it is in the best interests of people that were on this plan as my monthly account has increased by nearly £40 which is certainly not in my interests.

I was always very happy with Staywarm which as a senior citizen gave me peace of mind at a reasonable price and with very good customer service. I have now decided to move from E.ON as I have now found a plan that gives me some peace of mind (not as good as the Staywarm plan) but a fixed rate for 4 years.

Could you not have combined the Staywarm and Age UK Plan rather than just moving people onto a more expensive plan because I see this simply as an opportunity for you to make more money out of the elderly. Why did you not move people on to the Age UK plan rather than your standard tariff?

I would be interested in your comments.

Alan

[mrbigjase]

Why do customers on pre-payment meters have to pay more for their fuel?,doesnt seem fair,and I had to laugh at a postcard from E.on yesterday which said something like 'Save money use less gas',jeeze never thought of that haha!

[Teefenn1]

The headline is misleading because the StayWarm scheme is not the cheapest tariff available anyway. Just as with insurance products and savings accounts that are promoted as 'exclusive to the over 60s/50s they are never the cheapest available on the market. They are designed to deceive this clent group into thinking thay are getting a special deal due their age when in fact they can get lower prices simply by shopping around.

[E.ON Company Rep: Malc]

Malc.

I am interested in your statement about closing Staywarm that states "we believe, are in the best interests of the majority of our customers" - perhaps you could explain this as as I cannot see how it is in the best interests of the majority of customers - should this not read in the best interests of E.ON and it's shareholders.

I cannot possibly see how it is in the best interests of people that were on this plan as my monthly account has increased by nearly £40 which is certainly not in my interests.

I was always very happy with Staywarm which as a senior citizen gave me peace of mind at a reasonable price and with very good customer service. I have now decided to move from E.ON as I have now found a plan that gives me some peace of mind (not as good as the Staywarm plan) but a fixed rate for 4 years.

Could you not have combined the Staywarm and Age UK Plan rather than just moving people onto a more expensive plan because I see this simply as an opportunity for you to make more money out of the elderly. Why did you not move people on to the Age UK plan rather than your standard tariff?

I would be interested in your comments.

Alan

 

Hi Alan

 

Staywarm hasn't been available for customers to switch to for over a year now. Consequently, the number of customers remaining on this product has dwindled significantly. To the extent, that it now forms only a very small proportion of our overall customer base.

 

We've reduced the number of tariffs offered to credit customers to 4. This involved removing several other tariffs from sale.

 

As there are relatively few customers remaining on Staywarm, it was decided this was one of the tariffs that had to go.

 

Although choosing to remove Staywarm has affected some customers, an overwhelming number are unaffected. This is what I meant by the decision 'being in the best interests of the majority of our customers.'

 

Sorry I wasn't clear before Alan but hope this is a better explanation.

 

Malc

[E.ON Company Rep: Malc]

Why do customers on pre-payment meters have to pay more for their fuel?,doesnt seem fair,and I had to laugh at a postcard from E.on yesterday which said something like 'Save money use less gas',jeeze never thought of that haha!

 

Hi mrbigjase

 

The unit prices for our Prepayment customers are a little lower than those for customers with credit meters. Prepayment customers, though, aren't able to take advantage of the discount for paying with a Monthly Direct Debit.

 

Hope this is of interest.

 

Malc

[afc]

Malc,

Thank you for your reply but I don't believe that you have answered my questions fully e.g. combining Staywarm with the Age UK plan and why you automatically moved people on to your standard tariff?

You make it sound like you only had a few customers on this plan but the press have reported that you had many thousands on the plan - would you like to confirm just how many that were on it?

It is interesting to note that nPower have also closed their Warm Home Scheme which was aimed at those on Income Support and I suppose that this was also in the interests of the majority of customers.

Alan

[E.ON Company Rep: Malc]

Hi Alan

 

Sorry not fully answered before.

 

It wasn't possible to combine the two tariffs. Our intention is to show clearly how we've charged for the energy used. This means detailing the usage, daily Standing Charge and price per kWh. Age UK does this but Staywarm didn't.

 

Staywarm customers also had to meet a number of conditions before becoming eligible for the product. As well as age, things like the size of the property, number of occupants and the need to pay with a Monthly Direct Debit came into play. With the AgeUK tariff, apart from age, all the other factors have been stripped away.

 

Our standard tariff is a rolling, non-contracted product with no tie-ins. All our other tariffs, including AgeUK, are contracted products. We're not able to put customers on to a contracted product without talking to them first.

 

We've written to each Staywarm customer to explain the changes and asked them to contact us. In this way, we can help them find our most suitable alternative tariff. If customers don't contact us, where possible, we're calling them to talk about the changes.

 

As above, compared with our other tariffs, the number of customers still on Staywarm is a very small proportion of our overall customer base. I'm not, though, at liberty to post actual numbers on a public forum. This is restricted business information.

 

Similarly, I'm not able to comment about another supplier.

 

Hope this reply is a bit fuller.

 

Malc

[afc]

Malc,

Thanks for your reply and whilst I understand that there may have been some difficulties in combining the two plans I don't think they were unsurmountable and if you had the will to offer a a better plan for the elderly I think that you could have done it. Obviously, now that all the plans are comparable there is no real reason to stay with your company and if you do not have a plan which meets a customers needs they will now move to another provider but I guess that you took that into consideration when you closed the scheme.

I know that when I was on Staywarm no other provider could give me a better deal and the peace of mind about unexpectedly high bills that it gave me was extremely important. I would also guess that you realised that a number of your customers would not change to another provider and just accepted the situation and the new tariff.

Hopefully, you will agree that whilst it may have been in the best interests of many - it was not in the interests of the elderly who will lose out on this change.

Alan

[citizenB]

I guess it would have been to easy to acknowledge that anyone on the StayWarm tariff were elderly people and simply switch them to the most economical tariff available rather than one of the more expensive!

[annabelle22]

My elderly mother now has to pay £101 a month a large increase from the stay warm tariff for a one bed very small terrace house! and the Tariff she is on is not as good as the stay warm she informs me.