New offer for Elderly Customers with fuel allowance

.BrianJM

number_1 wrote: »

The injustice here is that ESB EI customers are not paid the allowance directly, with them then paying their electricity bills with that money.

I think many people would prefer some peace of mind by knowing that standard charges, levies and at least 400 units are taken care of every two months?
~~~

Customers who attempt to be frugal with their money are then punished for trying to save money by having a reduction in their allowance, possibly eliminating all the savings they made and giving them no incentive to try and save money in the first place!!

The allowance is for standard charges, levies and 2,400 units per year.

It has not been reduced.

Priori

Catalpa1 wrote:

I do some voluntary work with a charity and can tell you of some elderly in particular who moved straight back to ESB and others who when they were told that the allowance would not appear on their bill said thanks but no thanks.

Auld-Yin wrote: »

I think many people would prefer some peace of mind by knowing that standard charges, levies and at least 400 units are taken care of every two months?

+1

ESB presumably incorporate the FEA into the bill to keep customers happy; they appear to know old folk pretty well! My nan for one would be very distressed if her FEA wasn't clearly visible on the bill.

chasm

i think before anyone rushes off to a different provider they should be aware that the money being paid into your account is not as great as it sounds, and you would need to look into it a bit more.

The allowance paid to customers into their bank account is €525.60 per year, the problem is this covers "NORMAL standing charges" ie urban, so if you are on a higher standing charge, like my parents, who live in the sticks you would not be making a gain at all, as i doubt the overall saving on unit price would cover the additional amount needed to pay the difference in the standing charge. It may be worth checking this out before changing provider on the assumption that you are making a few euros

I don't think it is an injustice that ESB EI customers are not paid the allowance directly, if anything i think the Govt need to get their act together and all providers should be paid directly. The allowance is for 2400 units, normal standing charge and pso levy, and if their is a saving to be made on the cost of electricity i feel that saving should be made on behalf of the govt as it is the govt that is footing the bulk of the bill. I don't believe anyone should be making money out of the allowance, the govt should only be paying what is being charged imo.

Delta2113

"We are making good progress on resolving this and hope to have it up and running in the coming weeks." - David 15/04/11

You still cant switch online for FEA Customer's.

EI: Una

Hi Delta2113,

The reason FEA customers are required to sign up for reduced price plans via an ESB Electric Ireland advisor at our contact centre is a technical complexity on our system, so unfortunately it is simply not doable currently via the web.

In order to guarantee any FEA customer maintains their free unit allowance, it is required that an advisor access the customer account to ensure their FEA entitlements remain intact during the price plan change-over, and that they set the customer up in a specific way that avoids the risk of the FEA allowance being removed.

Regards,
Una

Hulahoop09

I had a brief look at your comments and Im just looking to confirm if my interpretation is correct. Is what you are saying is that if someone on FEA switches to a reduced units rate in turn their FEA will be reduced accordingly, so their overall saving will be in the units being charged outside of their allowance being used, which from sept 2011 will be 1800 units? Has this always been the case ie when esb ei charges were lower a few years back the FEA reflected this also?

EI: Una

Hi Hulahoop09

The reduced unit rates of our price plans do not affect the FEA allowance.

Regards
Una

Delta2113

My Mother has switched to a plan - she told me the girl never said supersaver but My Mother kept repeating to the girl so i get 8% plus 4% for direct debit and then extra 2% and she said yes.
The girl said it wont show you a free allowance but it will say special gratis i think she said.
Could a ESB Electric Rep elaborate so when I check her next bill (which will only be online - no problem) I will be able to understand it.

EI: Una

Hi Delta2113

The second page of a FEA bill, towards the end, details the FEA (there are two lines) and there is also a line "Ex gratia payment" referring to whatever discount(s) the customer has availed of.

Regards,
Una

Delta2113

Am I correct in thinking once you register for ESB online you are automatically put on online billing as well?

EI: Una

You would not be automatically registered for online billing, you would need to select it.

Una

Delta2113

Electric Ireland: Una wrote: »

You would not be automatically registered for online billing, you would need to select it.

Una

- Select what?

- However in my first e-mail from EI it said:-


"Please remember: you have chosen to manage your account online and so
you will no longer receive your energy bills by post."

I cant see anything to select and I cant find it saying in a/c details I'm on online billing. I can find the direct debit details and even my meter is in the kitchen but not that i am on online billing.

I just dont want to miss the 2%

Delta2113

How billing works online

Once you sign up to view and pay your bills online, we will discontinue your paper bill and instead email you when your bill has issued and is ready to view online.
The online bill will be an exact copy of the paper bill, and you can file it electronically or print it if required.


www.esb.ie/esbcustomersupply/residential/contact_us/will_i_still_receive_a_paper_bill.jsp

The more I check this out, I think your wrong Una? It's certainly not clear.

EI: Una

Hi Delta2113,

Just to clarify, when you sign up for online billing at home, the discount for online billing (2%) is not automatically added to your account.

Our advisors manually add the discount in our system if it is selected over the phone or if you have switched your entire price plan online, however, if you PM your details I can have this updated for you, or if you prefer you can contact our advisors at 1850 30 50 90.

Apologies for any confusion and I hope this information helps.

Regards,
Una