[DebF_EONNext]

Hey Community 👋

As most of you will know by now Energy Bill Support Scheme (EBSS) is due to end 31st March you can find out more about how this will affect your bills going forward 👉 here 👈. Although the EBSS payments are stopping the Energy Price Guarantee (EPG) will remain in place you can find out more 👉 here 👈.

There's lots of other support out there to help with the cost of living, we also have support in place to help with your energy bills. Read on to find out what's available...

Warm Home Discount

This is a one off payment for certain customers on a low income to help support with their energy bills. Eligible customers will get a one-off payment of £150.

• Credit customers - This will be a discount on your electricity bill
• Prepayment customers - This will be a post office voucher, when you redeem it will be added directly to your prepayment key
• Smart pay as you go customers - This will be added direct to the meter

It's only available at certain times of the year. If you live in England and Wales and are eligible you will receive this automatically you don't need to apply, however, if you live in Scotland you will need to apply. You can find out more 👉 here 👈

E.ON Next Energy Fund

We can help if you're struggling with your household energy debts by providing a one-off grant to help clear some or in some cases all of your energy debt. We can even help replace your broken or damaged essential appliances such as a fridge, cooker or washing machine etc. This is so important as old appliances might be running the energy a lot quicker than new ones, which means you can end up saving so much energy without even realising it. There is some criteria that you need to meet to apply for the fund, you can find out more about it 👉 here 👈

Payment Plans

If you are struggling to pay your balance or keep up with payments, you can complete an income and expenditure form online through Paylink and we can help support you with a payment plan that suits your needs.

Priority Service Register (PSR)

This is there for customers that might need some additional support this could be for many reasons such as illness, disability, temporary injury, being very elderly or having very young children or other vulnerabilities that mean you need extra help.

It also means that you can receive extra support to manage your account, if there are any planned or unplanned power outages then you will be treated as a priority to ensure that your supply is back up and running. We can also add a chosen password to your account for extra security. Anyone attending your property will use this so you know they are genuine.

If you are on the PSR you may even be eligible for a free gas safety check. You can find out more about the this service 👉 here 👈

Prepayment & SPAYG support

If you are a prepayment or SPAYG customer your electricity meter will have friendly hours, this means that after a certain time in the evening/weekend until the next morning you won't go off supply if you run out of credit out of hours. You will have to pay back anything that you have used in this time and this will be taken from your top up. There are different friendly hours for different prepayment meters so you should contact our energy specialists if you you are unsure of your non disconnection times.

If you are at risk of going off supply as you are unable to top up or you are already off supply and unable to top up (self disconnection), please contact an energy specialist straight away as we can help, there is support available. You should not be left off supply.

Other Support

Money Health Checks - Stepchange offer a free money health check to offer financial support and guidance and help you work out your next steps.

Debt Advice - You can get free independent debt advice accredited by the Financial Conduct authority through Money Advice Trust

Emergency Fuel Support - If you have a prepayment meter but are struggling to pay you could get debt advice and emergency support from the Fuel Bank Foundation to help you get back on your feet.

Home Mobility Aids - Improve your mobility and wellbeing at home with free home mobility aids for eligible customers from Homes for Living

Fuel Poverty - Get help fighting fuel poverty with free resources and advice from National Energy Action.

Your Local Authority may also be able to provide you with further support or advice if you are facing financial difficulties. You can also contact Citizens Advice for a range of things from benefits checks, debt advice to housing advice and referrals. If you need help with food essentials then there are foodbanks to help support with basic essentials. Contact your local Trussel Trust for more information, your Local Authority or Citizens Advice can also support you with this. Turn2us can help you find any grants that may be available to you.

Our customers' well-being is at the top of our priority list and this is why we partnered with a charity called Mind who can support you with the struggles of mental health based on financial situations. Almost 18% of people in the UK suffer with mental health based on financial reasons and we are here to help to break the stigma behind this and support you.

Government Support

It's been announced that the government will be providing extra support to households on certain benefits:

• A £900 payment will be made to more than eight million low-income households who receive Universal Credit, tax credits, pension credit and other means-tested benefits. This is an increase from £650 for the last year. The first payment of £301 will be made in the spring, £300 in the autumn and a final £299 in the spring of 2024.
• 6 million households with disabilities will receive a £150 cost of living payment in the summer (same as 2022).
• 8 million pensioner households will receive £300 (same as 2022) during the winter of 2023-24.
  

Cold Weather Payment - You may get a Cold Weather Payment if you’re getting certain benefits or support for mortgage interest. You’ll get a payment if the average temperature in your area is recorded as, or forecast to be, zero degrees celsius or below over 7 consecutive days. You’ll get £25 for each 7 day period of very cold weather between 1 November 2022 and 31 March 2023. There is a different scheme in place in Scotland you can find out more 👉 here 👈

Child Winter Heating Assistance (Scotland Only)
This is a one off annual payment to help heat the homes of families with Children and young people with disabilities where the child or young person is in receipt of certain benefits. This is an automatic payment and does not need to be applied for you can find out more about this 👉 here 👈

[JoeSoap]

There's certainly lots of help available. Simple things like LED lights help keep energy bills down but are expensive to buy. I have a vague memory of a previous energy supplier sending me a couple of those low energy stick bulbs that looked like a small convoluted fluorescent tube. I bit the bullet last year and replaced almost all of my lighting with LEDs but it cost a small fortune. Some help in that direction would go a long way to help those who are struggling financially.

[retrotecchie]

@JoeSoap

OVO energy sent me a pack of 5 11W compact fluorescents' some twenty years ago now. At the time, LED was not mainstream, but reducing from a 60W incandescent to an 11W cfl shaved a fraction off my bills, but this was when electricity was costing me 6p per kWh and no standing charges.

Lighting is a very small percentage (8 to 11%) of domestic energy use but even a couple of kWh a week saving on lighting helps when prices are so high.

But, go for top end European-made LED lighting, not the cheap Chinese made 'supermarket' stuff. I've not yet found cheap stuff last anywhere near the mooted 10000 hours...it's the poor quality cheap electronics in the power supplies that fail rather than the LED emitters themselves, in my experience. Better to pay a fiver for a Philips bulb that will last 20,000 hours than a £3 Tesco special that possibly won't even make 2000.

[Tommysgirl]

@retrotecchie

British Gas sent me five of those many moons ago too, but with prices much lower back then, as you say, the savings were minimal.

I agree about cheap bulbs from the supermarkets. I never knew the cause of them failing after a short time. Great explanation.

[JoeSoap]

@retrotecchie

I think it was EDF that sent mine. Guess where I bought all my LEDs from... Every Little Helps, as they say 😂. I've had to replace one of the GU10s already 🙄

[DebF_EONNext]

I think this is a great idea @JoeSoap I've passed this up the chain! I also remember getting bulbs from my supplier when I got my very first flat many moons ago 😉

[retrotecchie]

@DebF_EONNext

I'm hoping there isn't anyone out there still using the old fashioned incandescent, except for limited and very specific uses!

Swapping from older CFL to newer LED is still a good call. About a 60% saving in energy👍

[DebF_EONNext]

Originally Posted by retrotecchie

@DebF_EONNext

I'm hoping there isn't anyone out there still using the old fashioned incandescent, except for limited and very specific uses!

Swapping from older CFL to newer LED is still a good call. About a 60% saving in energy👍

We bought some a while back as they were on offer at Sainsbury's for 5p each 😂 They didn't even last a week and cost me about 3x the price to run. I have learned my lesson don't scrimp on the light bulbs!

[JoeSoap]

Originally Posted by DebF_EONNext

... I've passed this up the chain! I also remember getting bulbs from my supplier when I got my very first flat many moons ago 😉

Excellent 👍! @retrotecchie may have a point about it being a bit late. That said, I only bit the bullet less than a year ago and I could afford the hit. Some of those old incandescent bulbs can last a long time and there are still a lot of the bulbs with the halogen capsules out there. If I was struggling to make ends meet I would not have replaced old bulbs that were still shining with LEDs. The dimmable GU10s are really expensive.

[meldrewreborn]

If I can, i write on the bulb when I bought from where and how much. Thin permanent marker is best.

If the bulb fails then you are in a stronger position to get a free replacement. My outside motion activated lamp failed recently and I was able to get it replaced OK.

With some of this stuff it pays to keep records. Ironically the most recent failure on indoor lighting concerned Phillips bulbs - which they promptly replaced.