[Connor_EONNext]

Hello 👋

It's that time of the year again when we’re creeping up towards those winter months.
During this time we see people go off supply more often.

When we say off supply we mean there is no gas or electricity coming into the property

. This could be for a number of reasons. The first question to ask is… Have you topped up your meter? Or maybe you’ve topped up but it’s not gone through? Is there a power cut?

Below are some other reasons you may go off supply...

If you’re off supply, below are a few things to check before getting in touch…

Gas:

Could it be a gas leak?

If you can you smell gas it’s important to follow these steps:

• DON'T use ANY appliances, light, touch switches or light a flame
• Open your windows and ventilate the property
• If the meter is in a basement DO NOT enter the basement
• If the meter is elsewhere, switch off the gas by turning the tap on the meter 90 degrees.
• Leave the property and stay in a safe space
• Call 0800 111 999 and a gas safe engineer will be sent to the property.

Is it a boiler issue?

Check that it isn’t an issue with your boiler. Make sure to check all of your gas appliances such as cooker, hot water, heating and anything else that uses gas. If you have gas coming into the property and it is a boiler issue, you will need to contact your own gas safe engineer or the company that services your boiler.

Has your prepayment meter self disconnected?

Please check that you have credit on your meter, have you topped up recently, if not then please top up. It is important to ensure that you still top up during the summer months even if your gas isn’t being used as you will still incur standing charges and any debt on the meter will still need to be paid. If your meter hasn’t been topped up for a longer period of time then all of these charges will be taken as soon as you top up.

If you are off supply as you’re struggling to top up your meter due to financial difficulties please contact our energy specialists who will be able to provide further support.

Is there any error code showing on the meter?

If you are off supply and there is an error code showing on the meter then please contact our energy specialists and let them know what code you are seeing.

If you go off supply with gas it is really important to do these checks first. If it is deemed that it is an emergency then we will try to arrange an emergency engineer. Please note that priority will be given to those that are most vulnerable.

If you have a medical condition or a health condition that you feel we should know about then please let us know as you may be entitled to be added to the Priority Services Register (PSR) you can find out more about the PSR by visting our blog post: What is the Priority Services Register

Electricity:

Is it a power cut?

It is important to check with your neighbours to see if others have been affected. If your neighbours are off supply too then this is a power cut. You can call 105 to check or report power cuts. If it is a power cut you should wait for the power to come back on, there is nothing that your supplier can do in this instance.

Is it your fuse box?

Check your fuse box, have any of your switches tripped? If it’s a problem with the fuse box or an appliance is tripping the power supply then you will need to contact your own electrician. We are unable to send an engineer for this.

Is there a red light flashing?

If you are off supply and there is a red light flashing on the meter this could mean there is a supply getting to the property however there is an issue with the meter itself. Contact our energy specialists for support.

Has your prepayment meter self disconnected?

Please check that you have credit on the meter, if not then you should top up. Your meter will have friendly hours (if you run out of credit during this time your meter will not disconnect) and emergency credit, if you use electricity during friendly hours or use your emergency credit this will be taken off of your next top up, so please keep this in mind as you may need to top up more to cover this.

If you’ve followed all of the steps above and are still off supply then you should contact our energy specialists to arrange an engineer. Remember to let the Enery Specialist know exactly what you’ve checked to help speed things up. Below is a list of question that they will ask so being prepared will help get you sorted as quickly as possible.

What next...

If an engineer needs to be called you’ll be asked some questions to pass off to the ECO team. It may be helpful to have your answers already prepared for the energy specialists:

ECO Questions:

• Will someone over the age of 18 be at the property?
• What is the best contact number for the engineer to contact?
• Where is your meter located and is this less than 6ft of the ground with easy access?
• Are there any vulnerabilities the engineer needs to be aware of? i.e something that may mean you need a little longer to answer the door
• Are there any young children under 5 or elderly in the property?
• Where can the engineer park, are there any parking restrictions such as paid parking, permits, gated access or road works to be aware of? If so, where should the engineer park?
• Does anyone in the property current display COVID symptoms or has anyone had any COVID diagnosis in the past 14 days?
• Any pets in the property such as large dogs or cats that the engineer needs to be aware of? Any pets will need to be out of the way for the engineer to work.

One of the questions that was asked a lot from last years post was..

'This is all well and good but it's not easy trying to get hold of an Energy Specialist..😞'

Well we've been working hard in the background ensuring all of our Energy Specialist have been up skilled and are ready to help with any queries you may have! 🌟

And we'll be here on the Community as always to let you know if there any known issues and will be there to guide you through any next steps you'll need to take.😊

[JoeSoap]

@Connor_EONNext

As this helpful post is highlighted as a Featured Content, I though I'd reply so as to remove it from the Questions to Answer ticker that catches our attention when someone needs help. Hope you don't mind. I think there might be a way the other Nexties use when posting things that stops the post appearing as a Question to Answer.

[retrotecchie]

@JoeSoap

Nice one Joe👍

Can I also ask the Nexties @Beki_EONNext @HannahD_EONNext @Han_EONNext @DebF_EONNext @Anasa_EONNext @LeeDQ_EONNext @EmmaN_EONNext @Connor_EONNext if any additional resources have been put in place for this winter? Last year we had a spate of prepay meters that were conking out or failing during that particularly cold fortnight we had leading up to Christmas, leaving several folk off supply and/or unable to top up. The out of hours meter emergency team were inundated with cries for help and the amount of traffic we were seeing on the forum related to failed prepayment meters was off the scale.

I hate to think how many people needed RTI codes to attempt to reprogram their meters or keys and the system of trying to get codes onto meters for people less able to get to a shop or Paypoint or trying to send out replacement keys or cards during the postal strikes was a bit of a nightmare as I remember. I certainly put a few long shifts in on here trying to assist and even jumped in the car myself to go to the aid of a few folk who had vulnerabilities or no way of getting to a top-up terminal. Might even be worse this year for some elderly folk round here as they are axing all the local bus services from the end of October!

[Anasa_EONNext]

Hey @retrotecchie Lots of good points there! 😊

We took note of all the issues that happened last year and we've put lots of things in place to prevent this from happening again this year and we're currently up skilling our Energy Specialist so we can all be hands on deck to help our customers out and be more efficient.

We're being as prepped as we can be however it will always be a busy time with emergencies and meters going off supply so I'm sure we'll still see an influx of these customers.

You guys were all amazing last year looking out for as many customers as you could. We'll be sure to pop out any updates or issues on the Community if we need to give our customers the heads up and any extra support that we can offer.

You made a great point when you said you'd hopped in your car to help a few people out and it would also be great just to check on any elderly neighbours as well just to make sure all is well with their supply and if you can help them out where ever possible I for one will be doing the rounds and keeping my eyes out for folk around my end.😊

I think now would also be a great time for anyone with elderley/vulnerable relatives/friends just to make sure that you're named on the account or if you have Power of Attorney or anything like that to get it sent through to us as this will help speed up the process if someone else is best to speak on their behalf 😊

[DebF_EONNext]

I remember @retrotecchie you were an absolute trooper, you showed the true meaning of community spirit and it didn't go unnoticed by us! I'm sad that you had to do this though, that was on us and we have learned from this!

Hopefully we don't have the same issues this time around. We have a dedicated team looking after our prepayment customers this winter who have all been trained like gladiators so🤞we won't have those issues again this year, however if someone does fall through the net we know what to do and will be on hand to support where we can 😀