[Lee_EONNext]

Hey Community

I was looking at this section and I thought 🤔

What can we do to make things not so much clearer however more accessible? What I want to try and do with this section given the time of year ❄

Lets make sure we have our house in order, almost like an index, with a brief description of what and why this could help you or someone you know.

This section is so important and something super important to us at Eon Next, especially on our Community which you can see from @DebF_EONNext recent post about our award for Collections and Vulnerability awards 2024 👏👏👏👏👏

Things can easily get missed and people could miss something on another post that could help & before you know it, we;re down a rabbit hole of information 🤗

First up...

The Priority Services Register

Most of us know about the PSR don't we? We will touch on this either way because this is incredibly important.

This is something we should be checking on a regular basis with our customers. The PSR is very important, it's something we should always be checking and keeping up-to date. If you're already on the PSR, you can expect our customer service teams to double check we have everything recorded, or if there has been any changes, equally, if you're not on the PSR and have a vulnerability, disability or illness - It's important to let us know, more below.

To read more on the PSR, check out this thread by @Connor_EONNext - The Priority Services Register

If you need anything related to the PSR pop us a message below and we will make sure you have accurate information.

Next up - The Winter Support Scheme 2024

This is where we start to talk about support, there are lots of things and processes in place to allow us to support our customers. This post from @HelenaP_EONNext talks about the The Winter Support Scheme 2024 in full details, from eligibility and what to expect. A couple of points from the post,

• A credit of £250 on the account to help customers with their energy bills this winter.
• Customers may also be eligible to receive additional financial support, such as debt relief which will be assessed, customer to customer basis with our Affordability and Vulnerability team

We have a process in place that if you're struggling we can help by getting you to our Affordability and Vulnerability experts who can assess things in more detail. The nature of this conversation is quite in depth and this is why we have a specific department for it. Initially, customer service will assist with what needs to be done, once completed, the Affordability & Vulnerability team will take over. If you do end up completing budget forms and being sent referrals to Pay-link, please don't be alarmed, it's something we need to do in order to make sure you get the best help.

Payments & Ability to pay conversations

This links on from the paragraph above. Now we have another post from @HelenaP_EONNext about Changes to your DD - How can we help? The post here goes into depth about most things around how your Direct Debit is calculated etc and how we can arrange plans if there is a debit balance and you need help or support.

I want to go into some details here about the type of conversations you may have or can expect with our customer services teams

Now if you're to contact us and advise 'My DD has gone up, it's too much' or if there is a debit balance on the account our customer service teams will be prompted into having this conversation. A couple things in the post from Helena above, is that we can now only spread debt balances over 12 months now, within our customer service teams

To reiterate, the Affordability & Vulnerability team operates under different parameters, there is a process to which our customer service teams need to follow before we can get you to these specialised humans! The guys in that team are amazing at what they do! I've had the pleasure of shadowing some of them over the last 6 weeks and I can honestly say they really do great things for our customers.

The first step...

Let's say you contact us to amend your Direct Debit with a debit balance on your account.

• We will offer to spread the debt over a maximum period of 12 months adding your monthly usage to the Direct Debit.
• The Energy Specialist will discuss filling in an income and expenditure form. We can send these to you to complete in your own time.
• Potentially a ending a referral to Step Change
• A Paylink Eon Next referral

I understand some customers feel these documents & conversations may feel intrusive, which we appreciate however it really does help us to help you and get you that support needed.

If you have a debit balance and wish to have the debt spread over more than 12 months, this is where we will ask you to complete certain documents so that these can be assessed by our Affordability & Vulnerability Team. Once these referrals are picked up, the Affordability and Vulnerability team will do everything within their power to help you and get you some support 🤗

If these referrals are not completed then the customer services teams will only be able to offer you the debt spread over 12 months. This will mean the direct debit will be for your current usage and the debt on the account.

There is absolutely no judgement here, we're humans here and I know if it was me at the end of the phone I would do everything possible to help someone. We have lots of amazing people here at Eon Next and my colleagues will do everything they can for people where possible. I like to think, there is always something we can do 💪

You also have Citizens Advice who you can contact for help if needed. Have a look on the post above, there are lots of links that cover a ton of support things that are in place for customers.

Warm Home Discount 2024/2025

There isn't much to say here that isn't on this post from @HelenaP_EONNext so here is the link and if you need some help with WHD 24/25 pop us a tag below and we will of course assist - Warm Home Discount 2024/25

Who knows about Charis?

As we enter winter it can be challenging for our most vulnerable people. Did you know thhat Caharis offer a winter warmth bundle? Check this post from Anasa_EONNext Charis Shop - Winter Warmth bundles

We also have the Great British Insulation scheme The Great British Insulation Scheme about insulation from Cavity Wall to loft to underfloor. You can check your eligibility and apply for the scheme here - Apply Here should take about 10 minutes to apply.

This thread will be updated as we go through the next couple of months, so please do keep an eye on it. Its a trial for me as we haven't posted a thread that we collate all the important things in a section and then put them in one place, we've got content that touches on lots of things that link in, however I wanted to highlight the process linked to Affordability and Vulnerability and try to ease any concerns that people may have. If we could do anything different, please do let me know in the comments and we will of course take on any feedback provided.

That's it from me, if you need anything or want to discuss anything above please comment below and we will get back to you as soon as possible.

Final thought from me...

Please do reach out to us if you need some support, we will be more than happy to do our best to help you 🙂

Take Care Everyone ❤