Eon bill reduction

magicrichard5

Hi guys,

This might help someone save a little bit of money:

Yesterday evening I phoned Eon to ask if I was on the best tariff. They suggested lots of online and direct debit options - none of which appealed to me for various reasons.

However the lady on the phone offered to put me on an "Age concern" tariff, which would apparently work out about £20 cheaper over the year, as the unit rates are lower, they also said that if the temperature drops below 0, they will pay £10.50 into my account. Along with a couple of energy-saving lightbulbs it seemed like a steal - the only thing I had to give was my date of birth - which is nowhere near the target area of Age Concern (I'm 25) - but that didn't matter apparently.

Anyway, temperature is more than likely to drop below 0, so a saving of £30 just for ringing up and asking for it. Of course I rang using their freephone number, found on saynoto0870.com

Just thought i'd share!

E.ON_Company_Representative:_Helena

Hi magicrichard5,

It appears that you may have received some slightly incorrect information regarding the Age Concern tariff, just to clarify,

Customers of any age can have the Age Concern tariff.
Guaranteed minimum Cold Weather payment of £10 for all Age Concern gas customers.
Customers aged 60 or over may receive any additional payment depending upon the number of days the temperature falls below zero between Dec-Feb.
Customers on the Age Concern prices may not receive Tesco points.
4 free low energy light bulbs
Early warning hypothermia thermometer
3 Carbon Monoxide detectors.

Hope this helps.

Helena

magicrichard5

I have a couple of questions then:

1. So is it a lower standard rate per unit or not?

2. "may not receive Tesco points" - does that mean I will, or I won't?!

E.ON_Company_Representative:_Helena

Hi magicrichard5,

Sorry if I wasn't clear

The primary units are cheaper on the Age Concern tariff than the Standard prices, but the secondary units do tend to be a bit more.

This means these prices do work out a bit better for slightly lower uses.

You will not receive any Tesco points when on the Age Concern tariff.

Hope this helps.

Helena

1carminestocky

Could the Eon rep confirm that their aged, vunerable customers on the Age Concern tariff are also not granted any discount whatsoever on their final bill should they switch away?

Genuine supplementary question (genuinely don't know the answer): should the customer pass away, what about the final bill in such a circumstance?

E.ON_Company_Representative:_Helena

Hi carmine,

As you can see, anyone of any age can go on our Age Concern tariff, this is not just for the elderly.

It all depends on the circumstances, if the account is just closed as the customer has decided to change supplier then discount won't be applied, the same as any other tariff.

If a customer moves and takes the E.ON account with them, they won't lose any discount, again the same as other tariffs.

If a customer did pass away, someone else may take over the account as they may not live alone so the account will carry on as normal and there won't be a final bill.

If the customer did live alone and passed away, it all depends on who takes the account over and under what circumstances.

Helena

1carminestocky

So if the deceased person lived alone and the house was sold, the new punter didn't want Eon, would the deceased's final bill include discount or not?


Edit: what you seem to be implying is there IS at least one circumstance where a deceased person's final Eon bill WON'T include any discount. True?

E.ON_Company_Representative:_Helena

Hi,

When a customer dies the account goes in to a deceased tracking, the account is then put in to the name of the executor of the will. When the account is then closed the deceased gets discount as normal. Going forward all usage is then the responsibility of the executor and normal rules apply if the executor decides to change supplier.

If a new resident of the property wants to change supplier this makes no difference as they will have to take on the account to start with, as changing supplier takes around 6 weeks. They will have a new account and can choose the tariff they would like, just as anyone moving in to a new house.

Helena

magicrichard5

Thank you for confirming!

I don't suppose I could have the actual prices to compare then please?

I don;t currently understand primary and secondary units - but i'm prepared to go away and research that!

E.ON_Company_Representative:_Helena

Hi magicrichard5,

I can't put unit costs on here and all of the prices vary depending on the region that you live in, but you can look at them on our website or just give us a call.

For electricity you are charged for 900 kWh at the primary rate per year, this is then broken up in to quarters.

If your bill covers an exact quarter of 91 days you will be charged your first 225 kWh at the primary rate.

Most of the time the bills cover slightly more or less than 91 days and this is why the amount of primary units used per quarter can differ.

Below is the calculation we use to determine your primary units on a statement;

900kWh for the year
Divide this by the number of days in the year 365
Then multiply this by the number of days the bill covers
This will then give you the amount of units that will be charged at the primary rate.

So for example, if your bill covered a 100 day period, you would be charged for 247 units at the primary rate. You will not in any circumstances pay for more than 900kWh in a year period.

Hope this helps.

Helena