Beware of E.On's Age Concern tariff . . .

Itsme78

My home is currently supplied by E.On. I have just used Martin's recommended gas/electricity comparison website and found, to my considerable surprise, that I could save almost £200 per annum just by staying with E.On but switching from their Age Concern tariff to their FixOnline 8 tariff! And it was dead easy to do, as well.

So whatever you do, don't use their so-called Age Concern tariff! It's a nice name, but it demonstrates absolutely no concern at all for older users! Switch and save, folks, switch and save!

KimYeovil

Why does that surprise you? Since when have products marketed to the elderly been decently priced? Can you name a single one? If you think fuel tariffs are overpriced wait until you receive DVD boxsets leaflets.

Premier_2

E.ON Age Concern is available to anyone over 18. However, if you are over 60 you will qualify for the following extra benefits: cold weather rebates for gas customers, two energy saving light bulbs, a card hypothermia thermometer, Carbon Monoxide Alarm worth £20 (giving an audible warning if the deadly gas is detected in the room), voucher to claim a free personal computer Powerdown worth £12 and a Leaflet regarding free or discounted loft and cavity wall insulation.

You however don't get any of this with fix online v.8. Instead you've decided to fix your rates until 1st July 2011, which is quite a risk in a market of generally falling prices in the short term. (but you can get out of the contract for a measly £10)

You also probably have agreed to manage your account online which provides an almost 20% saving reflecting the lower cost of processing your account. Despite the abundance of 'silver surfers' there are also a huge number of elderly who don't even know how to turn a computer on, and have no desire to learn now.

Cardew

Welcome to the forum:

I wrote this over 5 years ago(when E-on were Powergen)

Someone I know received a letter and brochure from Age Concern Energy Services explaining that Age Concern had teamed up with Powergen to provide a Gas and Electricity Package.

The letter and brochure were couched in terms that imply these are special prices that are only available for the elderly. There is a ‘package’ of additional benefits of bulbs, carbon monoxide detectors and a hypothermia thermometer as well as “2 hours free gas fire heating per day”.

The claimed savings were up to £78 per year.

Anyone who wishes to find out the exact details and tariff can ring the number Age Concern give out - 0800 015 2491. Powergen will answer.

On checking I found the tariffs to be some of the highest on the market(there are sufficient experts on this site to confirm my findings) and, as the Powergen operator conceded, considerably higher than other schemes Powergen themselves operate.

I wrote to Age Concern objecting to the wording of the literature which led the less well informed to believe that Age Concern had negotiated with Powergen an unbeatable deal for the elderly. The truth being that there are a host of cheaper schemes available.

The reply from Age Concern I consider to be one of most disingenuous I have seen from a Charity. A few extracts are:

]"The £78 savings are against British Gas quarterly cash/cheque unrestricted dual fuel tariff for 20,500kWh gas and 3,300kWh electricity. Savings include VAT and may vary according to payment method, region and consumption."

"The Cold Weather Payment for 2 extra hours of gas fire heating was (the princely sum of) £9.66 including VAT for the whole of 2004"

"At no time have we claimed that Age Concern Energy Services is the lowest price deal."

Perhaps most telling of all was the statement:

]"In addition, for every customer who switches to the Age Concern Energy Services scheme, Powergen will make an annual contribution to Age Concern to support our charitable work."

I for one am extremely disappointed that a respected charitable organisation would lend their name to a cynical marketing exercise by Powergen. I have no idea how much Powergen contribute to Age Concern’s coffers, but any monies surely come from the excess profits they make from the pensioners Age Concern are committed to help.

gemstars

KimYeovil wrote: »

Why does that surprise you? Since when have products marketed to the elderly been decently priced? Can you name a single one? If you think fuel tariffs are overpriced wait until you receive DVD boxsets leaflets.

Bus passes

Former_E.ON_Company_Representative:_Malc

Hi Itsme

Our Age Concern tariffs are not primarily about price. Rather, they are designed to help older customers with their energy needs by providing a package of services particularly aimed at this group of people.

You are absolutely correct about our online tariffs being cheaper than Age Concern. However, as Premier says and our research confirms, a large majority of people aged 60 and above don't have access to the internet.

There also tends to be a reluctance among some older customers to set up Direct Debits.

The Age Concern arrangement is an attempt to provide a tariff to this group of people offering benefits not generally available with our other products.

For instance, there are cold weather payments for dual fuel or gas only customers aged 60 and over; a dedicated customer helpline; no gas IGT charges; various free energy saving products; and help with reducing bills through energy efficiency advice.

A lot of older customers are not necessarily high users. Therefore, the Age Concern product has a lower primary threshold than our standard tariff. This charges the first 900 kWh of electricity and 2680 kWh of gas at a lower unit price than on the standard product.

I'm sure these benefits are outweighed by the discounts available online but it is an attempt to provide some advantages to a group of customers who would otherwise lose out.

It's great you are able to take advantage of the online deals but not everyone has the necessary wherewithal. The Age Concern tariff hopefully provides a few benefits to this group of people.

I fully understand your surprise at the savings you can make online but hope this helps explain the background to the Age Concern tariff. Give me a shout if you need any more info as will be happy to help.

Malc

xdaisyx

I'd just like to comment on this...my parents, both over 70 are on the age concern tariff, they have recently had to move into a bungalow and i've had to deal with all their change overs and paperwork...calling Eon on their Age Concern line is a breath of fresh air!!

No computers answering, no press 1 for this and 2 for that, you actually get straight through to a REAL person straight away, and every person i have spoken to there have been very helpful, easy to understand and cheerful, for this reason alone i would recommend paying the extra to my parents, in fact if I was eligible I'd switch myself lol

Former_E.ON_Company_Representative:_Malc

Hi xdaisyx

Really pleased you are happy with the service you received and many thanks for taking the time to post. :T

I'll pass your comments on.

Malc

tisch28

I am currently on the "Age Concern 2" tariff with EON although I am not over 60 (by quite a long way!). I was contacted by EON who are my provider and told that they had a tariff designed for very low users and that I fell into that category. I was told not to be put off by the fact that the tariff is called "age concern" by the EON employee but that it is simply often the older customer who use so little energy/live alone etc. They suggested I switch as it would be the best deal for my usage. And so I switched. This was probably 18 months or more ago and I have remained on this tariff ever since. I am not in a position to go to another supplier as I rent my property and the landlord fixes who the gas and electricity suppliers are, however I've been really pleased with EON for coming to me with this cheaper tariff for a moneysaver like me who barely has the heating on! I got sent some free energy saving lightbulbs when I changed to the tariff and currently only pay £9 per month for gas and £19 for my leccy.

I have had extremely positive experiences with EON - polite on the phone and eager to help (see above!). I manage the account through direct debits online and have paperless bills all of which suits me very much. They have voluntarily lowered my direct debit amount if I've begun to accrue large credits or make lump payments back to me in May without me asking. I've had regular reductions in the price of gas units in line with the prices falling and I have absolutely no complaints about them.

I guess like every tariff with every supplier there's no way to say "this is the best deal for everyone" or indeed "beware of this tariff, it's a bad deal", it depends who you are and what your usage is whether or not something is a good deal. Best advice for everyone is to shop around and find the best for them but I for one have been very pleased on this tariff and love the fact EON came to me with the best deal

Former_E.ON_Company_Representative:_Malc

tisch28 wrote: »

I am currently on the "Age Concern 2" tariff with EON although I am not over 60 (by quite a long way!). It's very curious - I was contacted by EON who are my provider and told that they had a tariff designed for very low users and that I fell into that category. I was told not to be put off by the fact that the tariff is called "age concern" by the EON employee but that it is simply often the older customer who use so little energy/live alone etc. They suggested I switch as it would be the best deal for my usage. And so I switched. This was probably 18 months or more ago and I have remained on this tariff ever since.

I feel fairly uneasy about it as all of the terms and conditions I can find for this tariff suggest that it is indeed reserved for the over 60s - I wonder if a mistake was made in putting me onto this special tarif in th first place?

Can anyone shed any light on this - anyone had a similar experience?

As an aside about EON I have had extremely positive experiences with them - polite on the phone and eager to help (see above!). I manage the account through direct debits online and have paperless bills all of which suits me very much. They have voluntarily lowered my direct debit amount if I've begun to accrue large credits or make lump payments back to me in May without me asking. I've had regular reductions in the price of gas units in line with the prices falling and I have absolutely no complaints about them.

Hi tisch

Don't worry, there hasn't been a mistake.

The Age Concern tariffs are available to all customers regardless of their age.

Our agent was quite correct, in that, these tariffs generally benefit very low users. This is because the first tier or primary unit rates are lower than our standard product.

However, people over 60 do not receive some of the other benefits our more senior customers receive.

For instance, there are additional cold weather payments for customers over 60 who take gas on this tariff. I'm afraid, as you are under the qualifying age, you will not receive this payment. It will go, instead, to Age Concern as a charitable donation.

Many thanks, too, for the kind comments about the service you have received. They are very much appreciated. :T

Hope this puts your mind at rest. Give me a shout if you need any more info as will be happy to help.

Malc