Do energy companies deal well with dementia? 16 December 2013 at 1:32PM edited 9 January 2014 at 12:42PM in Campaigns corner 6 replies 3.9K views

Former_MSE_Wendy

The Alzheimer’s Society want to understand the problems people with dementia experience with their energy provider.

If you're affected by dementia, or care for someone who is, whether it's poor customer service, lack of staff training or complicated bills and tariffs, please take this quick survey to share your stories and help the society push for change.

Thanks all

MSE Wendy

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Baby_mac

My mother in law was diagnosed with Alzheimer's last year. She has been living in a care home over this last year as she's unable to look after herself anymore. My husband has power of attorney and has been battling over this last year with Eon energy provider as she has a £ 4500 debt with them. Part of that came about from not remembering to pay her bill and so then charges were added to her account and also because she often left her electric cooker on all day and forgot to turn it off. She hasn't got the funds to pay for it as didn't own a home but Eon still keep sending letters despite being told all this.

Ailsa32

My mum was on a contract with talk talk, they phoned her to upgrade her phone package to offer her a broadband package and a free router, unbeknown to my sister and I who had LPA. When it arrived, my sister phoned talk talk to cancel it, they wouldn't talk to her without mums permission, even though we had the LPA, they said it's ok, your mum hasn't been charged so don't worry, it's a free router. My sister explained, mums has Alzheimer's, does not have a computer, does not need internet access, we just want a normal phone line and back to her standard contract. They kept saying, don't worry it's free! Router was returned and as far as we were concerned, normal service was resumed. This was in the November, unfortunately mums Alzheimer's progressed quite rapidly, so she had to go into a home in the following march. When we phoned to cancel the line, we were told this would not be possible as mum was still under contract for a another 12 months! Despite trying to explain, how poorly mum was and that mum would not need a phone, as she would be living in a home. They would not budge. I sent copies of the LPA, to various departments, with copies of letters from the home confirming mum lived there. But nothing, they were insistent the outstanding months on the contract needed to be paid. I spoke to ofcom, who said talk talk were in the right and mum had essentially breached her contract by ending it early! How shocking, it wasn't like she had decided to move to a cheaper provider. Talk talk, (customer services) said if mum had passed away they could have cancelled the contract, without charging us anything. We were so cross, how insensitive, the customer service lady said, "I understand how you feel" I just said "oh really, have you just had to put your mum in a care home?"
We tried to complain again, but they did not care, we sent letters, but they still insisted we paid, so in the end we did
We have discovered, LPA doesn't mean what you think, we have had so many issues with various authorities, banks & utility services, not accepting the LPA, without passports & driving licences being provided, proof of address, proof of authority on bank accounts (copies of statements with addresses). It's hard enough dealing with the devastation that Alzheimer's seems to bring with it, without having to deal with these companies.
These large companies need a serious kick up the backside and a lesson in compassions.

pinmoney

I had similar problems when my mum and dad moved last year. They asked me to sort out their household affairs and despite having POA the majority of utility companies would not talk to me without the account holder's authority. Dad does not understand and process information over the telephone very well, particularly if the telephonist has an accent, talks fast and there is background noise which accounts for most of them. I think it would be a good idea for the companies to have a dedicated department for the elderly, and to be be able to register POAs with a password of some description. The companies should not be allowed to sell to these account holders over the telephone. This would also help when cancelling accounts on death or when problems occur such as in Ailsa32's case.

margaretclare

I think it would be a good idea for the companies to have a dedicated department for the elderly

The question was 'do energy companies deal well with dementia?' NOT 'do energy companies deal well with "the elderly".

Who is going to define who are 'the elderly'? There is now legislation against treating someone less favourably because of age.

We have recently changed our TalkTalk contract and they couldn't have been more helpful. It could be helpful to someone who watches a lot of TV - it's called YouView. Probably wouldn't help if the dementia was advanced, though.

Former_E.ON_Company_Representative:_Malc

Baby_mac wrote: »

My mother in law was diagnosed with Alzheimer's last year. She has been living in a care home over this last year as she's unable to look after herself anymore. My husband has power of attorney and has been battling over this last year with Eon energy provider as she has a £ 4500 debt with them. Part of that came about from not remembering to pay her bill and so then charges were added to her account and also because she often left her electric cooker on all day and forgot to turn it off. She hasn't got the funds to pay for it as didn't own a home but Eon still keep sending letters despite being told all this.

Hi Baby mac

We've a couple of specialist teams who I'm sure will be able to give you more specific help than our general call centres.

If your husband talks to our Vulnerable customer team, they'll be able to look at the outstanding balance and offer advice as to how to handle this going forward.

They specialise in helping customers with chronic conditions like your Mother-in-Laws. If not already, they'll make sure she's on the Priority Services Register. This will open up a number of services that might help.

Fuel Direct may be a possibility, too. This is where a fixed amount is taken each week from benefits by the Department of Work and Pensions. This is then paid to us to help clear the debt.

The relevant Benefits Agency will need to agree to this first but, if all is ok, we'll be able to set the weekly payments at a relatively low level.

Also, in circumstances involving chronic illnesses like Alzheimers, relatives can set up payment arrangements on behalf of a customer.

Either Fuel Direct or a payment arrangement will stop debt follow up.

Our Caring Energy team will be able to help as well. They'll discuss your situation and either offer to help themselves or put you in touch with someone who can.

One thing that comes to mind is help through the Water Trust Funds. Several UK water companies support trust funds that help provide, in certain circumstances, debt relief involving energy arrears.

Not saying they can help here but certainly worth asking the question. Our Caring Energy advisors will be happy to talk to you more about this.

There's further information about many of the above services on our website.

I do understand the anxiety receiving debt letters can cause Baby mac and hope this helps point you in the right direction.

Malc

margaretclare

Thanks for this. I like the definition 'vulnerable customer'.