Age Concern and Eon

System

beardiedog wrote: »

After many years with BG, paying over the odds, quarterly paper bills paid by cheque/cash at the PO, I finally convinced my mum to switch her energy supplier and to pay by monthly DD and switched her onto the E.on Age UK tariff which was the cheapest 1 year fix for her at the time. I then switched her to the E.on collective which saved her a further few hundred quid a year.

I don't feel we were ripped off in any way by E.on/Age UK at the time.

A key point here is that most suppliers exclude collective switches from any form of price alert. IMHO, it would make sense if OFGEM made it a mandatory requirement that suppliers should inform all customers when a cheaper tariff is available. Equally, I would ban the use of the same named tariffs. Why - because not all suppliers show the Version No on their bills which just makes comparisons that much more difficult for those not used to comparison sites.

[Deleted User]

Age UK always seem more expensive whatever they put their logo on.
I have checked energy, car insurance and home insurance and Age UK is always well down the list of competitive quotes.

I went onto the over 60's Eon tariff last September as it then offered the best deal and guaranteed prices for two years but I soon came off it in January when v17 tariff came out and I have switched again to v19 when it came out on Feb 1st.

It pays to ignore some third party offers and look instead at the providers own website as with Eon, although that is not possible if you don't have internet or a computer and such people are then at a disadvantage.

The problem is that older people trust what large organisations tell them rather than finding out for themselves which is what MSE tech-savvy members do.

Cardew

As Ofgem are conducting the investigation, should we have a poll guessing which year the provisional findings will be published?

Former_E.ON_Company_Representative:_Malc

Bluebirdman_of_Alcathays wrote: »

I honestly thought this was common knowledge. Certainly, the energy nerds on here knew that the AgeUK tariff was far from competitive. I've ranted in particular about the StayWarm tariff, which I think was also tied in with AgeUK.


Quite disappointed that it took the Sun newspaper to make this headline stuff!

Just a quick note Bluebirdman. Our old Staywarm tariff had nothing to do with Age UK. Understand why you might think it did as there were certain similarities like age restrictions but Staywarm was a standalone tariff. It was withdrawn a couple of years ago.

Hope this explains.

Malc

Former_E.ON_Company_Representative:_Malc

footyguy wrote: »

I can't remember what happened 10 years ago, but I thought I remember the Age UK tariff was a renamed eon tariff in recent times (but I might be wrong on that).

However looking at the offerings today, the Age UK tariffs appears to be 2 year fixed deals only (hence why they are more expensive than the cheapest possible available, which are typically 1 year deals, but cheaper than SVR tariffs) and they are 'special' as there is no comparative Eon tariff at the same price, and the AgeUK deals are exclusively for those aged over 60.

Hi footyguy

Our Age UK tariffs have always been named as such although, in the early days, it would've been Age Concern. As you say, recently they've all been two year fixed products.

Malc

Richie-from-the-Boro

Cardew wrote: »

As Ofgem are conducting the investigation, should we have a poll guessing which year the provisional findings will be published?

No point .. .. several changes of government will have happens before anyone gets sight of it. It will rank alongside care policy / Heathrow expansion / HS2 / northern powerhouse / radicalisation policy etc. Even if ever it is published it will be obscured / watered / redacted and generally gerrymandered by the ""Minister of putting party political convenience before truth"".

footyguy

E.ON_Company_Representative:_Malc wrote: »

Hi footyguy

Our Age UK tariffs have always been named as such although, in the early days, it would've been Age Concern. As you say, recently they've all been two year fixed products.

Malc

Sorry, my bad wording.

What I meant by "a renamed eon tariff" was that I thought I recalled there was also an identical Eon tariff on offer that matched in every way pricewise the AgeUK tariff (but as I said, I might be wrong on that recollection)

That is certainly not the case today (i.e. no comparative Eon tariff) with the 2 year fixed deals on offer. But I was recalling a time before the Ofgem restrictions on the number of tariffs a supplier could offer came in.

Former_E.ON_Company_Representative:_Malc

Hengus wrote: »

A key point here is that most suppliers exclude collective switches from any form of price alert. IMHO, it would make sense if OFGEM made it a mandatory requirement that suppliers should inform all customers when a cheaper tariff is available. Equally, I would ban the use of the same named tariffs. Why - because not all suppliers show the Version No on their bills which just makes comparisons that much more difficult for those not used to comparison sites.

You're right Hengus. Our Price Alerts don't include Collective Tariffs. This is because they're one off standalone tariffs and no new versions will be released.

Also, as they're not one of our 4 core tariffs, we're not allowed to promote or market them. This includes not being able to put them on our website. Customers need to go through the sites offering them. Recently, though, we have been allowed to let customers know about them through the 'could you pay less' message on their bills. This only applies to collectives that can be signed up to after the auction has taken place and where the tariff is still available. Not great, I know, but it's a start.

Malc

Former_E.ON_Company_Representative:_Malc

footyguy wrote: »

Sorry, my bad wording.

What I meant by "a renamed eon tariff" was that I thought I recalled there was also an identical Eon tariff on offer that matched in every way pricewise the AgeUK tariff (but as I said, I might be wrong on that recollection)

That is certainly not the case today (i.e. no comparative Eon tariff) with the 2 year fixed deals on offer. But I was recalling a time before the Ofgem restrictions on the number of tariffs a supplier could offer came in.

Ah! I see footyguy. Before the new rules, we had a variety of different tariffs. Although some could've been close, particularly in terms of price and duration, I can't remember an identical offer as Age UK/Age Concern tariffs usually had specific characteristics like cold weather payments, carbon monoxide detectors etc. I'm trawling the memory banks here, though, and could be off beam.

As you say, not like that today with 4 core credit tariffs and the occasional collective.

Malc

macman

E.ON_Company_Representative:_Malc wrote: »

You're right Hengus. Our Price Alerts don't include Collective Tariffs. This is because they're one off standalone tariffs and no new versions will be released.

Also, as they're not one of our 4 core tariffs, we're not allowed to promote or market them. This includes not being able to put them on our website. Customers need to go through the sites offering them. Recently, though, we have been allowed to let customers know about them through the 'could you pay less' message on their bills. This only applies to collectives that can be signed up to after the auction has taken place and where the tariff is still available. Not great, I know, but it's a start.

Malc

Which beautifully illustrates the absurdity of OFGEM's doubtless well-meaning but wrong-headed attempt to simplify tariffs and billing for customers. The phrase 'shoot yourself in the foot' comes to mind...