E-on Next 25% Discount Winter Support Scheme

Hatti_e

thanks all
I will call them as it is nothing to do with debt, my account is always in credit, I dont have a smart meter, it is possibly something around health vulnerability, I just dont want to be in a tariff that in the long run will cost me more money.  

Chrysalis

I think we got sidetracked a bit, its a good offer, I would accept it, its designed to save you money as you have been identified as one of their vulnerable customers.

sunnyhampshire

i was meant to get a smart meter today but the fitter refused as he said he could not safely do the work and has sent a report saying a smart meter cannot be fitted

i mentioned this scheme as have been eligible for the warm home discount for the last 10yrs but they said if i was eligible they would contact me but couldnt say how

im guessing even if they did contact me now i cant have a smart meter so would not be allowed on the scheme

i do think its unfair how you can get 50% off and have your debt wiped though it does not encourage someone to pay their bill but i guess some getting a rate 25% cheaper is not fair either

it would be good if they could treat all customers the same without gimmicks it must cost maybe bring standing charges down for all would be a good start

MultiFuelBurner

As I understand it Eon Next are doing this off their own backs so selection and how they run it is up to them. So good luck for some and status quo for everyone else.

Spoonie_Turtle

MultiFuelBurner said:

As I understand it Eon Next are doing this off their own backs so selection and how they run it is up to them. So good luck for some and status quo for everyone else.

Agreed, mostly. 

My only gripe with it is they need to give people accurate information and apply the criteria to all, not allowing some who meet the criteria whilst denying others who do. 
If the initial criteria make too many people eligible then they need to either honour it or tighten the criteria, not just arbitrarily denying some who meet the initial criteria for no apparent reason.

Marjrie

I have today had an email and text offering the support tariff and a number to call them.
I think it’s because I’m on a low income, what concerns me is having to have smart meters installed, not for any
reason other than I’m not very tech savvy. 

I read my meters and pay each month, overpaying through the summer to help in the winter.
what will having smart meters involve, will they take my old meters out?
im concerned I won’t understand the smart meter system.

Spoonie_Turtle

Marjrie said:

I have today had an email and text offering the support tariff and a number to call them.
I think it’s because I’m on a low income, what concerns me is having to have smart meters installed, not for any
reason other than I’m not very tech savvy. 

I read my meters and pay each month, overpaying through the summer to help in the winter.
what will having smart meters involve, will they take my old meters out?
im concerned I won’t understand the smart meter system.

Yes they would replace your current meters with smart ones.

Unless you are on a dual-rate tariff (Economy 7 or similar) then there's really nothing to worry about.  Press a button to wake the screen up to read the gas meter, and you should just have electricity registering on one rate which displays all the time.

[If you are on a multi-rate tariff it can take a few more button presses to read the meter, and they have to make sure they fit the right type for your off-peak feed to work, and you need to just check that the timing is right.]

The most common thing to go 'wrong' with smart meters is them not communicating with the supplier, which then means you're in exactly the same position as you are now, needing to read the meter and send in readings.

The in-home display device doesn't even have to be plugged in, if you don't find it useful.  The main use for it is seeing how much power you're drawing at any particular time, and if that means nothing to you then there's no need to use the IHD.

Basically, having a smart meter can be as actively useful as people want (such as analysing the usage data) or as simple and hands-off as people want - just periodically checking that the readings they're sending are correct, and checking your supplier has used the readings on your bills.  Which you presumably already do since you currently send monthly readings

Marjrie

My gas meter is outside, will they want to move it?

TheElectricCow

Marjrie said:

My gas meter is outside, will they want to move it?

For a standard smart meter installation it will be a direct swap with your current meter in its current location. 

If on the day the engineer takes a look and decides for any reason the current location is no longer suitable (e.g. if there’s not enough space for the new meter) they would likely postpone the installation and advise on what further work would need to be carried out first, although this is not typically an issue in most cases.

TheElectricCow

sunnyhampshire said:

i was meant to get a smart meter today but the fitter refused as he said he could not safely do the work and has sent a report saying a smart meter cannot be fitted

i mentioned this scheme as have been eligible for the warm home discount for the last 10yrs but they said if i was eligible they would contact me but couldnt say how

im guessing even if they did contact me now i cant have a smart meter so would not be allowed on the scheme

i do think its unfair how you can get 50% off and have your debt wiped though it does not encourage someone to pay their bill but i guess some getting a rate 25% cheaper is not fair either

it would be good if they could treat all customers the same without gimmicks it must cost maybe bring standing charges down for all would be a good start

It’s worth noting that actually having the smart meter isn’t necessary for this support - you only need to agree to one being installed i.e. not refuse when offered one. Whether or not Eon actually goes ahead with the installation shouldn’t matter.