Changes To StayWarm

Susan1942

I am quite shocked by what I read here and also what I have read on the EON questions. This does clarify what my friend was told in that at the end of April you need to pay up what may be owed to Staywarm rather than let this be leveled out by the summer months payments Is my understanding correct. I agree that this is frightening my friend and I can well understand that many others are frightened into paying more than they actually need to. If she goes on to their tariffe then at least if she pays too much or too little she will know that she has actually used that amount of electricity. In contrast if she agrees to pay £100 per month she will get nothing back and she is skimping on electricity by not heating her water only boiling the kettle to wash dishes etc. I am not sure that she is using her electricity in the most economical way/ But all this is led by fear even though paying £79 per month they told her that she could use as much electricity as she needed. Remembering the bad winter even then she was watching and trying just to use the minimum to keep herself in reasonable comfort. She does not take holidays unlike me where I was away for 8 weeks during this time, My heating was on but had I have been here I would have had to find another heating method to supplement the ECON 7 I don't have any fire in my Apartment. My friend is coming here at 4pm today and I will go over the figures with and let her talk to Staywarm in the meantime I have got her actual usage and will do a comparison check to find out about other providers and what it would cost to change. She can't afford the £100 so she has to change whether that be with EON or another Energy Provider

Sue

Former_E.ON_Company_Representative:_Malc

Susan1942 wrote: »

Thank you for your response to my query and my friends tariffe
I am wondering if you have any idea of how much it would cost to run a blow heater for perhaps 1 hour a day in contrast to installing a Econ 7 in her bedroom.
As I have also said she is only heating her water once a month and boiling the kettle the remainder. She has as I told you an electric shower. Despite being able to use as much electricity as per the Staywarm she was failing to do so or using the electricity at day time rate.

Hi Sue

Hope you're feeling a little better today.

I believe you and your friend would benefit from having a chat with our Energy Efficiency team. They specialise in advising customers how best to save energy. Tell them about the property and appliances. They'll be happy to let you know how you might save.

Ask for a copy of a booklet called '100 ways to save money by saving energy.' It's free and contains lots of useful advice.

Check out our website, too; particularly the Interactive House and Energy Menu. More good tips here.

This lady has kept first daily and then weekly readings since she got into the situation where she was not wired in to the economy 7 but was actually on a daily tariffe.
She still has those records and so I would like to have a look at the reading she has taken over the past year. She did scribble a lot of numbers on her bill when she gave it to me but it means nothing in that it only tells me the reading on her meter on that day.

With Staywarm, it doesn't matter when she uses the electricity as the monthly payments will not change throughout the term of the contract.

However, if she moves from Staywarm to a conventional tariff, to benefit from an Economy 7 meter she'll need to use between 40 - 55 per cent of electricity during the off peak times. The actual split will depend on the region.

She says she would prefer to stay with EOn but she can't afford to stay with Staywarm based on they now want to up her payments to £100.60
She is elderly and simply cant afford to pay this high fee. It may be that the tariffe suggested on her bill of £75 would be her best option. It takes the anxiety out of will the transfer of what might happen rather than just simply switching to the tariffe suggested by EON.

Which tariff is this? More than likely, this will be a variable tariff where payments may change depending on changing prices and usage.

I would appreciate it you could give me some idea of how much it costs to run things like her blow heater heating water in only kettles as opposed to putting on her immerser. She is extremely twitchey about the whole situation and does appreciate your advice as do I.

Many thanks again

Sue

Again, our Energy Efficiency team are best placed to advise here.

Susan1942 wrote: »

I am quite shocked by what I read here and also what I have read on the EON questions. This does clarify what my friend was told in that at the end of April you need to pay up what may be owed to Staywarm rather than let this be leveled out by the summer months payments Is my understanding correct.

I'm really sorry if your friend was given the wrong info when she spoke to us. Please be assured, once a Staywarm plan is in place, there'll be no change to the monthly payments throughout the length of the contract.

Neither will there be any additional charges either during or at the end of the contract. What was agreed is what needs to be paid.

I suspect talk of April refers to our standard payment arrangements where the annual review is carried out in the spring. This is not relevant to Staywarm.

I agree that this is frightening my friend and I can well understand that many others are frightened into paying more than they actually need to. If she goes on to their tariffe then at least if she pays too much or too little she will know that she has actually used that amount of electricity. In contrast if she agrees to pay £100 per month she will get nothing back and she is skimping on electricity by not heating her water only boiling the kettle to wash dishes etc.

Yes, on a standard tariff, payment arrangements depend on the amount of electricity being used. Whereas, with Staywarm, once the price has been agreed, this will not change throughout the contract.

I am not sure that she is using her electricity in the most economical way/ But all this is led by fear even though paying £79 per month they told her that she could use as much electricity as she needed. Remembering the bad winter even then she was watching and trying just to use the minimum to keep herself in reasonable comfort. She does not take holidays unlike me where I was away for 8 weeks during this time, My heating was on but had I have been here I would have had to find another heating method to supplement the ECON 7 I don't have any fire in my Apartment. My friend is coming here at 4pm today and I will go over the figures with and let her talk to Staywarm in the meantime I have got her actual usage and will do a comparison check to find out about other providers and what it would cost to change. She can't afford the £100 so she has to change whether that be with EON or another Energy Provider

Sue

This is a good idea. Pop the usage on to a comparison site and see what's available. Also, talking to Staywarm will, hopefully, ease her mind a little about additional payments. They can go through the metering set up with her as well which might help calm fears about day/night usage which, as above, is not relevant whilst on Staywarm.

Hope this is of some use Sue. Let me know if I can help further as always happy to do so.

Malc

Susan1942

Thanks for the Malc. She is coming to see me at 4pm today and will go over some figures with her, She would like to speak with staywarm and be given all the possible tariffes she could move to rather than stay and pay £100 pper month.
I have looked at all the tariffes on the e.on web site but identifying the best for her without speaking to someone is difficult.
She knows that with Staywarm she would only pay a set fee but was told if she moved any under payment would have to be paid immediately. That would not be a major problem for her financially but it is the unknown that is a fproblem for her

Susan1942

My Friend has been here today and we spoke to to e.on On the telephone I had worked several tariffe that would be less expensive than staying with Staywarm. They has a strange way of saying you will pay £90 from now until April and will then pay £64 for the remainder making a total price £446 cheaper. My friend then spoke to the person and she said that she can use Staywarm until April or her next Birthday after this time she can cancel Staywarm and go on to a cheaper tariffe. So she will pay £100,40 for the next 4 months and then will read her meter and call the person she spoke to who gave her the extension no that she can be reached at. I always thought that Staywarm was a 12 month contract but she assuares us that this is not the case and she can cancel at any time. Would you clarify this for me as no doubt she will have a cooling off period. Many thanks again if you can shed any light on the situation.

Sue

backfoot

Susan,

I think you have asked my advice on another thread in relation to your posts on this thread.

I think Malc the Eon Rep has given you some great advice. You need to read it carefully and try not to get confused with messages passed on elsewhere which may be innacurate.

To simplify the problem:

1. Ask Staywarm for Annual Consumption figures in KWh for each of Day Rate and night rate electricity. Do the same for gas. (Kwh).

2. Run these figures through a comparison website. I like Uswitch or Energy Helpline. Find out the total cost for electrcity and gas.

3. Calculate the annual total cost of the Staywarm offer. (£100 times 12 approx) .

4. Compare the total costs.


Now you have your own analysis you can make your decisions.

As a guide only,because my mother's stywarm renewal is similar in total cost, I can advise that we decided to switch. We switched to Scottish Power Online Fixed Price January 2013 saving around £500 which is a dramatic amount.

Eon did not have any tariffs anywhere need this best alternative.

I would also advise you against staying with Eon on another tariff because they will do the 'zero spring balance ' thing with making the initial DD payments very high. This is not suitable for your friend as she cannot afford the artificial monthly hike.

If the comparison comes out close, I would stay with Staywarm as the cost is totally fixed for the next 12 months. A sort of insurance policy.

Other posters can advise better than me on Energy saving tips as it is not my expertise.

I hope this helps unravel it a bit for you.:)

Former_E.ON_Company_Representative:_Malc

Susan1942 wrote: »

My Friend has been here today and we spoke to to e.on On the telephone I had worked several tariffe that would be less expensive than staying with Staywarm. They has a strange way of saying you will pay £90 from now until April and will then pay £64 for the remainder making a total price £446 cheaper. My friend then spoke to the person and she said that she can use Staywarm until April or her next Birthday after this time she can cancel Staywarm and go on to a cheaper tariffe. So she will pay £100,40 for the next 4 months and then will read her meter and call the person she spoke to who gave her the extension no that she can be reached at. I always thought that Staywarm was a 12 month contract but she assuares us that this is not the case and she can cancel at any time. Would you clarify this for me as no doubt she will have a cooling off period. Many thanks again if you can shed any light on the situation.

Sue

Hi Sue

We guarantee the Staywarm price for 12 months but customers can jump ship part way through the contract if they like. There are no cancellation fees.

Looks as though the agent your friend spoke to has recommended she stay with Staywarm over the winter and then look to change once the weather starts to improve.

This means she can use as much electricity as she likes for the same monthly price during the coldest period. Provided she can afford the new monthly price, she need not worry about keeping the heating on when the temperature dips and can keep nice and warm without worrying about an unexpected large bill.

Once the weather starts to improve, she can look to move to a cheaper deal either with us or, as backfoot as illustrated, with another supplier.

Hope this helps Sue. Give me a shout if you need any more info as will be happy to help.

Malc

Susan1942

Thank you both for your responses. Yes I did do a comparison as I had my friends meter readings. The best price was with EDF at £701 per year as opposed to £1200 with Staywarm
Prior to her coming here I printed off all the tariffe e.on had to offer. Comparing them she could have paid around £475 need to look back at the figures, However their system would be that she would pay £91 until April and then £64 or £67 for the remaining. THe £75 she had been quoted was in fact a mistake as whoever quoted had not taken into consideration that we are now in winter, This is the first time I have ever know a company charge one price for the winter and lower for the remainder. I was only aware that you paid X amount throughout the year and that this took into consideration the amount paid for the whole year against how much electricity used and the cost of that. Then they recalculated what the charges were for the following year. At times I have been underpaid but they simply carried this off and at other times overpaid and depending by how much they would either refund me or a smaller amount would be carried forward.
I went over all the tariffe e.on but because of the fact my friend would have to pay on either tariffe ie £91 or £97 she thought that the best thing to do is stay with staywarm, I don't know how significant this is but the person speaking to her called Linda said that on her Birthday she could ring her and offer a better tariffe. She may I guess be 80 in February is there another better tarif for those over this age?? She does not disclose her age but I reckon that she is currently 79, In the end she decided to stay with staywarm for the winter months. I did not agree that this was the best for her but having had problems in the past with wrong meter (not on economy 7 tariffe although she did have the storage heaters) Bill was for £2200 but when I intervened they changed the meter and reduced the bill to can't recall exactly somewhere in the region of £700-800 It was following this mix up that she returned to Staywarm I still consider that she is paying too much but I have tried to help her but fear is something that she is very much led by. She now has a name and an extension no for Linda and has been told to ring her on her Birthday. I want to thank all of you for your input in giving me advice but at the end of the day despite everything I told her and you advised her she has now got another plan where she will leave Staywarm in the Spring. Not the best outcome but we all including you guys did your best.
For me I need to change from Go Direct 5 and I didn't realise what a great plan I had and just how much discount this gave me. I know I will pay more with any company but I look for the best plan with the best price and I have to change in any case. I had already put in some questions regarding go direct 5 and had a lot of feedback on this and again I would like to thank you once again. I have time until the 31st Dec.

Warm regards

Sue

backfoot

Susan1942 wrote: »

Thank you both for your responses. Yes I did do a comparison as I had my friends meter readings. The best price was with EDF at £701 per year as opposed to £1200 with Staywarm .

That fits in with the sort of savings available to my mother.

However their system would be that she would pay £91 until April and then £64 or £67 for the remaining. This is the first time I have ever know a company charge one price for the winter and lower for the remainder. I was only aware that you paid X amount throughout the year and that this took into consideration the amount paid for the whole year against how much electricity used and the cost of that.

That is Eon's ridiculous zero spring balance policy at work. for that reason, I'm out.:D

In the end she decided to stay with staywarm for the winter months.I still consider that she is paying too much but I have tried to help her but fear is something that she is very much led by. She now has a name and an extension no for Linda and has been told to ring her on her Birthday. I want to thank all of you for your input in giving me advice but at the end of the day despite everything I told her and you advised her she has now got another plan where she will leave Staywarm in the Spring. Not the best outcome but we all including you guys did your best.

It may not be a bad plan at all. It will reduce the fear issue and may not be too expensive depending on how high her winter consumption is. We don't have that information before us, but the Staywarm team will have it.

Make sure to do a fresh comparison in the Spring for all Suppliers and you should then get the £500 saving.

I would like to thank you once again. I have time until the 31st Dec.

It's a pleasure.:)

millie

We changed to EDF from Staywarm in April 2010, after the winter period, and last year saved £440 pounds. That was even with the bad winter last year. I have always taken the meter readings every month myself and kept a record of them even when using Staywarm. I found that the totals they gave me every year were complete rubbish. In August 2008 they wanted to raise my payments bt an extra £35 per month. When I phoned them they had not had a reading for my gas meter for 8 months and according to their figures I had only used half the gas that I had actualy used. I do not know how they can send out renewal figures without up to date readings. On that occasion they left my payment unchanged but I cancelled anyway after the winter. I have saved a lot of money since leaving them.

Susan1942

Thanks Backfoot! Yes I did my best and agree totally with you. My friend went home happy and I will keep tabs on her over the winter and encourage to use what Electricity she needs to keep warm.
Once again Many thanks

Sue