Can Martin write an article on Social Tariffs please

msaquib

Thanks for this.

Did you dial the normal care line number 0800 622838 or went through customer services?

MS

allotment_owner

Yes, I rang that number. Explained that I wanted to apply and they passed me over to their specialised adviser. All done on phone, had to have all payment details to hand.

allotment_owner

ps forgot to add that I gained "points" due to my daughter receiving DLA.

solar14

hiya

I phoned Npower I get housing benefit and council tax benefit, I am on incapacity benefit. I live alone, but have been told I am not eligible, something about 10 per cent thing....are they right?

Chuffy

I think so - you usually need to spend to 10% of your total income (including HB/CTB) on energy to qualify for the social tariffs. The terms vary between different suppliers.

crutches

plesae can we have an article?.I have tried to see about changing suppliers(from npower) but for me its about social tariff benefits too.I get very confused with whats on offer and need to change but cant work it all out.

zzzLazyDaisy

Another vote from me for an article

There are so many definitions of what constitutes a social tariff and who is entitled and it varies from supplier to supplier. The social tariffs don't appear on the energy comparison sites, so for someone in fuel poverty, the comparisons on these sites may be meaningless. Also things change, but the energy company's don't alert their customers, so people may start out on the best tariff but end up losing out.

I was on BG Essentials, but discovered through MSE that click energy 4 (at that time) was cheaper, so I changed to that tariff. Then along came click energy 5, which is cheaper than Click 4, but again it took me a while to cotton onto that. So I changed to click5. But today, after speaking to a friend, I phoned BG on the off chance, only to be told that Essentials is now cheaper than click 5 (up until a few weeks ago, this definitely was not the case). So I have changed again. But why am I always trying to play catch-up with these people?

More importantly, I'd like to move away from BG, but the maze of social tariffs and how they are applied is putting me off. Scottish and Southern give 20% discount (but I don't know if that is off their cheapest tatiff or their more expensive standard tariff) but I have just discovered that I wouldn't qualify as I am on DLA and IB, which are not qualifying benefits for S&S but are with BG. I know there are others out there but don;t feel that I have enough information to make a decision.

So please can we have an article???

:j:j:jPRETTY PLEASE MARTIN:j:j:j

dmg24

I posted the same question on the Site Feedback board some time ago now ... I never got a response. :rolleyes:

zzzLazyDaisy

So maybe we have to keep bumping this thread till someone in MSE towers takes notice?

It is such a big deal, because those with the lowest incomes still have to pay their gas and electricity bills, and there is a limit to how far you can cut back without putting your (or your children's) health at risk.

For the frail elderly, babies and young children, and people with illnesses and disabilities that affect their mobility and their ability to keep warm, being unable to heat the house in winter can have more serious consequences than just being a bit uncomfortable or having to put on another jumper. Ironically, they are often also the people who are unable to work/get out the house in bad weather, so they have to keep the house warm all day, and not just for a couple of hours at each end of the working day.

With all the price rises, if we have a cold winter, some people are going to be in real difficulties, and it is scandalous if they could actually be on lower tariffs but don't know how to find out what is available

esbo

zzzLazyDaisy wrote: »

So maybe we have to keep bumping this thread till someone in MSE towers takes notice?

It is such a big deal, because those with the lowest incomes still have to pay their gas and electricity bills, and there is a limit to how far you can cut back without putting your (or your children's) health at risk.

For the frail elderly, babies and young children, and people with illnesses and disabilities that affect their mobility and their ability to keep warm, being unable to heat the house in winter can have more serious consequences than just being a bit uncomfortable or having to put on another jumper. Ironically, they are often also the people who are unable to work/get out the house in bad weather, so they have to keep the house warm all day, and not just for a couple of hours at each end of the working day.

With all the price rises, if we have a cold winter, some people are going to be in real difficulties, and it is scandalous if they could actually be on lower tariffs but don't know how to find out what is available

" With all the price rises" the truth is gas price are now no higher than they were last winter at least no the prices the gas companies pay anyway.

http://markets.ft.com/tearsheets/performance.asp?s=us@ng.1

I have been looking at the price of wholesale gas prices have almost *halved* since
june and they are still falling.
When are the gas companies going to cut their prices by half?

The gas companies must cut their prices soon or this government can forget about ever getting elected again.

How come Gordon Brown has not mentioned that gas prices have fallen dramatically and he will be making sure the gas companies cut their prices accordingly? It's shocking!