Hidden offers to help pay for gas and electricity

racyguy

I must be a complete mug!
I have just put my meter readings onto the EON Next website and for the first time had a read through it to try to find what my balances are.
According to EON there is (a) no need to get stressed over a fuel debt - they will either pay it off for you or arrange for payment as to what I can afford and (b) give grants for all manner of capital items - white goods, new boiler etc.

I have struggled this past 8 months to repay a fuel debt of just over £300 AND pay a DD to cover ongoing costs. When I say struggled, I mean going without food, hot water etc.
So if anybody owes money to EON check out their website for what is on offer.

Alex_Alumni

Thank you for sharing @racyguy things like this can be easy to miss, I find this kind of information is often found at the bottom of pages, in dense amounts of text, or only discovered after several clicks.

It isn't easily accessible, especially if you struggle with navigating online, as most things are nowadays.

Have you managed to speak to EON now that you've read this, about arranging payments or any grants that might help? 

racyguy

Alex_Scope said:

Thank you for sharing @racyguy things like this can be easy to miss, I find this kind of information is often found at the bottom of pages, in dense amounts of text, or only discovered after several clicks.

It isn't easily accessible, especially if you struggle with navigating online, as most things are nowadays.

Have you managed to speak to EON now that you've read this, about arranging payments or any grants that might help? 

Hi, there are pages and pages to wade through before you land on that info.

No point really as I have said we have struggled for 8 months cutting back on everything so that we could pay the debt off as well as maintaining the DD EON told us to pay. Looking back, we only now realise that we should have told EON how hard it was with every likelihood that they would have cancelled the debt.

racyguy

Teddybear12 said:

Hi @racyguy Did you not say previously that you had asked for help from Eon but as you would not claim Pension Credit they would not help you.

Yes that is what I did and what they said to me. But I just assumed that that was it.
Apparently, they have to help, it's the other information that they never told me about such as being signposted to other departments such as Paylink.

'We’ve partnered with Paylink, a company who specialise in helping customers to understand and take control of their finances. Click on the link to set up an account and then follow the step-by-step process to create your personal budget. Paylink will let us know when you’ve created your budget and we’ll use this information to help and support you with an affordable payment plan tailored to your needs. We’ll also be able to let you know if you’re eligible for other financial support.'

racyguy

Teddybear12 said:

But that would not have applied to you. Did you not tell Eon of your budget and how little money you had. They put you on a repayment plan, because of the Pension Credit you were not eligible for further help. @racyguy

Of course, it would, they seemingly have to help. Budget? no. Telling them how much we were living on ,no. I asked if there was any chance of clearing or reducing the debt by a grant that had been mentioned on this website by another poster earlier. They asked my age who I lived with and what benefits I was claiming. I told them that I used to claim Pension Credit but that the claim had been closed down in Feb. 
I never gave the reason for the PC being closed. 

racyguy

Sorry I missed part of my post.
You mention a payment plan being set up - no such thing ever happened. I did my own budget with one aim to pay the DD EON had set up to cover all ongoing costs and how I could raise the extra to pay off the debt.

racyguy

Teddybear12 said:

I am sorry @racyguy but that is not how I remember what you had previously said. I have tried to find your previous post but have not been able to. I will therefor leave it there .

You will find the full story here:

EON Next - refused financial help to pay off debt — Scope | Disability forum

poppy123456

In your thread linked above you said they decided not to help you because you chose not claim pension credit, which means you’re depriving yourself of income. 

Sandy_123

Thanks @racyguy handy to know I'm with eon

racyguy

poppy123456 said:

In your thread linked above you said they decided not to help you because you chose not claim pension credit, which means you’re depriving yourself of income. 

And I can understand your comment. But they are required to help. When I rang them, it was simply to ask for a grant to clear the debt. They said no as I could claim Pension Credit. Who is to say that the Pension Service would definitely make an award? Is it right that they should make that decision without first calculating IF I was entitled to Pension Credit?
Even so and the purpose of this particular post is to show that they should have offered more. They should have told me about Paylink don't you think?
Paylink it seems would have worked through it all with me. 
EON failed to tell me what other help is available when they refused the grant.

racyguy

More on the deprivation comment.
Using that argument, they could have said that I should have had over £50,000 + in my bank account if I had bothered to claim Industrial Injuries from 2004 when I failed an assessment but didn't appeal. Then in 2011 I resurrected that claim in 2011 and not only did I get a lifetime award and the DWP accepted based on the evidence that I sent them that I should have had the award backdated to 2004. They couldn't pay it as I did not appeal at the time in 2004.
For the same period 2004 to 2011, I had no DLA award as a renewal was never made That award was High Mobility and Care. Again, I reclaimed in 2011 and was given High Mobility and Care as before.
Should I be penalised for that deprivation?
I don't want to get into the why's it is personal.

chiarieds

As far as I can see Paylink says, 'Over 8 million households in the UK are currently missing out on benefits worth £16bn. The most common reason for this is that people are either unaware of benefits they’re entitled to – or they assume they’re not eligible.' As you were aware about Pension Credit, yet chose to end your claim, I'm unsure as to the problem you seem to have with this.

racyguy

chiarieds said:

As far as I can see Paylink says, 'Over 8 million households in the UK are currently missing out on benefits worth £16bn. The most common reason for this is that people are either unaware of benefits they’re entitled to – or they assume they’re not eligible.' As you were aware about Pension Credit, yet chose to end your claim, I'm unsure as to the problem you seem to have with this.

The problem with all of this is that the Pension Service are refusing to adapt their rules so that myself, a disabled pensioner can access and operate a Pension Credit award and keep it running.
Those may well be the common reasons but obviously not the only reasons.

poppy123456

racyguy said:

For the same period 2004 to 2011, I had no DLA award as a renewal was never made That award was High Mobility and Care. Again, I reclaimed in 2011 and was given High Mobility and Care as before.

Are you sure about that? That's not what you said in a previous thread. You can see that comment here. https://forum.scope.org.uk/discussion/comment/563605#Comment_563605

ShirleyW

We all keep biting don't we ?....   I keep saying never again but somehow I get sucked in ....

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racyguy

woodbine said:

If they were prepared to step in and pay off bills for anybody who was in arrears everybody would stop paying, you problem is @racyguy you refuse to claim a benefit you are entitled to therefor they won't help.
My only suggestion might be that you get pre-payment meters installed?

The Fund

The aim of the E.ON Next Energy Fund is to help E.ON Next customers who are experiencing financial hardship and struggling. There are two ways this fund can help and support you:

1. The first option is to help with paying your gas and electricity bills through grants, helping you to become financially stable and more importantly, getting you back in control of your finances.
   • To be considered for this help, you’ll need to show that you’re committed to being financially stable by making regular payments over a three-month period for ongoing usage before receiving an award.
   • The grants are awarded so that you can take control of your finances by clearing your household energy debts and to help you meet your future bills.
   • We use a three-month Provisional Award Scheme for grants. This means that to receive an award, you’ll need to show your commitment to achieving financial sustainability by making payments for your current usage. Once we’ve let you know that you’ve been successful for a provisional award, you’ll need to contact E.ON Next to set up a payment plan, check you’re on the best tariff for you and chat through energy efficiency advice and support that could help you to reduce your bills in the future.
   • While you’re making your ongoing payments, we’ll suspend any debt. Then once you’ve made sufficient payments and the award is confirmed, the debt will be cleared. If however you don’t keep up with the payments, the award will be withdrawn and the debt, together with any further debt which has accrued over the three months will remain.
2. The other option is to provide a replacement appliance such as a cooker, fridge, fridge-freezer or washing machine if yours has broken or poor condition.

All of that seems reasonable to me.
Seems that you only have to pay the current bills which I do. 

chiarieds

You have only shown part of the info about E.on Next's Energy Fund. Please see: https://www.eonnextenergyfund.com/

which says,

'What will I need to provide?

For a grant towards bills

To complete your application, there are some details that we’ll need from you like your E.ON Next account number and a recent meter reading so that we can make sure that the balance due is up to date. We may also need to ask for some of the following information:

 - Proof of all household income for yourself and anyone living with you for the current tax year.
 - All pages from the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) stating your entitlement to a benefit and the amounts due to be paid for the current tax year.
 - Pension letters for State or private pensions.
 - Medical confirmation from the organisation that referred you to the fund or a medical DS1500 form or medical confirmation from a consultant or your doctor.
 - Please note all supporting evidence must be less than three months old with the exception of Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) annual benefit letters, for example, State Pension and Child Benefit letters. All documents must clearly show name and address details as well as the amounts currently being received for the current tax year.

The Fund recommends all applicants seek money advice before applying, to help negotiate with any other creditors and maximise welfare benefits and income.'

So again, unfortunately, we're back to you no longer claiming Pension Credit (however difficult you found it).

I feel E.on 'offer' to help, but are under no obligation to do so if a claimant doesn't first help themselves.

This would then leave funds available to those who can't maximise their welfare benefits (& income).

It seems you have been politely refused, & a reason given.

racyguy

chiarieds said:

You have only shown part of the info about E.on Next's Energy Fund. Please see: https://www.eonnextenergyfund.com/

which says,

'What will I need to provide?

For a grant towards bills

To complete your application, there are some details that we’ll need from you like your E.ON Next account number and a recent meter reading so that we can make sure that the balance due is up to date. We may also need to ask for some of the following information:

 - Proof of all household income for yourself and anyone living with you for the current tax year.
Yes I have all of that.

 - All pages from the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) stating your entitlement to a benefit and the amounts due to be paid for the current tax year.
Yes, I have most of that though I may have to get some of the info from the DWP

 - Pension letters for State or private pensions.
I will have to get that from the pension providers

 - Medical confirmation from the organisation that referred you to the fund or a medical DS1500 form or medical confirmation from a consultant or your doctor.
Yes, I have reams of evidence for both of us 

 - Please note all supporting evidence must be less than three months old with the exception of Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) annual benefit letters, for example, State Pension and Child Benefit letters. All documents must clearly show name and address details as well as the amounts currently being received for the current tax year.
It will be.

The Fund recommends all applicants seek money advice before applying, to help negotiate with any other creditors and maximise welfare benefits and income.'

So again, unfortunately, we're back to you no longer claiming Pension Credit (however difficult you found it).

I feel E.on 'offer' to help, but are under no obligation to do so if a claimant doesn't first help themselves.

This would then leave funds available to those who can't maximise their welfare benefits (& income).

It seems you have been politely refused, & a reason given.

Where does it say that we would have to seek money advice or to maximise welfare benefits? Are you suggesting that every applicant has to prove that they cannot access any unclaimed benefits no matter what they are? Ridiculous. Put a claim in for anything and everything just to get a letter of negative entitlement. 

Immaterial anyhow as I have manged to clear the debt so no need to ask for any help. I would have done had I known about this offer at the time. That's the point of this discussion. There are over 880,000 people in this country that do not claim PC for whatever reason. I'm sure that they all don't have to seek welfare advice to see what they can squeeze out of the State before getting help for their fuel bills.

racyguy

woodbine said:

It clearly states that you must "maximise" welfare benefits, ergo not claiming a benefit is not maximising your income, good to hear that you have managed to clear the debt and can move forward now.

I still cannot see where the above is a condition of making a claim - could you please point out that section from the above.
You are only being asked to provide evidence of what you are receiving, not what you could be receiving.