Protecting vulnerable customers
Now more than ever, we are absolutely committed to helping vulnerable, low-income customers. The government has set a target to eradicate fuel poverty from vulnerable households by 2010 – and all households by 2016.
If a household spends 10% or more of its income on its energy bills, it is said to be in ‘fuel poverty’. Today, an estimated 5.5 million households in the UK are in fuel poverty. Over the coming years, this number is likely to continue to rise.
What we did in 2008
Building on our investment in previous years, we spent over £16 million last year to help the most vulnerable through our Spreading Warmth and Health Through Warmth programmes. Over £10 million went towards discounts for approximately 84,000 customer accounts registered on our Spreading Warmth Tariff. In total around 150,000 customers received help from our Spreading Warmth Programme last year.
In 2008 we committed to spend approximately £50 million over the next three years on our initiatives to help those susceptible to fuel poverty. One of our main challenges is ensuring we give help to those who need it the most so we welcome government proposals for legislative changes which would help us target those people most in need.
As well as financial assistance, we’re committed to giving our customers the support they need. In December 2008 we ran a ‘winter awareness’ campaign to make our contact centre staff more aware of the problems that some of our customers face and all the ways we may be able to help.
Our home advisers made around 2,600 visits and gave over 100 community talks last year, giving help and advice to vulnerable customers all over the UK.
Working with external stakeholders
We also work closely with other organisations to help identify vulnerable people and raise awareness of our services. We sponsored the 2008 National Energy Action (NEA) Annual Conference, which brought together representatives from a range of organisations committed to combating fuel poverty. We also work with the NEA on an ongoing basis to help tackle this growing issue.
We’re in regular contact with key advice agencies to ensure they know about our latest products and programmes and can help to ensure that support gets to those who need it.
We also worked closely with the Energy Retail Association to help them relaunch their Home Heat Helpline in December 2008. This helpline gives people one number they can call, free of charge, for help and advice about managing their fuel bills.
