British Gas offering free cavity wall insulation to the over 60s
October 21, 2010 at 4:53 am
British Gas has announced that it is happy to give away £10 million worth of cavity-wall insulation to customers over the age of 60. This should come as a welcome relief to pensioners, who have made up one of the groups to have suffered the greatest from the effects of the recession, with their savings seeing little to no return after the drastic plummeting of interest rates.
The energy supplier has suggested that those customers who choose to take them up on their offer will be able to save around £110 a year on their energy bills and, in addition, will help to save the planet by reducing CO2 emissions.
A spokesperson for British Gas argued that “British Gas is leading the way in making Britain’s homes warmer and more energy efficient. We are the first energy supplier to offer free cavity-wall insulation to the over 60s nationwide and we have the fastest growing insulation business in the country”. However, with British Gas having spent both time and money in its bid to improve its public image in recent times, some cynics are likely to suggest that the move is aimed more at improving the company’s reputation, rather than helping the customers which it has often failed to support in the past by not making the most of lower wholesale energy costs in reducing consumers’ energy bills.
Despite the generosity of the offer, only houses that have cavity walls will be eligible for the deal, meaning that only around 7 million homes in the UK are likely to be able to qualify and take advantage of the scheme that would ultimately help them reduce the amount of wasted energy that escapes through walls.
Energy suppliers hiked prices during scrappage scheme
October 15, 2010 at 2:59 am
A freedom of information request has revealed that major energy suppliers have been charging a price more than a third higher than the average cost consumers paid to small or medium companies when purchasing a new boiler. The average extra cost of using a major supplier reached an extortionate figure of £812, a hefty sum even in a normal economic climate.
With companies such as British Gas offering to match the money provided by the government for consumers to upgrade their boilers, many customers had previously thought that they were receiving excellent deals from caring companies which fully understood the desire of consumers to go green, but only at the right price.
However, this revelation is likely to sour the mood of consumers, who may now be finding out that they barely saved anything during the scrappage scheme due to the hiked prices.
Speaking about this recent revelation, Peter Thom, an independent installer and heating strategy group chairman for the Energy Efficiency Partnership for Homes, suggested that “when the scheme was launched Gordon Brown said isn’t it wonderful that people like British Gas match the scheme with £400. But the only people who can do this are the big energy suppliers. They’re renowned for toploading prices and then offering a discount”.
Whilst it is clear that companies such as British Gas are going to continue to dominate the market, this revelation (combined with consumers continuing to look to find a way to save money during the current economic climate) could lead to smaller independent groups beginning to dominate a larger chunk of the market unless big companies are able to improve their reputations.
Npower rues £70m refund
October 13, 2010 at 2:49 pm
On October 1st, a three-year row over gas tariffs finally ended, after dual-fuel provider, Npower, agreed to repay a share of £70 million to customers it had overcharged in the past.
The repayment, which could be shared between 1.8 million people, stands as reparations for a poorly communicated change in the way the supplier bills its subscribers for their gas supply, dating back to 2007.
Npower altered its gas tariff to charge customers a set amount of ‘primary block units’ per month, regardless of the time of year.
In previous years, customers might have paid less for their gas during the winter, when consumption is higher, but the new tariffs meant that everybody had to pay a fixed rate all year round.
Whilst the supplier claims that the “vast majority of customers” benefited from the overhaul, people who consumed relatively small amounts of gas were sent bills that charged them for units that they had not used. In some cases, Npower’s customers had up to £100 added to their gas bill.
However, the average refund is much closer to £35, with repayments from an identical sales probe in 2009 being deducted from the final sum.
Npower paid an average of £6 per affected customer during the first round of repayments but Consumer Focus, a self-proclaimed “consumer champion”, took umbrage with the sum, finding it simply inadequate.
The watchdog then badgered Npower for 20 months in order to persuade the energy firm to commit to repayments that would take into account how much money customers had actually lost, rather than sending out the same £6 cheque to every subscriber.
Speaking after Friday’s announcement, Npower’s Head of PR, Richard Frost, was apologetic, stating: “We are sorry that the complexity of the changes we made caused confusion. We are now doing all we can to improve our communication with customers”.
Npower claims that it will write to affected customers (both current and former) within the next two months and all refunds will be redeemable at the Post Office.
Hidden energy price increases – government may step in
October 1, 2010 at 2:36 pm
It’s a practice that frustrates energy customers across the country: energy providers increasing their prices without informing their customers first. Sometimes it is months before customers realise that they are paying more, and now the practice has been highlighted by energy secretary Chris Huhne who has vowed to crack down on it.
Speaking to Liberal Democrat delegates at the party conference, Huhne warned energy companies that if more is not done soon to stop this unfair practice then the government would have to step in, stating that he would use his “ministerial powers” to intervene. He highlighted the fact that in any other business the consumers “know the price before they buy”, and asked why it should be any different when people are buying their gas and electricity.
He stated that in some instances energy companies have gone for 65 days before informing their customers that their bills have increased, which he described as “outrageous”.
By informing customers before the prices of their bills go up, customers will then have an opportunity to investigate alternative providers and switch suppliers if necessary. On top of that, it would also help customers to budget more effectively for the price increase when it came into force.
Huhne also said that the government would insist that energy companies include more information on their bills. This would provide customers with details about rival companies’ deals and make it clear that they can switch to another provider if they want to. The idea is that if consumers have access to the extra information this will force down unfair prices.
