I am proud to lead a Customer Service team that really does care about our customers.
That’s why days like today are especially difficult. We appreciate that energy is a big expense and that prices going up can make life harder for customers who are already facing squeezed budgets. Our customer service advisors speak to customers day in, day out, so they know exactly how they feel.
They wish, as I do, that we had more control over prices. We do what we can to keep prices down, and today we are pledging not to raise our prices again before Autumn 2014 at the earliest. But unfortunately we couldn’t hold off making this change any longer.
So my message to staff when they came into work this morning was simple: now, more than ever, it is crucial that we do all we possibly can to help our customers.
I think most of the customers we speak to are surprised by just how much we can help them if they let us. There are lots of schemes out there designed to help people who are struggling with their bills and there is plenty more we can do besides.
- During 2013/14, we expect to spend more than £50m to help over 300,000 vulnerable customers through the Warm Home Discount scheme. Our advisors are always recommending customers who can benefit from this, with up to 1,000 referrals every day during the winter.
- We expect to fund and manage more than 125,000 energy efficiency installations in homes throughout Great Britain in the next year under the ECO scheme, helping the recipients to save energy and cut their bills.
- We have a free Careline priority service, dedicated to helping customers who are elderly, disabled or have special medical needs. Click here for more details.
- We provide tailored and flexible payment arrangements to help customers pay for the electricity and gas that they use. If that’s something that you think could help you, phone us.
- Advisors in our call centres are able to provide free energy efficiency advice, including simple, practical and often free steps customers can take to cut their consumption and save money.
- As with other winters, we will again be committing to a no disconnection policy covering all customers. This will be in place from the start of December to the end of February, or longer if the weather is unseasonably cold.
- We will continue to build on our work with partners, including consumer bodies such as Citizens Advice Bureau, National Energy Action and voluntary organisations to help customers in an environment of rising prices.
That’s just a snapshot of some of the things we do to help. So if you are worried about how the changes we’ve announced today will impact on you, please don’t think twice about contacting us. Our customer service advisors are more determined than ever to help and you can speak to one of them on one of the freephone numbers below.
Scottish Hydro customers: 0800 980 8754
SWALEC customers: 0800 980 9041
Southern Electric customers: 0800 980 8476
SSE customers: 0800 980 8831
Atlantic customers: 0800 980 8437