A report by Ofgem called ‘Monitoring Suppliers’ Social Programmes’ revealed that we had the second highest spend per customer account on our social programme in 2008/2009.

StayWarm

Our StayWarm social programme continues to support around 25,000 of our vulnerable customers through a subsidised fixed price.In 2008/2009, this subsidy was £15.6 million¹.We also have 195 StayWarm agents trained to provide basic energy efficiency advice to all customers and we’ve launched a new section on our StayWarm website encouraging customers to become more energy efficient. We continue to offer discounted energy efficiency measures to non-priority StayWarm customers and put in place nearly 7,000 energy efficiency measures during 2008.

We also have 17 Home Visitors within Credit Management who are strategically located around the country to conduct personal visits to customers’ struggling to manage their energy costs.

Age Concern

During 2008 we’ve continued to build on our existing relationships as well as forging new ones as part of our commitment to be recognised as a trusted energy partner.In 2009, we’re celebrating our 10th anniversary working with Age Concern Enterprises.

Following the announcement we made in 2007, we’ve doubled our cold weather payment in 2008 for customers over 80. As the number of Age Concern customers we supply increased in 2008, this helped an even greater number of customers through the winter.
Our Age Concern Cold Weather Payment was paid in customers’ spring bills to offset some of the costs of heating through the winter. Gas customers receive payments based on the number of days where the temperature is recorded below zero between December and February, and customers over 80 receive a minimum of £20. This year’s cold weather payment made to gas customers aged 60 and over, was £3.6m¹ (over £22 per person).
We’ve continued with our commitment to promote the dangers of carbon monoxide poisoning. Since October 2008, nearly 37,000 Age Concern customers on the tariff received a free carbon monoxide alarm as part of their welcome pack. So far in 2009 we’ve sent out a further 11,178.

CaringEnergy

In 2008 our CaringEnergy programme entered its second year of providing a ‘one stop shop’ for our vulnerable customers. This year, we’ve given advice to over 14,000 people. This included 1,500 benefit entitlement checks, which helped gain an average of £1,800 additional income per household, calculated on the information given to our adviser at the time of the call. We found that pension credit was the most unclaimed benefit last year among our customers. Out of the 14,000 + customers we spoke to, more than 3,000 were eligible to join the Priority Service Register.

Our CaringEnergy Fund provided an average of £762 per customer we helped in 2008, giving us a total spend of £437,988, on top of our committed spend of £192,796. Out of the 575 customers who benefited from the fund, the biggest requirement was for repairs/replacement of central heating systems. We also used the fund to support the Government’s Warm Front scheme by contributing over £57,000 in top-up grants for eligible customers.

WarmAssist

In November 2008, we launched WarmAssist, a new social proposition aimed at helping our most vulnerable customers in fuel poverty with their energy needs.The proposition is supported by three pillars; firstly we’ll provide a free benefits’ entitlement check to help the customer maximise their own household income. Secondly we’ll provide the customer with free energy efficiency measures such as Loft and Cavity wall insulation to help reduce their energy usage and finally we’ll offer the customer a 15% discount off their energy bills. This provides the average dual fuel customer between £151 to £102 saving off their energy bills each year, depending on the tariff their on, on top of the energy reductions they may see as a result of receiving free energy saving measures.

Other initiatives

We were actively involved in industry initiatives in 2008, including the Home Heat Helpline. We invested £150,000¹ in this service and received more than 800 calls from vulnerable householders seeking energy efficiency advice and measures, as well as guidance on tariffs.

We are active members of COCAA, the Carbon Monoxide Consumer Awareness Alliance, which is an industry group, working with fuel burning organisations to make people better aware of the dangers of carbon monoxide. In 2008 we spent £56,000 on putting a warning logo on all of our gas bills, enhancing our website, and campaigning through all media channels by giving away CO alarms.

^{1These figures cover the period from 1 April 2008 to 31 March 2009 as per regulatory reporting period.}