EHU Supplier Liaison

Meeting

July 2016

Natasha Gilmour

Head of EHU

Agenda

• Stats & Performance

• Resources

• Training

• IT

• Case analysis - priorities & non-dom

• Case studies

• Next meeting

EHU Volumes April to June: Q1 2016

2105 cases logged by the EHU during the last quarter:

↓ 20% (499 cases) from the last quarter

↓ 13% the same period last year

0

100

200

300

400

500

600

700

800

Apr-16 May-16 Jun-16

Nu

mb

er

of

ca

se

s

Apr-16 May-16 Jun-16

Complaint 497 535 484

Enquiry 92 91 117

Ask the Adviser 109 98 82

Total 698 724 683

EHU casework

EHU Volumes: 2014/15 & 2015/16

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200

400

600

800

1000

1200

July 2014-June 2015

July 2015-June 2016

EHU Geographical Split: Q1 2016

England 81%

Scotland 13%

Wales 6%

Referral From: Q1 2016

1%

5%

0%

88%

0%

1% 0% 1% 2% 2% 0%

Advice Agency

CABx

Charity

Citizens Advice(CACS)Community Group

Direct from Consumer

Energy Advice Agency

Housing Association

Ofgem

Ombudsman

Parliamentarian

High Level Domestic Codes: Q1 2016

1 2 5 16 21

82

123

216

332

516

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500

600

EHU Performance: Q1 2016

April to June 2016

April to June 2015

Changes from 2015 to 2016

Complaints 1516 1927 ↓ 21%

Enquiries 300 255 ↑ 18%

% of complaints that were priorities

25% 21% ↑4%

Ask the Adviser 289 235 ↑23%

Cases closed within 35 WD (75%)

73% 72% ↑1%

Cases closed within 66 WD (90%)

89% 88% ↑1%

Tangible outcome (90%) 86% 88% ↓2%

Financial Redress £605,386 £489,820

↑ 24%

Domestic consumers satisfied or very satisfied with the quality of service (83%)

91% 90% ↑1%

Micro-business consumers satisfied or very satisfied with the quality of service (81%)

80% 89% ↓9%

Accent: Customer comments

They were very professional and very

helpful

They were fast, efficient, friendly, on the ball and provided clarity on an issue which has been

ongoing for ages. It was a breath of fresh air

I'd definitely recommend them, first class

CAS recently referred my wife and I to Consumer Futures for further support.

We’ve been successfully helped and we just wanted to let you know what a great

job Consumer Futures did, and how grateful we are to CAS for funding them

(we assume you fund them).

You feel threatened by the company, don't know

who you are taking on and after the Extra Help Unit I was not scared at all and could take on the

problem

It was great. Keeping us in the loop and the

interactions and keeping us informed. First Class. Best customer service

we've had

Dealt with quickly, minimum hassle, only needed a couple of phone calls

and it got the job done

Resources

• Staff on temporary maternity cover returned

to substantive posts.

• Caseworker made permanent.

• Recruitment:

- 1 part time admin staff

- 1 Senior Caseworker

Training

• Quality – ISO 9001 Internal Auditor &

benchmarking exercise.

• Smart metering – cita policy team & BG

• Mindfulness

IT

• Transition almost complete

• New email address mid August:

natasha.gilmour@ehu.org.uk

Advice & Stakeholder Team

3 face to face meetings

23 conference calls

12 stakeholder meetings/

events (Ofgem,

Energy UK, OS:E, Cita,

CAS, bureaux)

Advice & Stakeholder Team:

Issues discussed with suppliers

Performance on complaints

Revenue protection

Backbilling

Beneficial user argument

Disconnection for debt

Meter appointments

Self-disconnection discretionary credits

Marketing complaints

Priority Analysis

Top priority category codes:

PPM – self disconnection

disconnection following due process

difficulty charging PPM -card/card faulty/card lost

suspected meter tampering

19% non-domestic and 81% domestic ( split of EHU cases is 10% non-dom and 90% domestic)

Ongoing quarterly analysis planned to track changes and trends

Priority Analysis

Disability discrimination

Customer has depression and

fibromyalgia which are debilitating and affect her ability to deal with

things. During low times debt built up on

her account, along with various fees and

charges. She believed that she was being

discriminated against during times when she couldn’t cope and that

charges are punishments

“supplier x is discriminating

against people with disabilities and are

exploiting and bullying consumers who are not strong enough to deal with matters the same as

able bodied consumers would”

Supplier rebilled her account on a cheaper

tariff, offered a payment

arrangement and removed all charges

Disability discrimination

Customer has significant mental health difficulties;

paranoid schizophrenia,

depressive disorder and anxiety. Low

income. Complaint about standing

charges on account and supplier pushing for direct debits when he wants to pay at the

post office

“Supplier x has not listened and harassed

me, making assumptions about my health, disempowering me and discriminating

against people with mental health

problems. They are not good at identifying

vulnerable people or trained in

discrimination”

Customer paid balance even though he didn’t

believe it was due as he felt threatened. Supplier apologised for how he felt and how his query was dealt with. They

offered goodwill, agreeing to send copies of calls as requested –

confirming that they are committed to

recognising vulnerability

Disability discrimination

Customer in receipt of high rate care and high rate mobility of PIP. He

has kidney disease, spinal injuries and

limited mobility. Complains that despite being on PSR supplier

fails to read meters quarterly, invoices late

and staff and rude

“Supplier x is failing to fulfil it’s duties to disabled people. I

consider that there is a discrimination case

here”

Supplier apologised, arranged for meters

to be read and checked the best

tariff and that WHD was being applied.

Operational feedback

Good case ownership at lots of suppliers –

calling to introduce as case handler and

discussing complaint. Especially from

smaller suppliers that we deal with less

frequently

Team managers report that they are receiving

fewer escalations

On the whole, suppliers are good at offering discretionary credits when this is

requested

Progress on liveloads for many suppliers and

more engagements with chase lists

Vulnerable customer case study

Middle aged female living alone, disability living allowance and employment support allowance. Personality disorder, Aspergers and extreme paranoia.

Supplier aware of circumstances and asked not to visit property without written notice –strangers visiting causes anxiety, stress and can result in self-harm.

Requested smart meters to prevent meter readers visits and direct debit set up as having control is important and unexpected bills cause problems for mental health.

Vulnerable customer case study

A problem with the smart gas meter was identified but not resolved over a 12 month period. The meter had not been sending meter readings since 2012 and the direct debits collected were not sufficient. This caused lots of stress, particularly when a bill for £2000 was issued and followed up with threatening demands and unannounced attempts to read the meter.

The customer became increasingly paranoid about the faulty meter; reasons behind this happening and not being able to transfer because of debt – leaving her feeling trapped, unable to sleep and very vulnerable.

Vulnerable customer case study

Initial contact with EHU went well; even though the customer was upset and agitated the caseworker immediately identified that she needed extra support and used techniques to gain her trust and asking her manager to monitor the case while she was on leave.

However, things took a turn for the worse and during calls the customer screamed and cried, accusing the EHU and supplier of being in collusion with the government working against people with mental health problems and trying to punish them. She became so distraught that she injured her wrist and leg before ending the call. Abusive emails and calls were received accusing the EHU of making her self-harm and demanding that individuals were sacked.

Vulnerable customer case study

The complaint was discussed with the Head of the EHU and we continued to work with the supplier to reach a resolution, providing regular updates to the customer. The supplier applied backbilling principles, reducing the balance by over £1700 and offering a further gesture of £100 goodwill.

When the case was concluded the customer wrote to thank us, explain her behaviour and apologise, advising that she was now able to discuss a payment plan for the remainder of the balance and move on

“I must apologise for my irate phone call to you and subsequent emails¸ I suffer with mental health problems and become very paranoid when under stress or anything unexpected happens and with my legal battle in other matters I have lost all trust in most organisations”

Next supplier liaison

• Analysis on metering cases

• Presentation by Quality Assurance Officer