EHU Supplier Liaison Meeting - Citizens Advice · various fees and charges. She believed that she...
Transcript of EHU Supplier Liaison Meeting - Citizens Advice · various fees and charges. She believed that she...
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
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Apr-16 May-16 Jun-16
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mb
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ca
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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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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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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
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