Supporting vulnerable customers through the cost of living crisis and beyond.

No matter your industry, when it comes to supporting the most vulnerable people there is no one-size-fits-all solution. It’s important that we recognise our customers are a diverse range of individuals with equally diverse needs, and every single one deserves to be heard. That is why, at E.ON Next , we are not only committed to providing a range of assistance, but also to developing our understanding of our customers so we can continue to improve our support.

Many customers are facing significant financial challenges in their day to day lives due to the ongoing cost of living crisis. These challenges have been amplified over the last year for energy customers by the disruption to global energy supplies. Greater need means greater responsibility – so at E.ON Next we believe that it is our duty as an energy supplier to ensure our customers have access to the financial support and advice they need to help them through.

Our E.ON Next Energy Fund provides grants to customers who are experiencing financial hardship, to help them find their feet. These grants can go toward paying energy bills or replacing white goods that are in poor condition to provide some breathing space for customers to take back control of their finances.

We also offer access to independent financial advice through the work we do with support agencies such as StepChange, Paylink, Citizens Advice, and Energy Advice Scotland. This empowers our customers with the knowledge and tools they need to tackle debt and nurture their financial health.

But it’s not just financial health that matters. Mental and physical health can create a variety of unique challenges for vulnerable energy customers.

Life-saving medical equipment can dramatically increase home energy use, making it all the more difficult to navigate the current cost of living crisis. That’s why, at E.ON Next, we have started working with Kidney Care UK to help understand and support the unique needs of customers undergoing dialysis.?

Experiencing financial difficulties can also increase feelings of stress, which can create additional barriers for the most vulnerable customers to overcome. At E.ON Next we are working to address this through our longstanding charity partnership with Mind, where we are able to help customers find support for their mental health in times of need. This is alongside initiatives like our employee assistance programme and the priority services register, which help to tackle stigma and support the mental health needs of customers and colleagues alike.

There is always more work to be done, and we certainly aren’t finished yet. At E.ON Next it is our belief that more government support is necessary to provide tangible solutions that will not only help vulnerable people deal with the energy crisis, but provide greater energy security into the future.

That’s why we’ve been campaigning to the government to establish a social tariff that would provide a targeted rebate on energy bills for eligible low-income households from next winter and to make such a tariff permanent. We are also advocating for further investment in home energy efficiency, to lower household bills and reduce home emissions across the UK. It is the only way to deliver lower bills on a sustainable basis and to insulate the country from future global energy price shocks. The future of energy is for everyone.

Ramona Vlasiu

Chief Operating Officer