i.HEAT received a referral from one of our partners to engage with a Syrian family with young children who had recently moved to Inverclyde. They needed help set up their accounts and advise on their energy usage.
On meeting the customer we were handed letters they had received from various collection agencies, who were beginning court action against them to recover energy related debt. We discovered that the debt was not theirs but the previous tenant of the property they were now staying in.
As you can imagine they had just moved to Scotland and were being threatened by court action, which caused them unnecessary stress.
i.HEAT called both the energy companies and the collection agency to get their records amended. The customer is now registered as a new customer.
We revisited the customer several times to make sure their account was set up correctly, they were on the best tariff available and they knew how to operate their heating system.
The family had left Syria due to the conflict with very little belongings. Many items were provided for them by Inverclyde Council i.e. kettle, toaster & clothes etc. but we noticed that the young children had no toys to play with. We arranged for a foodbank to provide them with some toys that they were absolutely delighted with.
We also arranged to have the customer added to the priority assistance scheme and have made an online application for Warm Homes Discount.
SAVINGS AND BENEFITS
Debt recovery £4749.34
Warm Home Discount £140.00
Potential energy saving £110.00
Price comparison £143.00
(potential savings pa.)
Foodbank referral/delivery of toys
