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Elderly
'in dark' on power rights BBC
News
New
research by Ofgem suggests three
out of four eligible customers are not aware of their additional rights. These
include a free annual safety check
and priority reconnection after any power cuts. Firms
have a duty to tell their customers about the scheme, which is also open
to disabled people and the chronically sick. Mystery shopping A
mystery shopping exercise by Ofgem showed staff were not properly briefed
on the rights, known as the Priority
Service Register (PSR) scheme.
Energy suppliers are obliged
to keep a list of elderly, disabled and chronically ill customers and
offer them free additional services. Benefits
include a password scheme to deter bogus callers, help with meter
readings, and gas safety checks. The regulator said companies needed to improve the
training of frontline staff so that they were better able to recognise and
refer eligible customers. Allan
Asher, chief-executive of Energywatch, the gas and electricity consumer
watchdog, supported Ofgem's research. Mr
Asher said: "We welcome the
efforts of Ofgem to plug a serious gap in company responsibility towards
the most vulnerable customers. "It is a sorry state of affairs to find that one in three customers who could be helped have no idea that special services are freely available to them." Copyright
© 2002 Global Action on Aging |
