Providing a transparent and trustworthy service to our customers is our first priority at Energetik. We want to help the wider industry improve its level of customer service too: we don’t think it’s fair for heat network customers to put up with lower standards than gas or electricity customers have in the regulated market. We believe that ‘sharing is caring’ so when we were asked to take part in a heat customer research project to look at different experiences of pay-as-you-go as an energy payment method, we didn’t hesitate to say yes.
Citizens Advice and Future Thinking research: consumer experiences of heat networks
“Citizens Advice are undertaking a research project alongside the research consultancy Future Thinking, to gain a better understanding of the experience of heat network customers on PAYG (prepayment meters). The experience of customers on PAYG has been widely documented for customers in the gas and electricity market but it is relatively unknown for those in the heat network sector.
We would like to gain in depth insights surrounding the experiences and views of customers on prepayment meters specifically relating to customer household characteristics, the installation and use of prepayment meters, the management of bills, customer experience of using prepay and customer experience if any with self-disconnection.
This will allow Citizens Advice to represent and understand the experience of all consumers on heat networks. We also hope our research findings will be able to help suppliers to support and improve the experience for prepayment meter customers.”
- Senior Policy Researcher, Citizens Advice
Energetik’s Pay-As-You-Go service
All Energetik’s customers buy their heating using our Pay-As-You-Go (PAYG) service, also known as ‘prepayment’. This means our customers pay for the heat they use in real time, plus an availability charge. We think this is the simplest and most transparent way of managing how much you spend on energy, and helps our customers understand how they can be more efficient.
We’ve designed our PAYG offer to be flexible and inclusive, with processes in place to help customers stay in credit. We actively monitor and support customers if their spending or usage is unusual. Each customer has a smart meter to help monitor usage and help control exactly what they spend.
Flexible options to top up
We’ve designed our PAYG facilities with our customers’ convenience in mind: you can pay online, on the phone and in person. There are lots of different ways to top up, similar to using an Oyster card:
- Regular top-up – Gives you the convenience of a regular payment as often as you decide.
- You can decide the amount you want to be added to your balance, and on which day or date every week or month. The amount will be charged from a debit or credit card of your choosing. It means you can keep track of your outgoings easily and you don’t ever have to trek to a shop to make a payment.
- Auto top-up – Make sure you never run out of credit by automatically topping up whenever your balance drops below a certain level.
- Simply log in to your online account to set up details of your preferred payment card, and the balance you’d like on the auto top-up. We can talk you through the process if you get stuck, just give us a call.
- Anytime top-up – You can make an instant top-up in addition to auto or regular top-ups, at any time.
- You can top up online or using our payment phone service, which is available 24 hours per day, seven days a week. This is handy if you find you need to have your heating on longer or use more hot water than usual.
- Paying in person – If you prefer to pay for your heating and hot water in person or you like using cash, you can do this.
- All our customers receive a PayPoint card when they register. You can use this card to make cash payments at lots of local shops and supermarkets.
Read more:
How Energetik’s service works for customers
Watch our animated video on how Energetik’s community heating works in your home and how to top up
Watch this video to find out what it’s like to be an Energetik customer
