This guide will tell you about your systemheating and will help you set up and yourmanage heat account.
Who we are...
Watkins Energy is your heat supplier. This means we manage the heat network which supplies heating and hot water to your home. We’re the only supplier for your heat network, so you won’t be able to switch - this should have been clearly explained to you before buying your home.
We’re responsible for:
Operating the energy centre to generate heat, providing heating and hot water to your home and the local community.
Maintaining the heat network, including the equipment belonging to the heat network which lives in your home,
Setting your heat tariff, and
Billing you for the heat you use.
Remember:
We’re not responsible for your electricity or cold water. If you have any problems or queries about your electricity or cold water supplies, you’ll need to contact your electricity or water company.
What is a heat network?
Your new home is connected to a heat network (also known as a district heating or communal heating system) which provides heating and hot water to many homes.
A heat network generates heat in a central location, known as an energy centre, using energy sources with lower CO2 emissions. This means that by living in a home connected to a heat network you’ll be playing your part to reduce your impact on the environment, helping to tackle climate change.
Heat is distributed from the energy centre to homes connected to the network by highly insulated pipes, supplying heating and hot water to customers whenever it’s needed. This removes the need to install a gas supply and individual boiler to every home.
Heat networks are more energy efficient than fitting individual gas boilers and are more reliable, so require less maintenance.
What equipment do you have in your home?
Instead of a gas boiler you have a heat interface unit installed in your home - commonly known as a HIU.
The HIU is installed in your utility cupboard and looks like a boiler. It controls the transfer of heat from the heat network to your home’s central heating system, making heat and hot water available to you instantly, as and when you need it.
Connected to the HIU is a heat meter. This measures how much heat you use. You’ll also have an in-home display which shows you how much heat you’re using, how much this is costing you and how much credit you have left on your account. You’ll find a user guide for your in-home display in your welcome pack.
To control your heating, you simply need to set the thermostat and heating programmer, as you would with a typical central heating system.
Remember:
Our responsibility stops at the HIU and heat meter in your home. If you experience a problem with your heating or hot water equipment beyond the HIU (your radiators, heating controls, hot water taps or showers), you’ll need to arrange and pay for repairs separately.
Setting up your online account
To set up your online account, we’ll need to send an activation link to your email address. This is unique to you and your account.
If we already have your email address you should receive an email with your activation link shortly after moving into your new home.
If you’ve not received an email please get in touch and let us know, we can then update your account with your email address and send you an activation link.
Need help setting up your online account?
If you need help setting up your online account please call our Customer Care Team:
0330 324 0018 (local rates apply)
Monday to Friday 8am - 5pm
Once we’ve confirmed your account details and verified that we’re speaking to the right person we’ll be able to help set up your online account.
Your heat charges
Like a normal gas or electricity tariff, your heat tariff is made up of two charges:
The unit charge is how much you’ll pay for every kilowatt hour (kWh) of heat you use. This is measured by your heat meter. You’ll be able to see how much heat you’ve used and how much this has cost you, either on your in-home display or by logging in to your online account.
The standing charge covers;
Our administration costs for providing metering and billing services,
Your share of what we have to pay for the standing charges for the energy we need to buy to power the heat network, and
All servicing and repair costs, including parts and labour and an amount to cover future replacement costs for all the equipment forming part of the heat network.
The great thing about your standing charge, is that if something goes wrong with your heating and hot water, you won’t ever have to worry about receiving unexpected bills to fix the problem.
Changes to our charges
We’ll always make sure that our charges are fair and transparent and will review them once a year. We’ll always give 31 days written notice of any changes to your heat tariff.
Variable Unit Charge
Fixed Standing Charge
How you’ll be charged
In your home you have a prepayment meter. To use your heating and hot water, you need to top up your meter and make sure you always have credit available. We call this ‘Pay As You Go’ (PAYG).
Like a mobile phone, PAYG means you’ll only pay for the heat you use, when you use it, with no bills landing on your doormat at a later date.
To help make sure you don’t run out of credit, your available balance is shown on your in-home display. It also has lots of additional features which you can find out more about in the user guide provided in your welcome pack.
To top up your meter you’ll need your prepayment card number which you’ll find below.
Your prepayment card number:
How to top up Topping up couldn’t be easier!
To make things easy for you we offer a few different ways to top up. All you need to do is pick the one which best suits you.
Online
Pay anytime that’s convenient to you - 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, 365 days a year!
Go to watkinsenergypayments.paypoint.com/Energy, you can make a one-off payment or set up an account to make it easier for future payments. You’ll need your account number and a credit or debit card.
Over the phone
You can call our automated payment line to make a payment at any time. Please call 0203 650 4060 and select option 1. You’ll need your debit or credit card details and your prepayment card number.
Set up a regular fixed payment
You can set up a regular fixed payment to come out of your account automaticaly on a prearranged schedule. The money will be credited to your meter the same day it’s taken from your account. If you want to set up a regular fixed payment just give us a call and we can do this for you over the phone.
In store
You can top up by visiting any PayPoint outlet. To top up at a PayPoint outlet you’ll need a prepayment card, if this is your preferred payment method then please contact us and we’ll get a prepayment card sent out to you. To find your nearest PayPoint outlet please visit: consumer.paypoint.com
Any top ups you make should show up on your available balance within two minutes. If this doesn’t happen, you can manually enter the payment code from your payment receipt into your in-home display. You’ll find instructions on how to do this in the user guide we’ve provided in your welcome pack.
If you need any help or have any questions about how to top up, please get in touch with our Customer Care Team.
What happens if you run out of credit?
If you run out of credit your heat supply will be suspended. This means you won’t be able to use your heating or hot water.
To help you out if you need it, we allow a little bit of reserve credit. We call this emergency credit and friendly hours credit .
What is emergency credit?
If you run out of credit before you get a chance to top up, you’ll have access to £5 emergency credit. This is effectively a loan to stop you from being without heating or hot water for a short period of time, until you’re able to next top up. Once your emergency credit has run out your supply will be suspended until you add credit to your meter.
When you next top up, we’ll automatically deduct any money used from your emergency credit from the money you use to top up your meter. This means you’ll need to add enough credit to pay for the emergency credit that you used, plus the amount you want to have available on your meter. We can then continue your normal supply.
What is friendly hours credit?
If you run out of credit after 5pm on a weekday, at any point over the weekend, or on a Bank Holiday, your supply won’t be suspended. However, if you don’t top up before 9am the next working day, when friendly hours credit ends, your supply will be immediately suspended until you top up and have available credit on your meter.
Each year we’ll send you an annual statement showing:
The total amount of heat you used over the year, based on actual readings from your heat meter,
Your total charges for the year, including the standing charge and unit charge,
Total payments made by you, and
Details of any outstanding charges.
Where possible we’ll also include a comparison with how much heat you used in the previous year.
Remember:
If you run out of credit on your meter we’ll continue to charge the daily standing charge even if your heat supply is suspended. Under the terms of your Heat Supply Agreement you’re responsble for paying all heat charges due.
What to do if you dispute a bill or charge
If you disagree with a charge, or if you have any questions about your charges, please contact us within 14 days from the date of the charge in question and we’ll work with you to resolve the issue.
We aim to solve most billing queries within two weeks. If we think your query will take longer to deal with, we’ll explain this to you. In the meantime, you must continue to pay.
Having trouble paying?
If you’re having trouble paying, don’t be tempted to put off getting in touch with us to let us know. The sooner we know you’re struggling, the easier it’ll be to help you to get back on track.
Contact our Customer Care Team using the contact details provided on page 19 as early as you can to discuss your options. The below tips may help you reduce your consumption and save you money, as well as helping you to reduce your impact on the environment:
Provided your warm enough, turn down your thermostat by one degree.
Learn how to set your heating programmer so your heating’s only on when you need it.
Take a quick shower instead of running a hot bath.
Turn down the radiator thermostats in rooms you don’t use.
Don’t block your radiators with furniture or dry laundry on them.
You can find more information and energy efficiency tips on our website at: www.watkinsenergy.co.uk/energyefficiency
Looking for independent financial advice?
For advice on managing your finances you might like to contact Money Helper. Money Helper is an independent service set up by the Government to help people make the most of their money. They give free, unbiased money advice to everyone across the UK – online, over the phone and via webchat.
Call Money Helper for free on:
Telephone: 0800 138 7777
Typetalk: 18001 0800 915 4622
Visit their website to use their web chat facility: www.moneyhelper.org.uk
Opening times: Monday to Friday 8am to 6pm Saturday 8am to 3pm (web chat only) They’re closed on Sundays and Bank Holidays
If you’d prefer, you can contact your local Citizens Advice Bureau. Citizens Advice are a network of independent charities offering confidential advice online, over the phone and in person, for free.
Call Citizens Advice on their Adviceline open Monday to Friday from 9am to 5pm 0800 144 8848 (advice line) or 0800 240 4420 (debt line)
Visit their website to use their web chat facility available Monday to Friday from 8am to 7pm www.citizensadvice.org.uk
Find your nearest Citizens Advice Bureau on their website www.citizensadvice.org.uk/about-us/contact-us
Step Change are a debt charity providing free debt advice online to help get your finances back on track. The will provide support for as long as it’s needed. stepchange.org
Maintenance and servicing
We’re responsible for maintaining and servicing the plant and equipment in the central energy centre and the parts of the network used to distribute and make heat available to your home, up to and including the HIU and heat meter.
All costs for maintenance and servicing are included within your standing charge. We’ll get in touch to make an appointment to visit your home every 24 months to inspect and service your HIU and heat meter.
So you can be sure it’s us, our engineers will always carry photo ID when visiting your home.
Remember:
If you make an appointment with us and can’t keep it, you must phone our Customer Care Team to let us know by midday the day before the appointment. If you don’t let us know you may be charged a missed appointment fee.
Reporting problems with your heating and hot water
If you experience any problems with your heating and hot water, you can report it to us by calling our Customer Care Team.
We have different response times depending what the issue is, however we’ll always do our best to fix the problem as quickly as possible. You can find details of our response times in our Guaranteed Service Standards leaflet which can be found in your welcome pack.
Whilst we’ll always attempt to fix the issue on our first visit, there may be times where this isn’t possible. If we aren’t able to fix the problem straight away, we’ll provide you with a timeframe for completing the work. We’ll communicate regularly with you on our progress and will provide temporary heating if needed.
Moving home?
If you’re selling your home, you need to give us at least 10 days written notice of your moving date so we can arrange closing your account. You won’t need to provide us with a final meter reading as we can read your meter remotely. We’ll take a final reading on the day you move out and use this to produce your final statement. You’ll need to provide us with a forwarding address, as we may need to communicate with you about your account after you’ve moved.
To make it quick and easy for you to let us know you’re moving home, we’ve made a simple moving home form which you’ll find on our website. Just fill this out and click ‘submit’.’
Please go to: www.watkinsenergy.co.uk/movinghome
If you’d prefer, you can call us and speak to one of our Customer Care Team.
If you have any credit on your meter when we close your account, we’ll refund this to you within 10 days of your tenancy ending and us no longer being your heat supplier.
We’ll issue your final statement within 6 weeks of your moving date. If we can’t issue a final statement within 6 weeks, we’ll explain why and issue it within 31 days of the date on which we have all the information that we need to produce your final statement.
Recognising amazing service
It’s always nice to receive positive feedback from happy customers.
If you receive amazing service and want to share your experience, please get in touch. We’ll be sure to pass on your thanks and make sure the team know what a great job they’ve have done.
Keeping your information safe
We understand that your privacy is important and will always make sure the highest levels of security are applied to keep your information safe.
All data is protected and any data that is transferred is always sent over secure connections. We only ever store data that is needed to deliver your heating services.
Further information can be found in your Heat Supply Agreement and also in our Data Protection and Privacy Policy which is available in the library section of our website.
Watkins Energy Ltd
68B Ground Floor Office, Grove Road, Eastbourne, East Sussex, BN21 4UH
0330 324 0018 | help@watkinsenergy.co.uk | watkinsenergy.co.uk
D – Dependable
We will:
■ deliver heat to your home reliably, so your heating and hot water is always available when you need it
■ give you at least 48 hours notice if we need to shut down the heating system to carry out any planned maintenance and let you know how long the shutdown will last
■ be friendly, helpful and make it easy for you to get in touch so we can provide help when you need it
■ do what we say, giving clear timescales and making sure we stick to them. If anything changes, we’ll let you know
■ act fast and aim to fix any problems as quick as we can
■ investigate any complaints thoroughly, admit when we’re wrong, apologise and work with you to put things right
■ price our service fairly and make sure that we bill you accurately, resolving any discrepancies quickly should they arise
N – Non Judgmental
We will:
■ treat all customers equally
■ always be polite and respectful
■ be understanding of the diverse needs of our customers
■ provide additional support for customers in vulnerable situations
■ try to place ourselves in your shoes,
A – Ambitious
We will:
■ measure ourselves on how well we meet our commitments and continue to look for ways to improve our services
■ learn from what we do well and use this to help continue to improve the service we provide
making sure we truly hear and understand what you’re saying, allowing you to speak freely and comfortably without feeling that you’re being judged
■ treat all personal information provided confidentially and in accordance with relevant data protection and privacy legislation
■ give you a point of contact who understands your needs
■ learn from our mistakes and make sure we don’t repeat them
■ continue to look at ways to innovate and reduce our impact on the environment
■ continue to support the work of the Government and trade bodies to develop regulation for heat networks to help protect consumers
Our Guaranteed Service Standards
We’re committed to providing customers with amazing service.
To back up our commitment and build your confidence and trust, our Guaranteed Service Standards will help you to understand what to expect from us.
If we fail to meet these standards you’ll be entitled to compensation, or what we call a ‘Guaranteed Service Payment’.
Our Guaranteed Service Payments are always aligned with the Heat Trust and are reviewed annually. You can find details of our Guaranteed Service Payments on our website www.watkinsenergy.co.uk .
Our Guaranteed Service Standards
1. Planned interruptions to your heating supply
If we have to carry out any work to the heat network and need to temporarily shut down your heat supply, we’ll provide at least 48 hours written notice. We‘ll let you know the reason for the shutdown, how long we expect it to last and when your heat supply will be restored.
We’ll make sure that any planned interruptions to your heat supply do not exceed 5 days.
2. Responding to emergencies
In the event of:
Serious water losses or leaks from the heat network, causing damage to your home or communal areas and/ or posing a health and safety risk, or
Breakdowns of plant and equipment forming part of the heat network causing total loss of heat supply to multiple homes
We’ll have an engineer on site to begin fixing the problem within 4 hours of us first being notified.
3. Total loss of heating and hot water within your home
Where you have a total loss of heating and / or hot water in your home and no other properties are affected, we’ll get an engineer out to you to begin fixing it within 24 hours of us first being told.
Where you have no heating and hot water, we’ll always try to fully restore your supply within 24 hours from first notification of the failure.
4. Partial loss of heating and hot water within your home
Where you have a partial loss of heating and/or hot water in your home, we’ll get an engineer out to you to begin fixing the problem within 48 hours of us first being told.
5. Multiple interruptions to your heating and hot water supply
We’ll make every effort to make sure that unplanned interruptions to your heating and hot water are kept to a minimum.
If in any 12-month period, you experience 4 or more unplanned interruptions, where you have a total loss of heating and/or hot water lasting longer than 12 hours, we’ll compensate you for our service failure.
6. Issues not affecting your heating or hot water supply
We’ll provide a response to non-urgent calls, where your heating and hot water supply isn’t interrupted, within 7 days. This could include things such as account and payment queries and reports of inaccurate meter readings.
As a minimum, our response will include details of the action we’ll take to try and put things right and timescales for doing so.
Customers in Vulnerable
7. Maintaining Appointments
We’ll always try and keep appointments that we make with you.
If for any reason we need to change the appointment, as a minimum we’ll give you 24 hours notice. If we fail to attend or do not give you 24 hours notice to cancel or change an appointment, you’ll be entitled to a Guaranteed Service Payment.
Circumstances
If you’re registered on our Priority Services Register, then the below Guaranteed Service Standards will apply.
You’ll need to be registered on our Priority Services Register at the time of the service failure to qualify for any Guaranteed Service Payments.
1. Total loss of heating and hot water within your home
Where you have a total loss of heating and/or hot water in your home and no other properties are affected, we’ll get an engineer out to you to begin fixing the issue within 12 hours of us first being told about the problem.
Where you have no heating and hot water we’ll always try to fully restore your supply within 24 hours from first notification of the failure.
2. Keeping you warm if you have no heating
For vulnerable customers registered on our Priority Services Register, we’ll make sure that we provide temporary heating where you experience any planned or unplanned interruptions to your heating lasting longer than 12 hours.
Claiming Guaranteed Service Payments
Payments for failing to meet our Guaranteed Service Standards aren’t automatic. You must contact us to make any claims within 3 months of the service failure and will need to provide supporting evidence. If approved, any Guaranteed Service Payments due will be credited to your heat account within 31 days.
Exclusions
We won’t be required to pay Guaranteed Service Payments for circumstances which are out of our control. For example:
Any fault where the cause is deliberate damage or interference with the heat network equipment by you
Where the fault has arisen because of equipment we’re not responsible for
Where the main utility supply needed to run the plant and equipment in the energy centre is disrupted
Extreme weather conditions
Unless you’re a named customer on a heat account with us and are party to a signed Heat Supply Agreement, you won’t be able to claim Guaranteed Service Payments.
No heating or hot water?
Before calling us to report loss of heating or hot water, we kindly ask that you first carry out some quick checks
1. If you’re a pay as you go (PAYG) customer - do you have credit on your meter?
If you don’t have credit, you’ll need to top up your meter to restore supply to your home.
2. Do you have power to your Heat Interface Unit (HIU) and to your property?
If your HIU accidentally gets turned off or if you have a power cut, then your heating and hot water won’t work.
If we attend a call out to your property for no heat or hot water and we find that it’s because there’s no power to your HIU then we’ll have to charge you for the engineer visit.
3. Is your heating turned on correctly and set to 21OC?
If you’re unsure how to operate your heating programmer we have some handy guides and videos on our website.
Remember:
• If the room is already at temperature your heating won’t come on.
• If your heating programmer is broken this will prevent the heating from turning on. We’re not responsible for the correct operation of your heating programmer, as such, if we attend a call out to your property for no heat or hot water and find that it’s because your heating programmer is broken we’ll have to charge you for the engineer visit.
4. If you have radiators in your home - are your thermostatic radiator valves (TRV) open?
A TRV is a device that controls the temperature of a room by adjusting the amount of hot water that flows to the radiator.
How does it work? A TRV senses the room’s temperature and automatically opens and closes the flow of hot water to the radiator, adjusting the flow of water based on the setting of the valve.
Where is it located? Usually found on the side of the radiator. To control you’ll need to turn the TRV dial to the required setting. Off is usually marked with a snowflake or a number “0”.
What are the benefits of a TRV? They can help homeowners heat their homes more efficiently allowing for different heating zones throughout the house, so helping to save money on heating bills.
5. Have you tested all the hot water taps in your home and left them on for long enough?
If you have hot water at some of your taps then it’s most likely that the problem is with your in-home equipment, which we aren’t responsible for.
Remember, it can take up to 45 seconds before hot water starts to come through.
If you have no water at all, then this is a problem with your water supply not our equipment.
If having completed these checks you still have no heating or hot water then please contact us straight away
If after having completed these checks you still have no heating or hot water, please call us straight away and we’ll get an engineer out to investigate and begin fixing the problem 0330 324 0018
A helping hand when you need it most
At Watkins Energy we put customers at the heart of everything we do
We appreciate that our customers are all different and recognise that from time to time some customers may need a little extra help, which may be temporary or permanent.
If you have any special requirements, or need any extra support, it’s helpful if you let us know.
Depending on your personal circumstances, you may qualify for our Priority Services Register. Being on our Priority Services Register means we can tailor your experience and the way we interact with you, by offering a selection of additional support services completely free of charge.
We do this so we can continue to provide you with excellent service, taking account of your individual situation.
Additional support for heat customers in vulnerable situations
As a responsible heat supplier, we’re particularly concerned about customers who are vulnerable to the cold. This can include a wide range of people.
If any of the following circumstances apply to you, you can apply to be on our Priority Services Register as a heat customer in a vulnerable situation:
Are of pensionable age (65+)
Are disabled or chronically sick
Have a long-term medical condition
Are blind or hard of hearing
Suffer from a mental health condition
Have children under 5 years old
Are in a vulnerable situation, for example you may recently have suffered a bereavement, have a low income or lost your job, or may be recovering at home following hospital treatment
Our Priority Services
We offer the following priority services free of charge to customers who qualify for our Priority Services Register:
Accessible information
We can make information, including notifications about planned interruptions and account and bill information, available in accessible formats, for example printed copy for customers with no internet access, large print for partially sighted customers or in alternative languages.
Priority support during interruptions to your heat supply
For customers who are particularly vulnerable to the cold and registered with us on our Priority Services Register as a heat customer in a vulnerable situation, we will make sure that you aren’t without heating for longer than 12 hours during planned or unplanned interruptions by providing you with temporary heating.
Think you qualify for our Priority Services Register?
Password protection and identification scheme
Our engineers will always carry photo ID when visiting your home. We can also agree a password with you, to help you identify anyone visiting your home and protect you from fraudulent callers.
Knock and wait service
If you know that it takes you a while to get to the door, then just let us know and we can make sure that our engineers are aware in advance of visiting, giving you more time to let them in.
Nominee scheme
We’re happy to arrange for communications to be sent to a friend, family member or carer, who can act on your behalf to manage your account.
If you’re unsure if you qualify, we want you to feel comfortable contacting us so that we can discuss your individual circumstances with you. Call us on 0330 324 0018 (local rates apply) Monday to Friday between 8am-5pm to register over the phone, or fill out the registration form included in your welcome pack.
You can also fill out our online registration form which you can find on our website at www.watkinsenergy.co.uk/helpinghand
Our Customer Care Team will always be sensitive and understanding and will treat all information provided as confidential.
We’ll need your consent to keep and share your data with our engineers and trusted partners where it affects the services we provide you. Any sharing of data will be done in accordance with our Data Protection and Privacy Policy.
If your personal circumstances change and you no longer need priority services, you can contact our Customer Care Team on the telephone number above, or send us an email to: help@watkinsenergy.co.uk and we’ll remove you from the register.
Watkins Energy Ltd 68B Ground Floor Office, Grove Road, Eastbourne, East Sussex, BN21 4UH Telephone 0330 324 0018 | Email help@watkinsenergy.co.uk
Priority Services Register Registration Form
Preferred contact number:
Account
Vulnerable circumstances and/or additional needs
Tick the boxes if any of the following apply to you or anyone living in your home;
Visually impaired
Chronic illness
Pensionable age (65+)
Temporary - Living with children under 5
Review date
Temporary - Life changes Review date
Temporary - Post hospital recovery
Non-English speaking (please confirm language)
Other (please provide details) Hearing
Review date
Our password scheme;
Anyone we send to your door, such as our engineers, will always carry an ID card which they’ll show you to confirm who they are. If you’d like extra security, please choose a personal password and write it below in block capital letters. Whenever we send anyone to your home they’ll be able to tell you the password to protect you from fraudulent callers.
(Maximum 10 characters)
Nominee scheme;
If you’d like to nominate a family member or carer to act on your behalf please provide their details below. We’ll need you to sign the form to give your consent for us to discuss your account with them. We’ll also need a signature from them to confirm they’re happy to act on your behalf. Once we’ve received written confirmation from both parties, we’ll use them as our main point of contact.
Name:
Address:
Town or City:
Email address:
Signature and declaration Nominated representative
Postcode:
Relationship to you:
Signature and declaration Account holder
Declaration; I confirm that the details I have given are true and correct. I give permission for you and other organisations acting on your behalf to securely store and use my personal details so that you can provide me with priority services. We may contact you or your nominated representative to discuss any of the information provided in this form. If you’ve provided details for a nominated representative, you’re giving your explicit consent for us to talk to your nominated representative on your behalf. This may mean we share information with them about you and your heat supply until you tell us that you no longer wish them to act as your nominated representative. I understand that, by law, you’re allowed to use my personal details once I give my permission. We confirm that we won’t use or pass your details to a third party for marketing purposes.
Watkins Energy Ltd Watkins House, Leigh Road, Haine Business Park, Ramsgate, Kent, CT12 5EU 0330 324 0018 | help@watkinsenergy.co.uk | watkinsenergy.co.uk
Secure In-home
Display User Guide
Your in-home display is an easy to use touch screen device that will help you manage your heat account.
Your in-home display user guide
This handy guide will help you understand how to use and make the most of your in-home display.
Your in-home display will help you manage your heat account by keeping an eye on:
■ Your available credit balance
■ How much heat you’re using
■ How much you’re paying, and
■ Your top up history
We can also use your in-home display to send you useful messages, for example if we need to let you know that we’re doing planned maintenance to the heat network which may interrupt your heat supply.
Main menu 1.
You’ll find a number of icons in the menu.
You can find out more about the function of each icon in this guide. We’ve highlighted below what pages you’ll need to look at.
Understanding the main display
On the main display you’ll find:
1. Network connection status
2. Menu button press this to access the main menu
3. Payment history –showing last 5 top ups
4. Message icon
5. Indicator to show the mode that the meter is operating in:
P – Prepayment
E – Emergency credit
F – Friendly credit
6. Unit selection button –press this to move between your account information (A/C), or consumption information in kilowatt hours (kWh) or CO2
3.
How to check your account balance and heat tariff
1. You can check your balance from the main display in the ‘Heat’ screen.
You’ll be able to see your balance on the right hand side of the screen, when this was last updated and how long we think this should last you. You’ll need to keep an eye on this to make sure you don’t run out of credit. To help remind you when to top up you can set a low credit alert, to find out how to do this take a look at page 14.
On the left hand side of the screen you’ll see details of the last 5 payments you made.
2. How to check your heat tariff
By going into the Menu and selecting the ‘Tariff’ icon you’ll be able to see details of your heat tariff.
Using your in-home display to manage your heat consumption 4.
1. How to view current usage
Touch A/C on the ‘Heat’’ screen to see how much heat you’re using in near real-time. This is shown in kilowatt hours (kWh). You can also see how much your heat use is costing you per hour (£/h) or how much CO2 this is creating (CO2kg). Use the ‘Unit’ selection button to choose which of these you want to see, changing the unit will also change the unit for the information shown on the left hand side of the screen so they’re the same.
On the left hand side of the screen you’ll see your energy consumption graph for the day, which will also show a comparison with the previous day so you can see how your usage compares. If you’ve set a daily usage target you’ll also be able to see how you’re doing against your target.
2. How to view your historical usage
From the main Menu icon you’ll need to select the History icon. This will let you see your half-hourly usage pattern over the past 24 hours in a graph.
Use the arrows on either side to scroll backwards and forwards through the data. The screen will also show your total daily usage and how this compares with your daily usage target, if you’ve set one.
Hour Use this icon to change the display to see your hourly or daily usage.
3. Setting up your daily usage target
To help keep your heat use under control, you can set your own daily target for how much heat you’d like to use. Find out how to set your own daily usage target on page 14.
How to manually add a top up when the payment hasn’t automatically been credited to your account
To manually add a top up you’ll need a payment receipt with a payment reference number.
Select the ‘Account’ icon from the main menu to access the payment screen. In the transaction screen enter the vend code number printed on your payment receipt.
Type in number from vend code token. Press delete to correct. Press enter when complete. Once you’ve entered the number a notification will pop up on the screen to tell you that your top up has been successful.
How to activate your emergency credit
You can activate Emergency Credit (EC) either from the Low Credit or Zero Credit warning screens. Once the credit in your account reaches the Low Credit threshold, EC will be made available for you to activate.
If you decide not to activate it, a second warning screen will appear when there is no more credit left on your meter which will again offer you the opportunity of activating EC.
’
If you press Ignore on the above ‘SUPPLY
and the ‘Heat’ screen will show ‘SUPPLY
and
screen, then your supply
be
Igno re Wa rnin g 14:2 52
E-Cr edit
CREDI T = £ 0. 00 SUPP LY OFF!
Pr ess ‘E-Cr edit’ t o use Emer gency Cr edit 'Igno re ' to Continue E-Cr edit
Igno re 10.01.19
We allow a £5 emergency credit faciiity to stop you from being without heating or hot water for a short period of time, until you’re next able to top up. Once your emergency credit has run out your supply will be suspended until you add credit to your meter. When you next top up, we’ll automatically deduct any money used from your emergency credit from the money you use to top up your meter. This means you’ll need to add enough credit to pay for the emergency credit that you used, plus the amount you want to have available on your meter. 10.01.29 13:52 14:25 E-CREDIT ON £5. 00 r emaining Updt On: 1 0. 01 .19 13:5 2 A/ C History E A cc ount Info 15:08 Menu Da te Amount 10 .0 1.19 £30. r 00 1
Remember:
To activate EC just press the E-Credit button on either of the warning screens. 01.01.19
Once activated, the ‘SUPPLY OFF’ message on the home screen will be replaced with the ‘E-CREDIT ON’ message
How to read your messages
If you have a new message, then the icon will appear in the top right-hand corner of the Home screen. Touch the icon to see the message page as shown below.
You can also access your messages from the Menu by selecting the icon. Press the View button to see each message.
Personalising settings on your in-home display 8.
By selecting the ‘Settings’ icon from the Menu you can personalise a number of settings on your in-home display, including your low credit alarm threshold and daily consumption target.
How to set a daily consumption target
You’ll need to select the ‘Target’ icon. By settiing a daily consumption target you can visually check on your consumption graphs if your consumption is above or within your target level. Take a look at page 7 for more information.
Low credit warning threshold In ‘Target’ you’ll also be able to change your low credit warning threshold. You can also turn on ‘Sound’ so you get an audible alarm.
Please set your daily targets
rates
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Watkins Energy Ltd
68B Ground Floor Office. Grove Road, Eastbourne, East Sussex, BN21 4UH
0330 324 0018 | help@watkinsenergy.co.uk | watkinsenergy.co.uk
How to make a complaint
We always put our customers first and pride ourselves on delivering excellent service. However, sometimes things can go wrong. If this happens, we want to make it quick and easy for you to get in touch so we can put things right and get our relationship back on track.
What you can expect from us
If you need to let us know about any issues with the service you’ve received, we’ll make sure that we:
■ Make it easy for you to get in touch with us
■ Respond quickly and try to resolve any issues the first time you contact us
■ Clearly explain the action we’re taking and provide timescales for fixing the problem
■ Keep you updated on our progress throughout the complaints process
■ Always try to make sure that your complaint is dealt with from start to finish by the same person
■ Provide an explanation of what went wrong, do everything we can to put things right and apologise if we’ve made a mistake
■ Always treat you fairly
Contacting us
You can contact us using any of the following:
0330 324 0018 (local rates apply) Monday to Friday 8am - 5pm
help@watkinsenergy.co.uk
Using our online complaints form which can be found on our website www.watkinsenergy.co.uk/complaints
By writing to us at;
68B Ground Floor Office, Grove Road, Eastbourne, East Sussex, BN21 4UH
Remember, if you contact us by phone, we’ll often be able to resolve the problem for you there and then.
Need help with making a complaint?
If you can’t make the complaint yourself, or simply want the support of others, you can nominate a family member, friend, or other representative to deal with your complaint.
You’ll need to get in touch with us to let us know the name and contact details of your nominated representative. We’ll make a note of this and make sure we communicate with them when handling your complaint.
What information will we need?
For us to investigate your complaint you’ll need to provide us with the following information:
■ Your name, address and contact details
■ Your preferred method of contact
■ Details of the problem with any supporting evidence, including the date and time if your complaint relates to a particular incident
What steps will we take to resolve your complaint and put things right?
Once we’ve received your complaint, we’ll get back to you within 2 working days to let you know that it’s been passed on to one of our specialist Customer Care Advisors to investigate for you.
You’ll be given a unique reference number to help us identify and track the progress of your complaint.
Within 10 working days of receiving your complaint, we’ll contact you to let you know the outcome of our investigation and to offer a solution to put things right.
What to do if you’re still unhappy
We hope you’ll be satisfied with how we’ve handled your complaint. If not, contact us and tell us that you’d like your complaint to be reviewed by a senior manager.
A senior manager will carry out an internal review of how your complaint was handled and the solution you were offered. They’ll decide if the outcome was fair and reasonable in the circumstances.
We’ll get back to you within 10 working days to let you know the outcome. If we find that your complaint hasn’t been handled in the way we’d have liked, a new solution may be offered.
If you still aren’t satisfied, or if your complaint hasn’t been fully resolved within 8 weeks, you can ask for a deadlock letter. The deadlock letter will recap what’s happened, what we’ve suggested and explain that we haven’t been able to reach an agreement.
Once you have your deadlock letter you’ll be able to refer your complaint to the Energy Ombudsman or another independent organisation, such as Citizens Advice Bureau.
How the Energy Ombudsman can help you
The Energy Ombudsman is an independent organisation that helps make sure customers are treated fairly. The Ombudsman will help to resolve things between us if you aren’t happy with our final decision, or if it’s more than eight weeks since you first raised your complaint and we still haven’t put things right.
They’ll review all the details of your case and the steps we’ve taken to resolve the issue. Based on all the evidence, they’ll propose a solution which they consider to be fair. If you accept their solution, we must follow their recommendation.
The Energy Ombudsman service is completely free, however they’ll only review cases where customers have first followed a company’s internal complaints procedure.
Energy Ombudsman Services
For further information please visit www.energyombudsman.org
The Energy Ombudsman can be contacted by:
Telephone 0330 440 1624
Phone lines are open:
Monday to Friday: 8am - 8pm
Saturday: 9am - 1pm
Sunday: Closed
Email enquiry@energyombudsman.org
Watkins Energy Ltd
68B Ground Floor Office, Grove Road, Eastbourne, East Sussex, BN21 4UH
0330 324 0018 | help@watkinsenergy.co.uk | watkinsenergy.co.uk