What will you pay?
Your heat tariff is made up of two charges:
We've provided answers below to questions we frequently get asked about our standing charge
- Why does my neighbour pay a lower standing charge?
If you own your home and your neighbour is renting theirs, they'll pay a lower standing charge. This is because Section 11 of the Landlord and Tenant Act 1985 legally requires landlords to subsidise some of the costs we pass on through our standing charge.
For rented properties, because of Section 11, we pass on the cost for repairs and maintenance to the landlord instead of the tenant. This means their tenants standing charge is reduced. Don't worry though, because overall, we still recover the same contribution towards repairs and maintenance for each home connected to the network. - Will I be charged extra for replacing equipment in my home belonging to the heat network if it breaks?
In some cases, we collect a fund through the standing charge to cover future costs for replacing any of the equipment forming part of the heat network should they break or reach the end of their life. To find out if this applies to your heat network and the charges you pay, take a look at the 'Your heat charges' section in your welcome brochure, or simply get in touch and we'll be able to let you know.
If this doesn't apply, your welcome brochure will let you know that any costs for replacing equipment belonging to the heat network outside of warranty are not included in your heat tarrif and will be recovered separately through your service charge. Any repairs will still need to be carried out by us, so if you have a problem you will need to let us know straight away so we can fix it. - Do I always have to pay the standing charge, even when I'm not using heat?
Yes, your standing charge is payable even if you don't use any heat, this means that if you go on holiday for example, we'll still charge you the daily standing charge even though you aren't living in your home. This would be the same if you lived in a home with a gas boiler, as you'd still have to pay a daily standing charge to your gas supplier.
How will you pay?
How you pay for your heat charges will depend on the type of meter you have in your home.
Prepayment meter - Pay As You Go (PAYG)
If you have a prepayment meter in your home, 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.
PAYG helps you more closely monitor how much your spending and will help you spot if you're using more heat than you might need.
You'll be able to see your available balance, how much heat you're using, how much this is costing you and your recent top-up history on your in-home display or by logging in to your online account.
You'll find information on how to top up your meter in your welcome brochure and in our help section which you can access by clicking the red 'Help' icon in the bottom right hand corner of your screen.
Remember:
If you run out of credit on your meter your heat supply will be suspended until you next top up.
Credit meter - credit billing
If you have a credit meter, we'll bill you for the heat you use after you've used it. We'll do this by issuing a monthly bill which you'll be able to view by logging in to your online account.
To make sure your bills are paid on time and in full, you'll need to set up a variable Direct Debit. You'll find a Direct Debit mandate in your welcome pack which you can complete and return to our partner, Sycous, who manage Direct Debit payments on our behalf.
If you'd prefer to set up your Direct Debit over the phone, please call our Customer Care Team who’ll be happy to help.
| 0330 324 0018 (local rates apply) Monday to Friday 8am-5pm |
Dispute a bill or charge?
If you disagree with any of your charges, or if you have a question about your bill, please contact us within 14 days from the date of the charge or bill 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.
Struggling to pay?
Don't be tempted to put off getting in touch with us, the sooner we know you're struggling the easier it'll be to help you to get back on track. Visit our support page to find out how we can help you by clicking here