Customer facing financial difficulty not offered Home Energy Emergency Assistance Scheme

James* was facing financial difficulty and could not pay his $220 energy bill by the due date. He contacted his energy provider to discuss his options and was offered a payment plan under the provider’s Hardship Program. James had heard about the Home Energy Emergency Assistance Scheme (HEEAS) provided by the Australian Government and was confused why this was not offered to him.

The HEEAS is for Queensland households who are having trouble paying their electricity or gas bills due to an unforeseen emergency or a short-term financial crisis. The scheme offers a one-off payment of up to $720 every 2 years.

When this was not offered, James contacted us to provide advice and support.

Here’s how we helped:

We investigated the issue and the energy provider advised that the option they gave James was the best one in his situation because:

  • The HEEAS is a one-off support payment of up to $720, but with a bill of only $220, James would not receive the full entitlement.
  • If James’ situation worsened, he could not apply again for 2 years.
  • The energy provider was also concerned that the HEEAS support payment application may be rejected due to the
    amount being quite a bit lower than the full entitlement of $720.

After speaking to the energy provider, we identified that this is a systemic issue, which means that the provider’s normal process would be to offer the same advice to other customers who had similar overdue amounts. However, when managing customers in financial difficulty, energy providers are required to provide every opportunity for financial assistance – meaning that multiple options should be considered and/or offered. This could include assessing a customer’s eligibility for the HEEAS support payment, the energy provider’s own hardship program, or a short-term payment plan.

The energy provider advised their front-line team of this updated information so that they could offer a wider variety of options to other customers in the future, regardless of the bill amount.

*name changed to protect privacy.