Extra assistance/allowances

gud

Can you give me information on applying to Electric Ireland for hardship payment. A pensioner who is in receipt of electricity allowance from the department of social protection but has recently started on a home oxygen concentrator due to illness and her bill has quadrupled. COPD Ireland advocate who himself is in the same boat advised her that he is getting a hardship allowance through the ESB, can you please advise me who to contact in electric Ireland to apply for this?
He did say it took him weeks to get anyone in the esb to help with his query , please treat as urgent as she will have to turn off oxygen as she can’t afford the bill

Electric Ireland: Una

Hi gud,

Thank you for getting in touch. We responded to your private message.

For anyone else reading, I'm afraid we are not aware of such a facility here in Electric Ireland. We have checked into this further with colleagues also.

The only cost reduction of this kind which we are familiar with is the Free Electricity Allowance (which you confirmed is already organised). There is the Household Budget payment method, which does not reduce the amount required to be paid, but it is an easier way of managing bills for customers who are restricted financially. This can be applied for through An Post.

There is the hardship Pay As You Go (PAYG) meter, however we do not recommend that customers who have serious medical conditions and rely on medical equipment have a PAYG meter installed (as it self disconnects at certain times when it runs out of credit/emergency credit, and this could be a risk if the customer is ill and not in a position to top up).

Unless it is ESB Networks which was being referred to - they can be contacted on 1850 372 757, however we are not aware of ESB Networks offering such a facility. We recommend finding out further details, if possible, from the gentleman involved with COPD Ireland (for instance whether he has any letter or other correspondence relating to it).

Here, we can set up eight-week payment plans for customers who are not in a position to pay their bill in full by the due date, once they contact us immediately upon receipt of their bill if possible. This ensures that they will have the entire window of time until their next bill issues. If an elderly or unwell person is not able to contact us to set up a payment plan for each bill, once they contact us just once to add the name and details of someone who can discuss the account on their behalf, we can then set up a payment plan whenever this authorised person contacts us to do so.

Best regards,
Una