Webinar:
Home Energy Emergency
Assistance Scheme (HEEAS)
4 November 2015
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call 07 3004 6950 and enter the code 1234
to listen to the audio on your phone.
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prevent feedback.
Essential Services team contact details:
• Email: [email protected]
• Telephone: 07 3004 6900
Session outline
1. Government concessions and rebates for energy
2. What is the Home Energy Emergency Assistance Scheme?
3. Eligibility criteria
4. Access to the Scheme
5. Application process
6. Completing the application form
7. Outcome and appeals process
8. Energy and Water Ombudsman Queensland
9. Q&A with Deborah Guy
Energy concessions
•
•
•
•
Electricity Rebate
Reticulated Natural Gas Rebate
Drought relief
Medical Cooling and Heating Electricity
Concession Scheme
• Life Support Rebate
• Essential Medical Equipment payment
• Home Energy Emergency Assistance Scheme
(HEEAS)
What is HEEAS?
• HEEAS can help to avoid disconnection if your household has
experienced an unexpected increase in expenses or reduction in
income that means you cannot afford your electricity or gas bill.
• It is designed for ‘one-off’ emergency assistance to help pay off a
debt of more than $100.
• Provides payment towards your bill up to a maximum of $720
• There are restrictions around how often you can apply:
– You can only apply once in a 12-month period for 2 consecutive years.
– If you have applied twice in 24 months, then you cannot apply again for
another 24 months.
• Intended for existing energy accounts - you cannot apply if you
have been disconnected or closed your account.
Eligibility criteria - 1
To apply, you must meet ONE of the following criteria.
You must either
 Have a concession card; OR
 Be on a payment plan or hardship program; OR
 Have a low income (less than the equivalent to the
maximum rate of the part age pension)
Eligibility criteria - 2
You must also have experienced one of the following in the
previous 12 months:
 An unexpected increase in your housing costs to more than
30% of your income; OR
 An unexpected increase in your energy costs to more than
10% of your income; OR
 An unexpected increase in essential expenses of more than
$100; OR
 An unexpected decrease in income of more than $100 per
fortnight; OR
 Some other natural or family disaster or crisis impacting
your ability to pay your energy bill
Access to HEEAS
There are a number of steps you need to take before you
can access a HEEAS payment.
• Application forms are only available in hardcopy and
must be mailed to you by your energy retailer
• Many forms are never returned (only 52% of forms that
are sent out are returned)
• Many applications get rejected (of the forms that are
returned, 59% are successful in receiving a payment)
• The average payment under the HEEAS is around $577
Application process
Request
HEEAS from
retailer
10
days
Eligibility
criteria apply
Once form is
generated,
there is a stop
action on any
disconnection
process
Application
form arrives
from
retailer
14
days
Application due
date noted on
the form
Contact
Concession
Services if an
extension is
required
Post
completed
form to
government
HEEAS
outcome
advised by
government
14
days
Reply paid
envelope is
included with
form.
You may be
contacted for
more details.
Confirmation
letter received
& payment
credited on
next bill
If unsuccessful,
you have 28
days to appeal
HEEAS process can take up to 6 weeks
Keep paying as much as you can afford off your bill during the process
Tips: Accessing the form
• Contact your retailer as soon as possible
• You cannot apply if you have been disconnected or closed
your account
• Helps if you have on a payment plan or hardship program
with your retailer
• Ask for the Scheme by name – “Home Energy Emergency
Assistance Scheme” or “HEEAS”
• Keep a record of the contact with your retailer (name, time,
date and reference number)
• If you have difficulty getting your retailer to send you a form,
contact the Energy and Water Ombudsman Queensland
Hardship Programs
Ergon Energy – ”Customer Assist Program”
Origin Energy – “Power On Program”
AGL Energy – “Staying Connected Program”
EnergyAustralia – “EnergyAssist Program”
Lumo Energy – “Energy Account Support and Enquiries (EASE)”
Click Energy – “Financial Hardship Policy”
Dodo Power and Gas – “Hardship Policy”
Simply Energy – “Hardship Policy”
Page 1
Eligibility criteria
Privacy / Consent
Page 2
Contact details
Account information
Applicant’s details
Nominee’s details
Page 3
Household details
(optional)
Type of housing
Eligibility criteria
Concession card
details
Household
income and
expenses (see
tips on next slide)
Tips: Completing the form
•
Your application will be rejected if it appears you can afford to pay
off the debt within your current income and expenses
•
Income is the amount after tax but before any Centrepay deductions
•
It is important to capture all expenses for all family members
(including children)
•
Include a fortnightly allocation for all your annual expenses
•
You can attach a separate budget to the form
Tips: Completing the form
Don’t forget to include all your expenses. Think about:
$ Annual expenses - car registration, car service, home and contents
insurance, car insurance
$ Education and schooling - textbooks, uniforms, sport, activities,
excursions
$ Entertainment - internet, mobile phone, TV subscriptions, Foxtel
$ Finance - credit card payments, SPER fines, rent-to-buy payments,
loan repayments, Centrepay deductions
$ Health and medical - glasses, dental costs, medicines, vet fees,
gym membership.
$ Baby products – nappies, formula, clothes, toiletries, etc.
$ Other expenses – holidays, Christmas and birthday gifts,
cigarettes, Chrisco payments, etc.
Page 4
Option 1:
Housing costs
increased
Option 2: Energy
costs increased
Option 3: High
unexpected
expense
Option 4:
Decrease in
income
Option 5: Other
circumstances
Tips: Completing the form
Reason 1: Housing costs increased to 30% of income
You must provide:
• How much you paid for your rent or mortgage payments previously
• How much you pay after the increase
• The date of the increase (must be within previous 12 months)
• The reason for the increase
Eligible:
 A recent substantial increase in rent payments
Not eligible:
× If you signed up to a new lease or mortgage where your housing costs
were over 30% of your income – as this is not considered “unexpected”
× Customers in public housing (where rents are generally capped at 25%
of household income)
Tips: Completing the form
Reason 2: Energy costs increased to 10% of income
You must provide:
• How much you paid for your energy bills previously
• How much you pay after the increase
• The date of the increase (must be within previous 12 months)
• The reason for the increase
Eligible:
 Increase in energy costs due to a medical need
 Increase in energy costs due to a faulty appliance (i.e. hot water system)
Not eligible:
× Increase in energy costs due to not receiving a bill in a long time
× Increase in energy costs due to using more energy for heating/cooling
due to the weather
× Increase in energy costs with no explanation identified
Tips: Completing the form
Reason 3: Unexpected increase in essential expenses
You must provide:
• A brief description of what the expense was
• How much it was (must be more than $100)
• The date of the expense (must be within previous 12 months)
Eligible:
 Purchase and/or repair of an essential household item or security item (i.e. car
repairs, washing machine, fridge, hot water system, outside door or window)
 Direct funeral expenses of an immediate family member
 Relocation costs (i.e. removal truck, hire of trailer)
 Substantial unexpected medical expenses (i.e. optical and dental expenses)
 High travel costs to attend medical care over 500kms may be considered
Not eligible:
× Purchase of non-essential household items (i.e. microwave, furniture, TV,
computer)
× Regular or expected expenses (i.e. bills, school fees, car rego, rental bond)
× Hire purchase agreements, rent-to-buy or loan payments
× Travel costs to see a sick relative or attend a funeral
Tips: Completing the form
Reason 4: Unexpected decrease in household income
You must provide:
•
What your income was before
•
What your income is after the event
•
The date of the decrease in income (must be within previous 12 months)
•
The reasons for the decrease in income
Eligible:
 Loss of employment or decreased hours at work
 Loss of income due to relationship breakdown or family separation
 Late /ceased / decreased child maintenance payments
 Loss of a family member
 Loss of income due to illness, injury or disability
 Unforeseen cessation or substantial decrease in Centrelink payments
Not eligible:
× Decrease in Centrelink payments due to deductions or penalties
× Fluctuation in casual work hours
× Ongoing low income
× Decrease in income amounting to less than $100 per fortnight
Tips: Completing the form
Reason 5: Other unexpected events
You must provide:
• Brief description of the incident or event
• Date of the incident
Includes events such as:
• Natural disaster
• Family disaster
• Domestic or family violence
• Other events to be assessed on a case-by-case basis
Tips: Completing the form
• Most common reasons for applying:
– Loss or decrease in employment
– Breakdown of household / family separation
– Decrease in income
– Car repairs
– Purchase of a new essential appliance
• Common reasons applications are unsuccessful:
– No eligible reason provided
– Reason provided occurred outside previous 12 months
– “Hardship” or “low income” is not a sufficient reason – application
must demonstrate that the customer has also experienced an
unexpected or unforeseen occurrence in the last 12 months
Page 5
Signature
Return the form to Concessions Services
in Reply Paid envelope to
GPO Box 806 Brisbane Qld 4001
If you need help completing the form,
call Concessions Services on 3247 6204
Outcome of application
 If your application is approved…
– You will receive a letter advising you of the outcome and how much
you will receive (up to the maximum cap of $720).
– The grant amount is calculated on the information provided on the
application form, as well as information about your energy usage
provided by your retailer. The decision on the grant amount is final.
There is no provision for appeal regarding the grant amount.
– The grant is applied to your next bill by your energy retailer
– If you owe more than the grant amount provided, you need to make
arrangements with your retailer to pay the outstanding amount
Outcome of application
×
If your application is not approved…
– You will receive a letter outlining why you have not been
successful. Some of the common reasons include:
• You have already received assistance through the Scheme in the previous
12 months (or twice in the previous 24 months)
• The balance owing on your electricity or gas bill is less than $100
• Based on the household income and expenses provided, there is sufficient
income left to pay the outstanding amount through a payment plan
• The reason provided is not an eligible reason or occurred outside the
previous 12 months
• There was insufficient information provided on the form – in this case you
may be requested to provide for further information
– You can appeal the decision. You have 28 days to contact the
Concessions Services to initiate an appeal. Any additional
information provided must be supported with documentary
evidence.
Energy & Water Ombudsman
Queensland (EWOQ)
What is EWOQ?
Free and independent umpire to resolve disputes relating to electricity and
reticulated gas (and water in for customers in South East Queensland)
Can I contact them about my issue?
 EWOQ can help resolve complaints about your energy company
 You can only contact EWOQ after you have already contacted your energy
provider about the problem
 EWOQ can investigate issues related to accessing HEEAS if your retailer
has not provided appropriate assistance
 EWOQ can help to identify systemic problems in the market
X Cannot cover complaints relating to on-supply, bulk hot water or bottled gas
X Cannot cover complaints about the Queensland Government Scheme or
decisions made by Concessions Services
How do I contact them?
Call 1800 662 837 or visit www.ewoq.com.au. Or lodge a complaint online at
www.energywatercomplaints.com.au
More information
• You will receive an email from us with:
– A copy of these slides
– Links to relevant information online
– Link to an online survey to give us feedback on
this webinar
– Invitation to our next Energy Webinar on
Tuesday 8 December on Comparing energy
market offers in South East Queensland
Questions?
• Please type your questions into the chat window
and we will answer them now
• Or email questions to: [email protected]
The End