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It’s easier  

Once you’ve set up a Direct Debit, your payments will be collected automatically each month, saving you time and effort.  
 

It’s greener  

Paying by Direct Debit generates 94% less carbon emissions than paying by cheque, so it’s a small change that can make a big difference.  

It’s considerably cheaper  

If you are on our Standard Variable Tariff and you pay by Direct Debit, you are eligible for our Direct Debit Discount. The average dual fuel customer will be able to save £129 a year. This is based on a percentage of your unit rate and standing charge and depends on how much energy you use, so some customers will see smaller or larger savings.  

We’ll add the discount for the period you are being billed on each statement. It’s our way of saying thank you for saving us time and for cutting carbon emissions.   

Set up a Direct Debit here or log in to our app or customer portal.

Do you offer fixed and variable Direct Debits?  

Yes, we offer both fixed and variable Direct Debit payments.  

• Variable Direct Debit – the balance on your monthly statement will be taken as a payment 14 days after the date on your statement. Your payments will vary across the year as they are based on how much energy you’ve used, which means they will be higher in winter and lower in summer.  
• Fixed Direct Debit – we use historic meter readings to work out how much your energy will cost over the year and split this cost into equal monthly payments. You will tend to build up credit in the summer, which will be used up over winter when your energy usage increases. We will review your Direct Debit periodically to check that it is set at the right level and you’re not building up too much credit or debt.  

I pay by monthly Direct Debit. Can I adjust my monthly payments?  

If you pay by Fixed Direct Debit, we review your payments regularly to make sure you’re paying the right amount to cover your energy usage. If we need to change your monthly payment, we’ll write to you – giving you at least 10 days’ notice of the change.    

If you’d like us to review your Direct Debit payment outside of this process, you can request a new payment amount on our app or online portal, or by contacting our customer care team. We’ll ask you for a meter reading so that we can be sure your account is on track.  

Why have I not received my Direct Debit discount?  

We’re sorry if there’s been a problem. If you’ve recently changed the way you pay, then please wait for an email confirming your Direct Debit has been successfully set up. We’ll also email you if there’s been a problem with your Direct Debit – for example, if it’s been cancelled or the bank has declined a payment.      

Our Direct Debit discount is only available on our Standard Variable Tariff. Our fixed tariffs are Direct Debit only tariffs and the discount is already factored into the price. This means you won’t see a separate discount listed on your bill.   

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Good Energy is now part of the Warm Home Discount, which has been extended to include a wider range of customers. Read about what it is, if you’re eligible for the scheme and when you’ll receive your payment.  

This is a £150 payment from the government to support with the cost of heating your home over winter.  

If you’re looking for information about the other energy bill support schemes set up by the government, read about the Energy Price Guarantee and the Energy Bills Support Scheme.

Who can receive the Warm Home Discount?

Under the scheme, you may be eligible to receive the discount if you meet either of the following criteria: 

• You or your partner receive the Guarantee Credit portion of Pension Credit 
• You or your partner recieve qualifying means-tested benefits, including income-related employment & Support allowance, income-based jobseekers allowance, income support, housing benefit, universal credit or pension credit savings credit. To understand more about which benefits qualify, please go to the Warm Home Discount Scheme: Overview – GOV.UK

Please note, you must be the named bill payer for the property to qualify for the discount. So for example, if you rent and the electricity bill is paid by your landlord, then they will be contacted instead of you. 

How do you get the Warm Home Discount?

If you qualify for the discount, the government will send you a letter in October or December with more information about how your payment will be added to your energy account. 

What should I do if I qualify for the discount and I don’t receive a letter?

If you still haven’t received a letter by January, you’ll need to contact the government Warm Home Discount helpline.

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Good Energy meter readings are carried out by TMA.

How will I recognise a TMA employee? 

TMA employees will have an ID badge and will explain that they are representing Good Energy. 

If no one is home when they call, all TMA employees will leave a card to let you know they have visited.

TMA meter readers use their own vehicles with metallic, magnetic TMA signs applied to their front doors.

How often will my meter be read? 

We plan to read your meter twice a year, but if you want to provide us with your own meter readings, you can submit these via your online account or the Good Energy app.

Can I find out more about TMA’s background and ethics? 

TMA (Smart Meter Installation – TMA) is a UK-based, independent business support services company. One of its services is taking meter readings. 

Good Energy aims to work with like-minded businesses who share our own ethics and approach to the environment as far as possible, within the constraints imposed by the business. We have seen TMA’s corporate social responsibility (CSR) report and are happy that it meets our standards.

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If you still think your meter might be faulty, please contact us. If, based on your energy consumption, we agree that your meter is faulty, we’ll advise about ways to test your meter to check.   

• Electricity Meter Tests:  
• Creep Test: Take a meter reading then turn off your power at the fuse. Wait 15 minutes and take another reading. The meter reading should not change as no energy is being used.  

• Kettle Test: Take a meter reading. Boil your kettle a few times from scratch and take a second read. Your usage should be reflected by your meter reading.  
• Gas Meter Tests:  
• Burns Test: Turn off all your gas appliances and your heating. Take a meter reading. Then turn on one gas device, say a single gas ring on your hob, and wait 10 minutes. Take a second meter reading. Your reading should change but only a little.  

We recommend emailing us photos of the meter reading results of these tests, so that we can help to analyse the data.  

If the results of the test aren’t clear and you’re still unsure about your meter, you can ask us to book a Meter Accuracy Test: 

• Electricity meter: A Meter Accuracy Test is carried out by an engineer who will visit your property and run a current through the meter to assess its accuracy. If the meter is clocking too fast by more than 2.5% or too slow by more than 3.5%, the meter is deemed faulty and will be exchanged free of charge.  
   
  If the meter is not found to be faulty, the meter will remain in place, and you will be charged £147.30 for the appointment. This is the cost-price to Good Energy.  
   
• Gas meter: The accuracy of a gas meter cannot be assessed on site so an engineer will come and replace it with a new one. The removed meter will be tested in a specialised lab to check if it’s functioning properly.  

 
If the meter is deemed faulty, there are no costs to you. If the meter is not found to be faulty, you will be charged £204 for the appointment. This is the cost-price to Good Energy.  

Economy 7 meters 

If you think your Economy 7 meter is faulty, the first thing to do is check you’re being billed for your day and night usage rates at the correct times. You can do this with a Timed Meter Readings test.  

• Take a meter reading sometime between 8am and midday.  
• Wait a few hours and take another meter reading sometime before 11pm.  
• Only one of the two readings should change. This is your day register and reading.  

 
If you think the readings on your bills are the wrong way around, send us an email with the photos of your timed meter readings, along with the date and time they were taken, and we’ll get this corrected for you.  

Prepayment meters 

For all information on prepayment meters, visit our dedicated help page. 

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What to do if you suspect a gas leak:

· Call the 24-hour national gas emergency service free on 0800 111 999. Do not use a phone/mobile phone near a gas leak as it might ignite a spark.
· Check if your boiler pilot light has gone out. If any gas appliances have been left on, turn them off.
· Do not turn light switches on or off, use doorbells, mobile phones, or any other electrical switches as they may cause a spark.
· Do not smoke, light matches or use any other kind of naked flame.
· Open doors and windows to clear the gas.
· Turn the main gas tap on the pipe leading into the meter to the ‘OFF’ position. The supply is off when the ridged line on the spindle is across the pipe.

Gas safety check

If you’re a homeowner, have your gas appliances, flues and pipework checked once a year by a Gas Safe registered engineer.

If you rent, your landlord is responsible for carrying out a Gas safety check once a year and should provide you with the gas safety certificate. For more information, download this document from the Health and Safety Executive.

Who can check or fix gas appliances?

Gas Safe Registered engineers are the only people legally allowed to work on gas appliances. All Gas Safe registered engineers carry an ID card as proof of identity. You can check if an engineer is registered on the Gas Safe Register website or by phoning them on 0800 408 5500. (Please note: the Gas Safe Register used to be known as Council for Registered Gas Installers (CORGI), which was abolished 1st April 2009).

Why are regular gas safety checks important?

Regular maintenance and safety checks can prevent gas leaks and stop carbon monoxide being released. A Gas Safe Registered engineer will check the appliance is well maintained and operating correctly. They’ll check the following when carrying out an examination of any gas appliance:
• the effectiveness of any flue;
• the supply of combustion air;
• its operating pressure or heat input or, where necessary, both; and
• its operation so as to ensure its safe functioning.

If an appliance fails a gas safety check, it will be disconnected and labelled to say that it’s not safe. Do not use this appliance until it has been repaired or serviced by a qualified engineer.

More information from the Health and Safety Executive.

You can keep you gas appliances safe yourself by making sure ventilation bricks or grilles or outside flues are never covered or blocked.

Free annual gas safety checks

The cost of a gas safety check varies depending on where you live and how many appliances in your home need to be checked, so it’s best to get a few quotes and compare.

However, all energy suppliers can provide free gas safety checks on internal gas appliances, to customers in the following circumstances:

· who receive means tested benefits
· where at least one occupant is aged 5 years or under
· who are of pensionable age, disabled or chronically sick, and either live alone or live with others who are all of pensionable age, disabled, chronically sick or under the age of 18.

If you are eligible for a free gas safety check, please request one by emailing gas.safety@goodenergy.co.uk. We will only provide a free gas safety check if one has not been carried out within the past 12 months.

Carbon monoxide poisoning

Carbon monoxide can be released by faulty gas appliances. It can also be caused by burning solid fuels in spaces without enough ventilation – for example having an open fire with a blocked chimney.

Carbon monoxide poisoning is caused by inhaling carbon dioxide, and kills around 30 people a year.

Warning signs of leaking carbon monoxide

As carbon monoxide gas is colourless, odourless, tasteless, and initially non-irritating it is very difficult to detect. Be aware of these warning signs in your home:

· Orange or yellow gas flames
· Increased condensation in the room or near appliances
· Fumes or smoke in the house
· Solid fuel (coal or wood) will be more difficult to light, burn slowly or go out.

Symptoms of carbon monoxide poisoning

Exposure to carbon monoxide can be dangerous to human health. Symptoms are often mistaken for common flu and include:

· Headaches
· Breathlessness
· Nausea
· Dizziness
· Collapse
· Loss of consciousness
· Tiredness
· Drowsiness
· Vomiting
· Pains in the chest
· Stomach pains
· Erratic behaviour
· Visual problems

What to do if you have a carbon monoxide leak

In the home, carbon monoxide is most often produced by heaters, and cooking equipment – especially if they run on gas. If you think you have a carbon monoxide leak, follow these steps:

· Switch off the faulty appliance
· Switch off your gas supply at the main control valve
· Phone the national Gas Emergency Number on 0800 111 999
· Open all your doors and windows to ventilate the house
· If you have symptoms of carbon monoxide poisoning, seek urgent medical attention.

How to prevent carbon monoxide leaks

· Install an audible carbon monoxide alarm that is compliant with British Standard EN 50291 and carries a British or European approval mark, such as Kitemark. Find out more about making sure you install the correct carbon monoxide alarm.
· Ensure chimneys, flues and air vents are not blocked or covered up.
· Make sure gas appliances are regularly checked and serviced by a Gas Safe Register engineer.

Be-alarmed is the national campaign to reduce the number of deaths and injuries caused by carbon monoxide. The website has plenty of information on how to stay safe and what to do in an emergency.

Stay energy safe

Tampering with an electricity or gas meter is illegal. It is also extremely dangerous and can be fatal.

Tampering with electricity meters could lead to a short circuit, wiring overheating or even a fire. Wires that seem safe can become ‘live’, putting you at risk of a fatal electric shock.

Tampering with a gas meter could cause a gas leak. Gas leaks can cause headaches and possible loss of conscious. But more seriously it only takes a spark to cause a serious explosion.

Tampering with your meters is known as energy theft, which can lead to a fine or a prison sentence.

How to report energy theft

If you see a suspicious metering setup or suspect energy theft, then we urge you to report it. This can be done anonymously by calling Crimestoppers on 0800 0232 777.

For more information on how to spot meter tampering or the impacts it can have, visit the Crimestoppers Energy Safe website at www.stayenergysafe.co.uk.

Read the energy Theft Charter to understand our obligations as an energy supplier to keep customers safe from meter tampering and energy theft.

What to do if you need support with your energy bills

If you’re struggling to pay for your energy, please contact us and we’ll help you find an affordable solution.

There’s also lots of independent support available. Contact Citizens Advice for free and independent advice about your energy. Or get in contact with organisations such as StepChange for support with energy debt.

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There are two reasons why you might receive an estimated bill despite having a smart meter.   

1) We are not receiving meter readings from your smart meter. This may be because your meters are not commissioned (the smart capabilities have not been activated) or because they have fallen off the wide area network (WAN) and require recommissioning.  

If you have requested that your meters are not commissioned, or you have denied permission for us to read them, then your bills will be estimated unless you send us a meter reading.  

If your meters should be sending us meter readings but are not, contact us and we will attempt to (re)commission your meters remotely. If we are not able to do this, we may need to send an engineer to commission the meter on site, but we will let you know if this is the case.  

In your email, include an accurate meter reading from your meter. You can find instructions on how to do this here.  

If your gas meter is more than 10 meters from your electricity meter, or there is some obstruction like a wall between the meters, then it may be that we are not able to commission your gas meter and you will need to send us meter readings manually. This is because the gas meter can only communicate locally and sends its meter readings to your electricity meter, which then sends both meter readings off via the wide area network.  

In future, we hope to be able to offer dual band comms hubs to customers in this situation. This will boost the signal capability of gas meter and allow it to communicate with your electricity meter and so send us meter readings.  

2) Your smart meter read frequency preference is set to monthly. This means that we are only able to draw one meter reading from your meters per month so if we need to bill you between these meter readings for any reason then we will have to bill you to estimated meter readings. To resolve this, contact us and request that your smart meter read frequency preference be updated to either daily or half-hourly.  

Why have I received an estimated bill when I submitted a meter reading? 

There are several reasons why you might receive an estimated bill even though you’ve submitted meter readings.  

1) We did not receive the meter readings you submitted. This might be due to a system error or because you mistyped your information when submitting on the website. Try submitting your meter readings again and be sure that you have typed your account number and meter serial number correctly.  

2) We received your meter readings, but they were quarantined because they were deemed to be too low or too high. This can often happen if we’ve been estimating your bills for some time. To resolve this, email us a picture of your meter and we will review this and release a bill to you.  

3) We received your meter reading and have used it to bill you, however we have billed you from an estimated meter reading because it is the reading we charged up to on your last bill. To avoid this in future, be sure to provide us with monthly meter readings so actual meter readings are always used.  

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Why is my energy bill high?

The first thing to do if you’re struggling to pay your bill is to ensure that your bill is accurate, by checking it reflects your energy usage. Common culprits of an unusually high energy bill are:  

• Changing seasons – Immersion water heaters that are left on constantly  
• Having your heating on very high, or long hours  
• Electric plug-in heaters  
• Older appliances which have reduced efficiency  
• Poor insulation  
• Building work  
• A change in household circumstances such as additional people to stay or more time spent at home.  
  

Can Good Energy help me with a payment plan?

Once you’ve confirmed that your bill is correct, please get in touch with us to request a payment plan. This will need to cover ongoing usage as well as a debt repayment element that will be agreed between us.  

When contacting Good Energy, we’ll recommend if there is a better tariff available to you as this could reduce future costs. We can offer a discount to those who pay by Direct Debit, for example.  

If you’d prefer to pay for your energy as you go, Good Energy can install a smart pre-payment meter for you free of charge. Top ups are managed online, and payments taken daily.  

Independent support with your energy bills

If you need additional help with your bill, we can recommend the following third-party services:  

• Citizens Advice: Contact details and more information.
• National Energy Action if you’ve built up a debt with your energy bills. Call 0800 304 7159, Monday to Friday 10.00am-12.00 noon
• StepChange (0800 138 1111): For debt advice for domestic customers. They arrange a 40-minute phone call to run an Income and Expenditure survey and can hold off non-priority debt  
• Turn2Us (0808 802 2000): An income maximisation charity. They run searches to ensure you are getting everything you are entitled to from the government.  

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Good Energy’s billing system is set up so that each time we receive a meter reading, we bill to it.  

This means that, in the following situations, you are likely to receive more than one bill in a month:  

• If you submit more than one electricity and gas reading in a month  
• If you submit your electricity and your gas meter readings on different days  
• If you receive an estimated bill and then provide us with accurate meter readings that month  
• If you submit a meter reading and then a meter reader visits (meter reader readings also tend to come through on different days which results in separate bills)  
• If you have one smart meter and one traditional meter and you send us a meter reading on a day other than your smart billing day (you can ask the team what this day is).  

Submitting your meter readings together and around the same time each month will help to avoid some of these. However, on occasion, multiple bills are unavoidable.  

If you have received multiple bills in a month and you’re on a variable direct debit, this will trigger multiple payments. If you would like to avoid this, contact us as soon as you receive your second bill, and we can cancel the second payment and incorporate it into next month’s payment instead.  

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