Are you with Future Energy? Winter bills could be costly

VULNERABLE customers of an energy company based in Newcastle could get a shock when their winter bill arrives – because it might be bigger than expected.

Future Energy is not part of a government scheme offering £140 discount under the Warm Homes Discount Scheme.

Winter bills are automatically deducted by most electricity suppliers to help pensioners and low income families.

But Future Energy is not part of the scheme.

Richard Devine changed from his previous supplier on the promise of cheaper bills.

He says he was not told the company did not offer the extra help.

Richard, 68, and his wife Ena, 80, joined Future Energy in March. He said: “We swapped supplier because the government is always encouraging us to change.

“A friend suggested Future Energy so we went with them.

“At no time do I remember being told we would lose the Warm Homes Discount if we went with them.

“If we had known, we would have stayed where we were or gone with a company who did it.

“I complained to Future Energy but they were not much help.

“All they did was confirm they did not take part and suggest we could switch without incurring any exit fees.

“Even if we do change we will have lost this year’s discount.”

Richard said he would not have joined the company if he had been aware of the rules.

He said: “I want to stop this from happening to someone else.”

Future Energy was set up by founder Tim Cantle-Jones with a promise to help North East customers.

The company was launched in 2015 with ambitions to take customers away from the Big 6 energy companies.

Tim, who is still a major shareholder but does not take part in the day to day activities of the business, said he had previously worked for a company offering energy-saving advice.

He said at the time: “We were helping households reduce their energy costs.

“What we found was that poorer households pay more for their energy because they were on high tariffs. “I thought that was all wrong. “In the North East people are struggling to pay and if we can help them through reducing bills then we will.”

A spokesman for Future Energy confirmed they were not in the Warm Homes Scheme but they helped customers in different ways.

He said: “The Warm home Discount Scheme can provide £140 off electricity bills if you qualify and has been tailored to be provided to customers of the largest energy providers.

“Future Energy customers benefit from a smaller locallybased business that delivers competitive tariffs to individual customers and also supports the community as a whole through our community programme. “Although we cannot participate in all incentives that are obligatory for the largest providers, we strive to achieve the best value for customers in other ways.”