Elderly: Typical Victims of Expensive Bills
Australia’s energy market is all about competition. The contest of being “the best energy supplier” is continuously ramping for the past years. Many consumers take advantage of this and shop around whenever they can. However, there are still some who remain loyal with their provider and suffer expensive bills.
Three big energy regulatory bodies have found that a consumer can save up to $1,500 a year by simply switching from worst available plan to the most competitive one. These regulatory bodies include:
- Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC) – they protect, strengthen and improve the energy competition in Australia’s market.
- Independent Pricing and Regulatory Tribunal (IPART) – they provide independent regulatory decisions and advice to protect and promote the ongoing interests of the consumers.
- Australian Energy Market Commission (AEMC) – they make and revise energy rules and provide advice.
Not just this three regulatory bodies, even Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull said that around 2 million Australians pay much higher electricity bill because they’re stuck on expensive contracts.
In addition to this, they find out that the common victims of expensive bills are Australians with the age of 50 and over. These consumers find switching supplier too difficult. That’s why they are likely to stay with their existing supplier for years despite continuously rising rates.
Why some elders do not consider switching?
- Too many jargons
All professions or subjects have technical language. Confusing terms such as fixed and variable, watt, distributor and many more are hard to understand by most elders if not explain well. Unless, if the consumer is an electrician.
- Lengthy terms and conditions
Terms and conditions in switching provider must understand well by elders before he completely switches provider. Or else, it may result in a serious problem in the future. The problem is most elders easily get bored understanding lengthy messages.
- Easily annoyed on phone calls
Elders prefer mails than phone calls. They prefer to do things on their most convenient time instead of talking to the sales representative for about 30mins to 1 hour.
- Unavailability
Our grannies love doing nothing except drinking tea and barbeques. One of their concern too why they hesitant to switch provider is the field technician that they need to wait to come on their home.
- Limited knowledge about the energy market
Not all elders are tech-savvy. They find difficult to do their own research on how to switch provider. They prefer to stay with known providers for quite some time instead of switching to others to avoid hassle on their part.
How to solve the problem?
We know that everyone must pay a considerable amount on their electricity bill. We are here to help consumers from comparing plans to switching retailers. No need to be a market expert, just grab a chair, follow these easy steps and break the curse of paying expensive bills.
Step 1: Visit www.econnex.com.au
Step 2: Provide needed information such as postcode, address, type of services etc.
Step 3: Compare the plans. Econnex shows all the available plans and retailers in your area. Do not miss to check tariffs, billing period, charges, and discounts before deciding.
Step 4: Switch on the spot. Anyone can switch provider on their most convenient time.
Now, our elders can also enjoy the benefit of switching without leaving their home.
