“Prioritise me” – priority service with energy companies for people with long term conditions
“Prioritise Me” is a project by Speakup about helping people with long term conditions get extra support from their energy supplier.
It’s all about spreading the word about the ‘Priority Services Registers’ as people may not know about these. Lots of the big energy companies have them and people with long term conditions are eligible to be on them. When a household is on the register, they get extra support; for example, if there is a power cut, they would be told in advance, and if the power cut is for any length and the household is seen as vulnerable, they will put a generator in the vicinity. There are also helplines when people are worried about things.
People need to contact their energy companies to apply. Some energy companies will let you apply online, others ask you to phone them. It doesn’t take long to apply, it’s not a long thing and shouldn’t take more than 5 minutes to do online. People do need their account numbers before they start and they need to tick the box ‘mental health’ if ‘learning disabilities’ doesn’t show. Learning disabilities and autism are approved to be on the register too, because they are long term conditions. If people are phoning their energy company they just need to ask to be put through to the Priority Services Register.