Do you have an online energy account? Talk to E.ON for a chance to win a £200 voucher NOW CLOSED

[AngelieMumsnet]

E.ON has asked us to find out about Mumsnetters' experiences with using online energy accounts.

Here's what E.ON have to say "Do you manage your energy online? We're keen to find out how we can make our online service more customer friendly, and tailor it to your needs."

So, do you have an online account? How regularly do you use it, and why? If you don't have an account, why not? Is there anything your energy company could do to entice you to go online with them?

Would you like to see an app for energy companies? If so, what features should it have?

Is there anything else that you would like to be able to do online with your energy company?

Everyone who adds a comment to this thread will be entered into a prize draw where one MNer will win a £200 voucher (a "Compliments voucher" - a multi-store gift voucher that can be spent at 130 retailers and 450 independent stores making up over 20,000 outlets nationwide).

Thanks and good luck,
MNHQ

For prize draw terms and conditions please click here - by posting on the thread you are agreeing to these terms

I agree wholeheartedly with Diff btw,

It would be good if it could analyse my usage and alert me to a better tariff if one is available instead of swindling me until I cotton on.

Exactly.

I have an online account. It is easy to put in meter readings for gas, electric is automatic. It saves me filing paper bills and is convenient.

I have an online account and enter meter readings most months. I like that it's easy to use and let's me keep track of our usage and what our account balance is like.

However I'd like to see it include more functions, I recently had to log onto the main site and realised I'd been missing out on their 'benefits' package this doesn't seem fair to app users.

I'm with NPower and was recently offered their fixed-until-Nov-14 online price tariff.

I love it - I check my meter on the first day of every month and input the reading online - it really helps me keep on top of my usage.

I speak as someone who to my horror was using £100 of electricity per month last winter inadvertently - this was because I'd never lived in a house with an electric immersion heater before, and blithely left it on the whole time. Big mistake. My direct debits were £30, but usage nearly £100. Because I didn't check my meter for months and months, and npower didn't come out and read it for yonks, this went on a lot longer than it should have done.

I now avoid using the immersion heater EVER(!), and just use the back boiler fueled by wood, and have thus cut my usage (and direct debit) down to £40 per month.

Not bothered about an app personally, but that's because I don't have an ipad or tablet or anything - just a laptop so no prob just logging in to their website as normal.

The best feature of my energy app is the torch and camera app connection, my meter is quite inaccessible and I can't see it without taking a picture. It's the next best thing to having a smart meter in my opinion.

I use my eon account online to add meter readings, adjust my direct debit and I ocassionally check I am on the best tariff. I would love an app as I always struggle to think of my username.

Do you manage your energy online?
Yes I manage my energy online.

So, do you have an online account? How regularly do you use it, and why?
I have an online account that I use to record my meter readings and check my usage. I really only use it once every couple of months.

Would you like to see an app for energy companies? If so, what features should it have?
I think an app would be great where you can check your bills, change your tariff if there is one more suitable and input meter readings.

Is there anything else that you would like to be able to do online with your energy company?
I would like to be able to change direct debit amounts if required and ask for a refund if I have paid too much.

We use an online account with Eon. It's easy to use and I look at it quarterly when we get our bill.

I used to really like the graphs which compared your usage year on year, but this has been discontinued in favour of comparing your usage with similar households. This isn't so useful, it would be good to see if usage has stayed the same or gone up/down. Please bring this back Eon!

I'd like to see an app so i could easily monitor my energy use and bills at the touch of a button. I have an online energy account and it allows me to put in my meter readings which i like very much.

I do have an online energy account but I don't really use it - i just check our statement that is emailed on a monthly basis to see how we're doing for electricity (we don't have gas). I would love an app though, it would make it easier to input meter readings. It would be good if it told us whether we are using more or less than the previous month, when our peak usage is, how we could reduce electricity etc.

I manage my energy (electricity only as we have no mains gas) online via logging in to my supplier's website.

I used to never use it - we just automatically got it after switching to direct debit and paperless billings. My dh handled all that and we both just let it drift. I logged on out of curiosity and used their comparison tool (comparing our usage to other, similar households) to discover that our usage was hugely high. By looking at our usage patterns we've been able to make savings and hope to see the benefit in our future bills.

I now log on once every quarter to compare that quarter's usage. On my supplier's site I can compare with similar households, and also with the same quarter of previous years. However if there were more tools related to current/recent usage I'd probably do it more often.

An app would be useful if you could input meter readings and get instant comparisons, rather than just having information that changed every quarter. I'd probably log on a few times a month if that was available.

I'd also like to be able to change direct debit amounts more quickly online, using information from recent usage.

I can't bare the idea of managing my energy online. What on earth does it mean! I just set up direct debit and leave it to the banks. I hate the way that absolutely everything is done online now. I spend too much time online. No, I do not want an app, thank you! The main reason I can't bear going online is because I'd need a password and I already have so many and keep getting barred form my own bank accounts because I get confused and enter the wrong one. Telephones are really brilliant inventions you know - with live people at the end, being employed to be helpful. Could that be the future?

I prefer inputting the meter reading online. The last time the meter guy came he glances at the meter (very high up on the wall) and saw a 6 where there was a 5. This was one of the first digits where it made a big shock difference to our next bill!

I am keen on paperless billing as an environmentally friendly measure - the more I ca do online the better.

We have an online account with EON. It's good, but to be honest, I rarely bother to log onto it (Mumsnet is much more exciting).
It would be better if I could be bothered to input our meter readings each month, but I only do it once or twice a year.
I would love a system where your usage could be monitored in real time and you could analyse your usage patterns online. A bit like an Owl monitor, which we have but rarely check.
I would like it if my supplier could monitor my usage and tell me if a different tariff would be cheaper.

I use Eon online and it is useful for submitting meter readings and checking my usage.
An app would be very handy though! for meter readings and checking usage and even payments!

So, do you have an online account? How regularly do you use it, and why? If you don't have an account, why not? Is there anything your energy company could do to entice you to go online with them?

Yes I do have an online account and have used it for a few years (different providers). Making rates cheaper if you go online entices me of course! Making the account easy to use.

Would you like to see an app for energy companies? If so, what features should it have?

Yes I would. Ability to enter readings online and get up to date bills. Source for contact details (not always easy to find). Checking usage (a link to an energy monitor?) might be good.

No I don't but I think it would be much easier

We keep track of where we are with the online facilities and it is very useful to find out if we are overpaying ( or underpaying) money.
An app would be great though and I think I would use it more as it's easier to just pick up your phone rather that computer/laptop

Here's what E.ON have to say "Do you manage your energy online?

YES

We're keen to find out how we can make our online service more customer friendly, and tailor it to your needs."

So, do you have an online account?

YES

How regularly do you use it, and why?

EVERY COUPLE OF MONTHS

If you don't have an account, why not?

NA

Would you like to see an app for energy companies? If so, what features should it have?

NO - I am happy to continue to use my home PC. After all this is where the meters are

Is there anything else that you would like to be able to do online with your energy company?

Not really.

We regularly update our meter readings on line & view our bill on line to. It makes it so much easier to keep track of. Do think there could be some further improvements made like apps available to make your account even more accessible

We have an onlline energy account. We use it to update our meter readings regularly (every month or two) and to track our usage and credit/debit situation. It also updates our DD payments so if we're keeping our energy use down we can see an immediate reduction in our DD.

An app would be good, we currently do it on the laptop but a nice simple app for the ipad would be great.

I prefer paperless billing and like that I can access my account at any time online. I don't have a smartphone and so wouldn't use an app.

We do have an online account. We only go on to submit readings. I think an APP would be a fabulous idea as it would be so much quicker and easier to have the ipad in the cupboard and tap in the numbers for a meter reading rather than having to log onto the main computer to do it. That is what i'd like the app to be for - submitting meter readings.

I manage our account online with ScottishPower. I log on once a month and give a meter reading. I would like to see:

1. A text reminder that I need to give a reading rather than having to remember.
2. A tool to allow me to overpay occasionally when I have spare cash without my Direct Debit being messed around with.
3. An app that I can access with my phone.
4. A usage chart so I can see when I am using power and possibly allow me to identify what I can do to reduce charges.
5. Based on my usage or data I would like sensible recommendations as to how I can reduce my fuel use.
6. My name spelt correctly on my account. (When I transferred on the phone the representative spelt my name wrong and apparently I cannot change it now

I do not want to be a 'club' member or be sold useless gadgets. I do not want to be spoken at. The tone of the message on my providers web pages is very condescending. Make your instructions clearer and then perhaps more customers would engage with you.

Finally, stop telling me when I phone you that I can now do 'most things' on your web page/ App when in fact they cannot be done.

I know that this is aimed at my supplier but I hope it is of help. :)

Oh, and finally I would like to be able to enter a number such as 18975 in one go rather than having to click a box for the 1, then another for the 8, etc. It's a simple formatting issue and means I do not have to use 30 keystrokes but 10.