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The Consumer Council responds that NorgesEnergi calls insurance a “savings package.”
– Calling the product the “savings package” is misleading customers, Inger Lise Blyverket, director of the Consumer Council, tells Nettavisen.
NorgesEnergi is one of the largest electricity providers in Norway and has an additional product that customers can purchase. They call this the “savings package,” which is primarily insurance.
Blyverket reacts to the use of the name, believing that it would be wrong to wrap insurance with a name that indicates that you are saving something.
– The product has nothing to do with saving. People are tricked into spending money on a product they don’t need, which only makes electricity more expensive.
NorgesEnergi believes, however, that they have coverage for the name. Read his answer below in the case.
– Full of exceptions
The statement comes after Blyverket recently appeared on Nettavisen and warned of various energy traps that you should be aware of. Even then, he noted that power companies benefit from the sale of additional services such as insurance.
– We have seen that unemployment insurance has been sold to retirees and people with disability benefits. Insurance provides little protection anyway, because it is so full of exceptions and reservations that they are hardly ever applied, he explained.
After the Nettavisen case, we received an inquiry from a client who responded when he discovered that the “savings package” on the electricity bill was insurance.
– I experience it as a joke! Naeem Azam says to Nettavisen.
INVOICE: This is how it appears on the invoice of one of NorgesEnergi’s customers, Naeem Azam, who pays for the savings package.
Photo: Screenshot of the NorgesEnergi bill
He explains that he paid 49 crowns a month for the so-called savings package, on the two meters to which he has a subscription, for a long time, without knowing what it really meant.
– It seems that we are saving something, but it is the other way around, aim.
By chance, you discovered this spring that this savings package is insurance.
– Finish!
According to NorgesEnergi, this insurance can cover all your electricity expenses if you become unemployed or involuntarily laid off, a minimum of NOK 1,000 per month for a maximum of four months.
Blyverket says that the Consumer Council encourages people to check their electric bill to find out what they actually pay the electric company each month.
– If you have the “Savings Package” or other electricity insurance, we recommend that you terminate the contract, he says.
She recommends that you choose a cheap electricity deal and therefore you can save a few thousand kronor a year on this.
– A good tip for saving is to find a cheap electricity deal in the top ten on strømpris.no, he says.
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– arrogant
The online newspaper has asked NorgesEnergi why they call it a “Savings Package” when it comes to insurance.
– The savings package is insurance that, among other things, saves thousands of crowns if you, as a private customer, are involuntarily unemployed, laid off or on sick leave, says Geir Arne Gundersen, NorgesEnergi’s director of marketing and communications.
He also notes that the savings package gives customers the opportunity to get advice and help from an energy consultant to reduce energy consumption and therefore save you unnecessary electricity costs. Additionally, the insurance portion of the savings package will also cover up to NOK 5,000 if you suffer damage from electrical items in your home due to lightning.
They say they want all of their electricity customers to experience that their product terms are easy to understand and clearly presented.
COVERAGE: Geir Arne Gundersen, NorgesEnergi’s marketing and communications manager, believes they have coverage to place the insurance under the name “The Savings Package.”
Photo: NorgesEnergi
However, Gundersen reacts to Blyverket’s statements.
– When Blyverket states that this is insurance that people do not need, he seems reasonably arrogant and without a sufficient understanding of the financial situation in which many ended up, he says, and explains:
– When the corona pandemic hit hard in March and April, we experienced that many people were laid off or laid off. In this sense, several thousand NorgesEnergi customers had their electricity bill covered, both for network rental and consumption, precisely because they had the savings package. We still experience that many people contact us, because the pandemic and its consequences are even more obvious if possible.
Also read: These energy traps should be avoided: – They try to mislead consumers
I didn’t use insurance
However, not everyone can use the insurance they pay for. Azam is one of them, and he reacts to the fact that he has paid for something for which he receives nothing in return.
Azam has his main occupation as an interpreter at the Interpretation Center of the Oslo University Hospital (OUS). When the number of allowances at OUS dropped dramatically in March, Nav awarded him unemployment benefits. At the same time, he also wanted to use insurance from the power company.
– I was rejected. This is an insurance policy that is full of exceptions and doesn’t really cover anything, he says.
He requested to use the insurance on the grounds that he has paid for the savings package in the two subscriptions they have. In both denials you received, the reason must have been that you are autonomous.
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This despite the fact that he has a framework agreement with the Oslo University Hospital to refer to, and was also awarded unemployment benefits from Nav when the corona pandemic broke out in Norway due to OUS having much less work.
– If I had received good enough information about what the savings package was, and that this was insurance that does not apply to the self-employed, I would never have paid for it, he says.
Now Azam is waiting for a response to complaint number three, but with all the frustration he has canceled the savings package.
– Insurance should be a guarantee, but in this case I was not allowed to use it only when I needed it, he says.
Feel free to give your opinion in the survey before reading further, the article continues below.
Does not meet the conditions
Gundersen at NorgesEnergi tells Nettavisen that the savings package is offered to private clients at NorgesEnergi who have an employment relationship from which they can be fired, fired or reported ill.
– We are also clear on our terms. We have other products that are better suited to our customers in the corporate market, says Gundersen.
Even though Azam had his work hours reduced by at least 50 percent due to the crown crisis and thus was awarded unemployment benefits from the NAV, it was still not enough for him to use insurance.
Also read: Historically low prices: I got money to use electricity
– In the case of Naeem Azam, the insurance company has informed us that they have asked Azam for documentation of working conditions or notice of dismissal, but have not received it so far, he says.
However, they confirm that they have received a complaint for the denial given due to lack of documentation, and it will be processed as soon as possible, he points out.
Gundersen explains that it is stated in the terms of the “Savings Package” that clients must present a copy of the employer’s termination notice, the reason and effective date of termination, as well as NAV documentation showing that the client is registered as unemployed and is entitled to unemployment benefits. .
The online newspaper has seen the correspondence between Azam and IMAA (the company that deals with NorgesEnergi’s compensation cases), where they also confirmed that they have received documentation. They also attached documentation to the email. These documents, to which Nettavisen has also had access, show, among other things, the framework agreement with OUS and a confirmation from NAV of the granting of unemployment benefits. There is also a confirmation from the OUS that all interpreters, including Azam, received a reduced number of assignments by approximately 80 percent as of March 13.
– We can understand that Azam is desperate for the refusal, but initially in our terms and conditions, we are clear that the insurance applies to private clients who can document the dismissal or termination of employment. Unfortunately, it’s not enough to be able to refer to a small number of assignments as self-employed or self-employed, Gundersen says.
It indicates that the framework contract that they have received as documentation is not considered a labor contract since the entire assignment is resolved as autonomous.
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Warns Against Power Traps
When Blyverket on the Consumer Council came out on Nettavisen and warned about various energy traps you need to be aware of, he pointed out several things to be aware of.
– Never buy electricity directly from sellers on the street or over the phone, or when buying an item, for example, in an electronics store. These are the most expensive deals marketed in this way, he warned.
You should also know if you buy electricity directly through the providers’ websites.
– The most affordable deals are hard to find on their website, he said.
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