npower hometeam praised by financial expert Jasmine Birtles

Wed, 01 Jun 2011 11:16:48 GMT

npower hometeam has been named by Jasmine Birtles has a good example of a company who shares its 'no claims' cost savings with customers.

Broadcaster, financial expert and founder of Moneymagpie.com, Jasmine Birtles, has attacked British businesses which profit from insurance, cover and care products and then fail to share the cost savings with those customers who don't make a claim.

Birtles has called for businesses to offer a form of 'no claims bonus' cash back and it seems British families feeling the squeeze agree. A survey of 2,000 consumers* released shows that nearly 80 per cent believe they should receive an annual cash pay-out if they don't call on an insurance or care product.

Her comments add to the on-going PPI debate which has seen banks come under increasing pressure over insurance products. Yet Birtles is quick to point out that the problem is wide-spread across the consumer market.

She explained: "All sorts of corporations, from banks to insurance companies and energy providers, clearly benefit from cost to serve savings when customers don't claim against their products or policies, but where's the reward for these customers? Good business is a two-way thing where both sides should benefit. As the cost of living continues to rise, wouldn't it be nice to see more big businesses sharing these savings with some sort of cash back?

"npower's hometeam 50 boiler and central heating care is a good example, as it's priced the same as British Gas' homecare, but offers customers 50% cash back if they don't have an emergency call out during their 12 month care plan. Currently, npower is the only boiler care provider offering anything like this.

"npower estimates it will be pay out more than £700,000 in cash back over the next 12 months, but if all energy providers did this, there could be cash back of more than £500million in customers' pockets from the boiler care market alone."**

If businesses followed this advice it actually might benefit them, as 81 per cent of consumers questioned in the npower survey said they would be more likely to choose a product if it offered some sort of cash back.

Ends

Notes to Editors:
*Survey conducted by npower in May 2011.
**npower research 2010 showed that 33 per cent of homeowners had some sort of care product to cover the cost of servicing and repairing their boiler, hot water or central heating system. Number of UK households based on Census figures 2011. Research from Which? suggests that at least one in three boilers may have a problem within the first six years. Cash back figure based on providers paying out £96 cash back.

About npower:
npower is one of the top energy suppliers to the UK business market, serving over 238,000 small to medium sized enterprise sites and around 17,000 industrial and commercial customers, with over 100,000 sites.

npower hometeam 50 installs, repairs and offers gas boiler service in additions to offering a wide variety of heating care options.

npower reveals Brits haven't lost the urge to splurge

Tue, 31 May 2011 15:17:57 GMT

npower has revealed that even those British families might be feeling the squeeze, they haven't lost our urge to splurge, with the average Brit expected to spend more than £70,000 on impulse buys over a lifetime.

A survey of more than 2,000 customers conducted by npower hometeam 50, which is currently giving cash back to thousands of customers, suggests that whilst half of people choose to save spare cash from their monthly income, triggers such as receiving birthday money, coming into an unexpected windfall such as cash back from a company, or a small win on the lottery, will result in a spur of the moment purchase.

More than a third of consumers treat themselves to an impulse buy at least once a week spending on average £21.34. That's £1,114.56 a year and an incredible £70,217.28 forked out during the average adult lifetime. Surprisingly, men spend more on impulse buys than women frittering away £25.67 per week compared to a more frugal £18.89.

Items such as food, clothes, magazines and wine prove irresistible for girls when passing through the high street or supermarket, whilst books, shoes and toiletries also top the list for compulsive female shoppers. Predictably, food, beer and DVDs are the most common treats for their male counterparts.

Emily Stagg, from npower hometeam 50, said: "General consensus would have it that British consumers are trying to save every penny at the moment, but our research suggests that when we come into a small windfall, such as a small win on the lottery or cash back, we're still more likely to treat ourselves or our loved ones.

"£20 a week might not seem a lot, but can add up to a huge amount over a lifetime. For £70,000 you could easily put a large deposit on a house, pay off all your debits or buy a sports car."

70 per cent admit they are more likely to give in to temptation if there is a sale on. But 61 per cent of women firmly cite retail therapy as a reason for shopping on impulse, and often spend more money if they are feeling a bit down or depressed compared to just 38 per cent of men.

When it comes to confessing all to a partner, 33 per cent of girls admit they don't bother telling him about their recent purchases. A fifth of couples argue regularly as a direct result of overspending each week, and 67 per cent of women admit they are definitely the worst for impulse buys.

Emily Stagg continued: "As part of our hometeam 50 product, we'll be giving cashback to thousands of hometeam 50 customers over the next 12 months – that's an awful lot of impulse buys."

The cashback campaign will see hometeam 50 customers who signed up to the boiler care and central heating care product 12 months ago and who haven't had to call out npower's hometeam, receive 50% of the amount they paid npower, back.

npower's top 20 'impulse buys list includes food, clothes, magazines, bottles of wine, books, DVDs, shoes, holidays, beer, toiletries, home furnishings, music, clothes for children, jewellery, accessories, gadgets, garden accessories, flowers, toys and day trips.

Ends

Notes to Editors:
Survey conducted by npower in May 2011.

npower hometeam installs, repairs and offers gas boiler service, in additions to offering a wide variety of heating care options.

npower reveals Billericay is home to Britain’s oldest boiler

Thu, 02 Sep 2010 15:38:44 GMT

npower hometeam's nationwide search for Britain's oldest boiler has come to an end with Colin Sadler from Billericay being revealed as the owner of the oldest boiler in the country.

While the floppy disk, the video cassette and Bananarama have all been and gone, Colin Sadler’s boiler has been quietly ticking along at his home in Essex since 1968 and is still going strong.

Colin had never given his boiler a second thought, until his wife Sue read in his local paper that npower hometeam was on the search for Britain's oldest system. It was then that he thought his old Crane Caviller boiler, that has been in his home since him and his wife moved in 28 years ago, may stand a chance.

Since the Government's boiler scrappage scheme launched in January, npower hometeam, which installs, services and repairs boilers, has overseen the replacement of hundreds of old, inefficient boilers across the country. Inspired by these discoveries, the company launched a nationwide hunt to find the oldest boiler and, out of over 100 entries, Colin's system was confirmed as the oldest.

He will now receive £3,000 towards a new A-rated energy efficient boiler and installation.

Colin commented: "When my wife and I moved into our home in 1982, the seller warned us the boiler was quite old, but we decided to keep it as it was in good working order. It wasn't until an engineer recently told us he was reticent to service it because it was so old that we thought it might be about time to have a new one.

"That said, when I entered it into the competition I certainly didn't think it would be the oldest one they'd find. It's done us proud for many years, but we’re looking forward to get a new energy efficient boiler, as I think this one has earned its retirement."

Richard Cotton, head of sales for npower hometeam, commented: "Colin's boiler is a great example of some of the antique systems entered in to our competition. It's a surprise to see a system still working after more than 40 years.

"But as with many older boilers, Colin’s system is no longer in production, which can make it difficult to service as parts are no longer available. And the boiler itself is very inefficient compared to modern boilers which could save hundreds of pounds in heating bills.

"We're pleased to be able to provide Colin with help towards installing a new energy efficient boiler which will make a big difference to his energy bills and carbon footprint.

For customers who want to protect their current gas boiler, npower has a pioneering new boiler care service called npower hometeam 50. It offers boiler care including an annual boiler service usually worth £74 and repairs.

For more details of npower hometeam’s new boiler installations or hometeam 50 visit www.npower.com/hometeam

Notes to editors:
npower hometeam installs, services and repairs boilers, in addition to offering a wide variety of heating cover options.

npower is dedicated to helping UK businesses use energy more efficiently and therefore spend less money on their bills. We aim to have a positive impact on the communities we serve and reduce our customers’ carbon footprint whilst always improving our service to our customers.

npower supplies green energy to Wembley S

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