Bupa Electricity Consumer Care

1. Our Commitment to You

At Bupa, we understand that electricity is essential for the well-being of our residents. We are committed to providing you with excellent service and support and to treating you fairly and respectfully in all our interactions. This Consumer Care Policy outlines our commitment to you and explains your rights and responsibilities as our customer in relation to our sale of electricity to you.

This policy complies with the Consumer Care Obligations outlined in the Electricity Industry Participation Code 2010 (‘Code’).

2. Key Principles of Our Consumer Care Policy

• Respect and collaboration: We will work with our residents in a respectful, collaborative, and constructive manner.
• Clear and timely communication: We will communicate with you in a way that is understandable, timely, clear, and accessible, taking into account your communication preferences.
• Support for payment difficulties: We will take reasonable steps to support residents who experience payment difficulties, including offering options for payment and if appropriate and with your permission, referrals to support agencies.
• Fair and transparent fees: Other than charging you for the supply of electricity at reasonable rates under your pricing plan, Bupa does not currently charge any additional fees. For example, we do not charge for the costs of connection or disconnection when you enter or leave a Bupa retirement village.
• Protection for medically dependent residents: We will not disconnect the homes of residents whom we know are medically dependent. A resident is considered ‘medically dependent’ if they are dependent on the mains electricity for critical medical support, such that loss of electricity may result in loss of life or serious harm.

 

3. Communication Preferences

To ensure we communicate with you effectively, we will ask you to provide us with at least two preferred communication channels when you become a resident. You can update your communication preferences at any time by contacting us.

You can provide us with an alternate contact or support person to help you with general queries and servicing of your electricity account. A support person may be able to assist you if you think you have difficulties communicating with us or our representative. An alternate contact can be helpful to facilitate communication when you are unreachable.

4. Annual Customer Check-In

At least once a year, we will:

• remind you where to view our consumer care policy; and
• ask you to confirm that your contact and other information (e.g., medical dependency status) is up to date.

 

5. Payment Difficulties

We understand that circumstances can change, and you may experience difficulty paying your bills. If this happens, please contact us as soon as possible. We will work with you to find a solution, such as:

• developing a payment option or plan that fits your budget; or
• with your permission, refer you to a support agency that can provide budgeting advice or assistance with financial hardship.

Please note that Bupa has outsourced the processing of meter readings and invoicing of residents’ electrical supply to a third party contractor, UtiliBill (subsidiary of Tenco). Please contact UtiliBill if you would like to:

• request for information about your consumption of electricity; or
• if you have any queries regarding your invoice.

UtiliBill’s contact details are set down at the end of this policy. Any queries unable to be resolved by UtiliBill on our behalf will be referred to Bupa and we will get back to you as soon as we can.

6. Disconnection

We will not disconnect your electricity supply unless it is a measure of last resort. We will take a number of steps before doing so, including:

• checking that you are not recorded as a medically dependent resident in our Medical Dependency Register;
• making multiple (not less than five) attempts to contact and engage with you to discuss the overdue account;
• offering payment support options and information on available assistance; and
• providing you with the required notice under the Code before disconnecting, except in the case of requested, agreed or emergency disconnections.

As at the date of this policy, Bupa has not disconnected any residents’ electrical supply.

7. Medically Dependent Residents

We understand that some residents rely on electricity for medical equipment or other electrical equipment to support medical treatment. If you or someone residing at your premises is medically dependent on electricity for critical medical support, please inform us. We will also ask you if this applies when you first enter our retirement village and remind you to tell us annually.

We will record this information in a Medical Dependency Register to ensure that your electricity supply is not disconnected. We may ask you to complete an application for medically dependent status and provide confirmation from a medical practitioner to support your application.

If you are medically dependent, please visit the Electricity Authority's website which has useful information on how to make a power cut emergency plan to help and support you during an emergency situation such as an unplanned power cut.

We will inform our electricity distributor/supplier and any metering equipment provider of the relevant Installation Control Point (ICP) identifier of the premises where medically dependent person(s) are residing for the purpose of ensuring that they will give appropriate consideration to the medically dependent person(s) in managing electrical service, planned and unplanned outages. 

We will make sure this information is stored securely and only used for its intended purpose. You can view more about how we manage your personal information in our Privacy Policy on our website.

8. Pricing Plan, Fees and Bonds

As Bupa is only selling electricity to its residents at certain homes in certain retirement villages, there is currently only one pricing plan on offer to such residents for each village.

The current pricing plan only charges you for the supply of electricity at reasonable rates, and Bupa does not currently charge any additional fees. For example, we do not charge for the costs of connection or disconnection when you enter or leave a Bupa village.

In the event that Bupa introduces any fees in future, the fees we charge will be reasonable and reflect the actual costs of providing the service. Information on any fees (if applicable in the future) will be available on our website and in our Consumer Care Policy. We will ensure you are aware of the charges under your pricing plan and the amount of any fee before we charge it to your account.

9. Website Information

You can find further information about our Consumer Care Policy and your rights on our website. This includes:

• the most recent version of this Consumer Care Policy;
• a link to the Medically Dependency Form;
• our contact details and a section where you can leave us a message;
• a link to a dedicated page on the Electricity Authority's website with information on the Consumer Care Obligations;
• links to support agencies offering advice on energy efficiency and financial mentoring services; and
• information on the dispute resolution scheme.

 

10. Complaints and Disputes

If you have a complaint about our services or believe we are not meeting our obligations under this policy, please contact us. We have an internal complaint process to address your concerns fairly and efficiently. A copy of Bupa’s Complaints Policy can be obtained from the General Manager or Village Coordinator at the Retirement Village. You can also contact the Utilities Disputes scheme. For more information on Utilities Dispute, you can read more about the scheme and how to contact them on their website: www.udl.co.nz

11. Commitment to Continuous Improvement

We are committed to learning from our experiences to continually improve our service and will regularly review our Consumer Care Policy (at least every two years) to ensure it meets your needs and reflects changes in the industry.

12. Contact Us

If you have any questions relating to your consumption of electricity or your invoice, please contact UtiliBill.

Phone: 0800 466 508

Email: support@utilibill.co.nz

Website: www.utilibill.co.nz

For all other matters, please contact either the General Manager or Village Coordinator of your Village. Our general contact details are below.

Phone: 0800 60 80 99

Email: customer@bupa.co.nz

Website: www.bupa.co.nz

Postal: PO Box 113054, Newmarket, Auckland 1149

 

 

Policy Effective: 1 April 2025