EI Assist - brought to you by the EIBF

EI Assist is a free confidential service for EI members.

We are here 24 hours a day for information, help and advice on anything that is bothering you.

From legal and financial support, personal, health and wellbeing – our trained advisors will provide you with the support needed to get you back on track.

You can call us 24/7 on 03331881877, or visit the EI Assist website - with webinars, hundreds of pages of information and live chat.

Go to the EI Assist website

What can we help with?

Almost anything. Our professional staff can help with more personal issues such as stress, anxiety and bereavement, and a range of practical issues too.

• Stress and wellbeing: we can provide in the moment counselling – just call us on 03331881877
• Employment: Rights of employees, discrimination, transfer of business, maternity rights, pay, sick pay, health and safety at work, dismissal, redundancy
• Finance: Budgeting, debt, financial planning, retirement
• Education: School closures, problems at school, student grants and student loans
• Health: COVID-19 (in line with Government and NHS Guidelines), patient rights, complaints, health costs, HIV/AIDS, abortion, infertility
• Housing: rent/mortgage payment disputes, buying and selling a house, renting, tenancies, homelessness, neighbour disputes, mortgages, residential care, nursing homes.
• Benefits: housing benefit, incapacity benefits, disability benefits, tax credit, maternity benefits – including whether you qualify and how to claim
• Travel, Transport and Holidays: holiday problems, holiday complaints, driving licences, passports, MOT, seat belts, moving overseas with a car
• Family and Personal: ending a relationship, child support, domestic violence, wills and obtaining probate, getting married, childcare provision, elder care, community care, bereavement, and changing a name
• Communication Problems: phones and mobile phones, complaints about the media, queries about television licences, copyright etc.
• Immigration and Nationality Citizenship: overstays, dual nationality, passport stamps, au pairs, Immigration control and working in the UK
• Legal Enquiries/Solicitors: court procedures, police, solicitors bills, legal help scheme, court forms, jury service, count course judgements
• National, International and Human Rights: voting procedure, moving overseas, messages from the Queen, access to personal records, discrimination acts, defamation of character, rape and sexual assault, personal Injuries.
• Taxes: income tax, council tax, PAYE, fringe benefits, tax rebates and tax arrears
• Consumer and Debt: Goods and services, consumer problems, insurance, credit, banks, problems with builders, problems with second hand cars

The service is run by Wellbeing Solutions and funded from member donations from the EI's Benevolent Fund.

03331881877

We are beginning to feel the impact of COVID-19 on jobs in the energy sector.

To help with the current difficult environment, EI Assist has made a special capped support fund available for members who have been seriously affected by the impact of COVID-19 - the aim is to help individuals past the pandemic by helping them retain their membership and professional registration and the benefits of EI support for 2022.

The fund comes from past and present members’ charitable donations and is limited, but we are keen to help as many people as possible. To make an application, you will need to show that you are:

• a current member
• are unemployed as a result of the COVID-19 outbreak
• and confirm you are not in receipt of a new job offer.

To help us to make sure that the fund gets to members who can benefit most, we ask that you apply only if you will have genuine difficulty in paying your EI membership fees for 2022.

Download the form to apply

EI Assist is the service provided by the Energy Institute’s Benevolent Fund to assist members with free confidential information, advice, and support.

The EI Benevolent Fund was set up in 1969 and is sometimes able to provide financial or other support for members (or their dependents) if they are experiencing demonstrable hardship, where this will help to improve their well-being and quality of life.

Applications will be considered from:

• Institute professional members (TMEI, MEI, FEI)
• Institute pre-professional members
• Former Institute members
• Dependents of Institute members and former members

A testimonial from an EI dependant below on how we have helped:

‘I have been a widowed-parent for 8 years, I was widowed when my child was 4.5 months old. The Energy Institute Benevolent Fund (EIBF) has given us both the gift of mental health. They part-fund my life-changing therapy and fully fund my child's long-term access to an amazing play therapist. These are things we absolutely could not afford without the EIBF, and despite the level of trauma we have had in our lives, were denied these by government agencies for not being a severe enough case. I don't think it has changed the ocean that is our lives, but it's like being given swimming lessons and a life raft, a sailing boat and sailing lessons: it is the difference between surviving our existence and being able to thrive. We are so grateful to the EIBF- thank you.’

If you meet our criteria for support (see below) then please do get in touch and fill out the initial application form. We may ask you to provide more information, for example details of your financial situation, so that we can establish whether and how we are able to help you, but you can use our simple form to tell us about your situation and make an initial enquiry.

Note that:

• You must be a member for more than one year for your application to be considered.
• Members are only able to make one successful application per calendar year.
• Applications must state the level of support requested.

Education Grants:

• Only available to EI members studying energy related subjects and supported by an applicant’s tutor.
• Further restrictions apply.

Welfare Grants:

• EI Members, former members or dependants (financially or closely related) may apply for assistance.
• Assistance is to support people in times of hardship (caused by unforeseen change of circumstances) and relief of poverty.

Want to apply and see if we can help you? Please download the form below and send it to: eibf@energyinst.org.

Download form

Are you able to give something back to EI members in need?

EI Assist is supported by the EI Benevolent Fund.

The fund was set up by EI members to help energy professionals and their dependents when life gets tough, and our work is funded by donations from EI members, past and present. We need your support, at any financial level to help the fund help others.

Every little bit helps. Want to give something back? You can make a donation below or over the phone by calling the EI membership team on 0207 467 7100.

The EI Benevolent Fund helps members, ex-members and their dependants who are experiencing hardship.

We are looking for new members to join our committee and develop the future direction of the fund. Our committee will ideally be representative of the range of backgrounds and cultures of the Energy Institute membership. Members who are newly joined, in mid career or retired would all be welcome to apply.

You will need to be willing to give time to help us consider each application, and attend both our full and sub committee group meetings. Expected time commitment is 15 - 20hrs per year or more if you are willing to take a leading role.  All our meetings will be on zoom except for one full in person committee meeting each year (but this could also be joined remotely).

Interested? E-mail us at eibf@energyinst.org for an application form.