What is a secondary contact?
At Alinta Energy we understand you may want other people in your household, family, support network, or business, to be able to act on your behalf when it comes to managing your energy account.
While you can add a contact to make some decisions on your behalf, it is important to remember as the Primary Account Holder most decisions will still need to be made by you. You will also remain financially responsible for your account and any decisions made on your behalf.
There are three different types of secondary contacts that you can add to your account:
- Secondary Contact (Residential) – For when you want to add another contact to your residential energy account to help manage and administer your account;
- Secondary Contact (Small Business) – For when you, the director, partner, or sole trader of your business, want to add another contact to your business energy account to help manage and administer your account; and
- Authorised Representative (Support Person) – For when you want to add a financial counsellor, life support representative, or other hardship or Family Violence support person to your account.
How do I add a secondary contact to my account?
There are a number of ways to add a secondary contact to your account:
- the quickest way is via MyAccount. Go to your settings (found at top right navigation bar), scroll down to select ‘add secondary contact’.
- over the phone by contacting us today; or
- by providing us with a copy of the relevant Letter of Authority for your secondary contact type.
What can and can’t secondary contacts do?
Secondary Contact (Residential):
A Secondary Contact on your Residential account can:
- make payments on your account, including with respect to any payment plans or overdue amounts
- request an extension or set up certain payment plans on your account (being an Arrears Only, Arrears Plus, or SmoothPay payment plan)
- request a refund to the same bank account from which the original payment was made
- speak with Alinta Energy on your behalf in relation to any payment plans, overdue amounts, complaints, or bill disputes.
A Secondary Contact on your Residential account can’t:
- sign you up for any additional Alinta Energy products and services
- close, cancel, transfer, or upgrade your account
- arrange a move out
- change any of your account details, including in relation to adding or removing any concession cards or adding another secondary contact
- deregister any Life Support registered to the premises
- access your MyAccount.
You can set up a Secondary Contact (Residential) by using the Letter of Authority here.
Secondary Contact (Small Business):
A Secondary Contact on your small business account can:
- request an extension or set up certain payment plans on your account (being an Arrears Only or Arrears Plus)
- request a refund to the same bank account from which the original payment was made
- speak with Alinta Energy on your behalf in relation to any payment plans, overdue amounts, complaints, or bill disputes.
A Secondary Contact on your small business can’t:
- sign you up for any additional Alinta Energy products and services
- close, cancel, transfer, or upgrade your account
- change any of your account details, including in relation to adding or removing any concession cards or adding another secondary contact.
You can set up a Secondary Contact (SME) by using the Letter of Authority here.
Authorised Representative (Support Person):
An Authorised Representative (Support Person) can:
- request an extension or set up certain payment plans on your account (being an Arrears Only, Arrears Plus, or SmoothPay, or another Hardship Plan)
- request a refund to the same bank account from which the original payment was made
- speak with Alinta Energy on your behalf in relation to any payment plans, overdue amounts, complaints, or bill disputes
- receive account information for the purposes of providing you with financial counselling
- be your ‘Support Person’ in the context of Alinta Energy’s Hardship Program or Family Violence Policy.
An Authorised Representative (Support Person) can’t:
- sign you up for any additional Alinta Energy products and services
- close, cancel, transfer, or upgrade your account
- arrange a move out
- change any of your account details, including in relation to adding or removing any concession cards or adding another secondary contact
- deregister any Life Support registered to the premises
- access your MyAccount.
You can set up an Authorised Representative (Support Person) by using the Letter of Authority here.