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ebsay2000

Thankyou to all the people who offered genuine, supportive and sympathetic advice/information.

This thread is now CLOSED.

Magentasue

The hard truth is that you need to increase your income or reduce your outgoings. Credit's not the answer, it'll only make things worse. Could you see CAB or similar and get them to work out a buget with you? You may be entitled to other benefits or they may know of schemes to help you get into work if that's appropriate for you.

maggie5

could you not get meters in for your gas and electric that way you can keep an eye on it and arrange a smaller pay-back for the debts?? (dont know if it would work though)

pink_princess

Hi changing meters and suppliers doesn t mean a big one off bill try uswitch .You can see which suppliers are cheaper and arrange a much lower payment plan with the old supplier .Your outstanding bill is tiny compared with some.
Is there no way of getting off benefits ,if you have certain disabilities hopefully we can suggest employment that would suit.
HTH
PP

WhistleBlower

Which supplier are you with?

If you earn under £13,500 per year and have some kind of vulnerablility (Young child, disability, pensionable age etc) you are entitled to the special tarriffs companies have, (NPower's is called Spreading Warmth, call their CS no and ask for the number, sorry but i cna't rememebr it by heart) Spreading warmnth will refund £125 per fuel to you every year.

Secondly if you have an outstanding balance you could ask about a department that helps those in trouble who are benefits, (Npower - First step) they can offer lower payment plans that are lower than the ordinary collections dpeartment can and if you are good and stick with the plan then they can even write off parts of the balance.

Finally, PrePay meters, these can be set to claim back a lower than usual ammount per week. If you are on benefits then send proof of this and it'll be set to £3 per week. (First step and spreading warmth can also be applied to PP meters if you already have them)

Hope this helps.

brysiewysie

pink_princess wrote: »

Hi changing meters and suppliers doesn t mean a big one off bill try uswitch .You can see which suppliers are cheaper and arrange a much lower payment plan with the old supplier .Your outstanding bill is tiny compared with some.
Is there no way of getting off benefits ,if you have certain disabilities hopefully we can suggest employment that would suit.
HTH
PP

If you change supplier the debt is due immediately. They may be happy to negotiate a lower/longer repayment period but it's not guaranteed.

How much of your payments are for the debt? If you're a vulnerable customer suppliers should be happy to accept debt repayment at around £3 per week per fuel and your usage needs to be paid too.

milliemonster

Unfortunately, benefits are there as a 'stop gap' and aren't designed to provide you with a comfortable life, they're a means to give you enough to get by until you can find work I don't mean to sound harsh but why do you have cats and internet if you can't even afford to feed yourself properly????

On the plus side, well done you for not relying on credit, this is the last thing you need, can you post up an soa and we can see where we can help you to budget? but as pinkprincess has said, is there any way of getting off benefits and into work? or are you claiming all you are entitled to?

WhistleBlower

brysiewysie wrote: »

If you change supplier the debt is due immediately. They may be happy to negotiate a lower/longer repayment period but it's not guaranteed.
<snip>.

Actually, so long as the balance is under £100 (Over and most suppliers will refuse you unless you're already on a plan) you can switch and then the balance plus your final bill can be spread out, we allow up to six months, longer if we recieve a financial statement.

scotti

Don't know which area you are in Ebsay but have a look here,

www.britishgasenergytrust.org.uk/grants_to_individuals

Are you eligible for any other Trusts?
The British Gas Energy Trust is part of a Shared Programme and it is possible that you are eligible to apply to other Trusts. For information on the other Trusts and who can apply to them, you can download further information from the link below.


A shared programme of giving

By signing the British Gas Energy Trust application form you give your consent to be considered for funding from any of the trust funds administered by Charis – see details of these trusts below. The Trusts operate within a shared programme with a common application form and assessment process. Completion of one application form potentially allows assessment for grants from four different Trusts. All relevant information needs to be provided for assessment under each Trust. E.g. Anglian Water bill to show eligibility for help from the Anglian Water Trust Fund.


THE ANGLIAN WATER TRUST FUND – www.awtf.org.uk
Who can apply to the trust?
To be able to apply to the Trust you must be resident in the areas supplied by Anglian Water and Hartlepool Water.

What can I apply for?
The Trust can help people through giving grants to:
· Reduce or clear arrears of domestic water charges
· Help with other essential household bills or costs


The EDF Energy Trust – www.edfenergytrust.org.uk
Similarly the EDF Energy Trust is aimed primarily at clearing energy debt but in exceptional circumstances can help with other bills and costs.

Who can apply to the trust?
Any domestic customer of EDF Energy.

The EOS Foundation - www.eosfoundation.org.uk
You can apply to the Foundation if you are a customer of one of the following companies:
· Bournemouth and West Hampshire Water
· Folkestone & Dover Water
· Mid Kent Water
· Portsmouth Water
· South East Water
· Tendring Hundred Water

The Foundation can help by giving grants to:
· clear or reduce arrears of domestic water charges
· help towards other essential domestic bills and costs.

Application forms for all Trusts are available by:
Downloading from the websites – see links above

Calling the application form request line 01733 421060

By emailing [EMAIL="admin&#64;charisgrants.com"]admin@charisgrants.com[/EMAIL]

By faxing 01733 421020

Writing to:
Anglian Water Trust Fund /British Gas Energy Trust /
EDF Energy Trust / Eos Foundation,
PO Box 42, Peterborough, PE3 8XH

For all trusts, application forms are also available from advice agencies (e.g. Citizens Advice) who can also offer help to complete the form if needed.

HTH

cheers scotti

KimYeovil

You say you receive £345 in benefits - that's £100 more than most people. So you can pay your £100 each month and still live on what others have to survive on for everything. So you get your energy for free.

You say your benefits were increased in April - that was nearly six months ago. You must live in a very unusual part of the country if there has not been a single job in six months.

You do not say how much your fuel bill is - the amount you mention includes arrears. As you are unemployed your fuel bills should not be very high. After all, there are plenty of places you can go that are heated. You could try Job Centre Plus offices and employment agencies for a start.

As already mentioned, your outstanding balance is tiny. You can easily repay the £171 over one or two months. You can then ensure you are on a cheaper tariff. (I disagree with Whistleblower - utility companies are completely arbitrary with arrears and switching - the £100 limit is not adhered to widely.)

Social tariffs are not likely to be a solution - they are often more expensive and are not available to those on the poorest incomes.

bengee1977

ebsay2000 wrote: »

I'm paying nearly a third of my income.........what does that make me???

Why don't you get a job? It's what the rest of us do.