electricity cut off by the courts, help!

nightnurse123

please can anyone give me some advice. my best friend has just text me to say shes come home and found her house broken into and the electricty cut off due to unpaid bills. shes joked that the kids are enjoying candel lit evenings, but i know shes at the end of her tether.
she is on benefits, and has three kids, 2 teenagers at college and a 7 year old. i have watched this poor girl struggle her whole adult life to bring up 3 wonderful kids that are a credit to her, and i cant believe theres nothing that can be done to help her.
has anyone got any advice? surely in this day and age we cant do this to someone?

basmic

My advice is that in life you need to pay your bills, or pay the consequences.

nightnurse123

i will let her know that , obviously she didnt think of that, and it was such a simple solution, im amazed i didnt come up with it myself,

PaulLuke

The problem is that to get to this point she must have ignored several warning letters as well as court papers asthe electricity company would have needed to go to court before being allowed to force entry.

Tell her to go and see CAB for some advice.

nightnurse123

i think part of the problem is shes in a private rented house. the owners dont want a prepay key installed, where you can pay back as you go, and its got economy 7 electric. it seems to be an extortionate price, and she will get up at midnight to put a load of washing on. the house is like an icebox most of the time as shes terrified to put any heating on.

Anne3333

Ah, I am sorry to hear your friends story. I agree with PaulLuke, the best thing she can do is go along to CAB for some advice. I hope things work out for her, it is a tough time for alot of people at the moment.

spiro

If the house is not heated by electricity she doesnt have to stay on Economy 7 the suppliers can just add the day and night together. As to fitting a prepayment meter, in this case I think its a matter between the supplier and the customer who I assume is your friend. Therefore if the supplier insists she has a prepayment meter which is what they normally install when they force entry then I dont see what the landlord can do unless she has breached her tenancy agreement. Whos is the supplier?

melb

if she's renting she might find it difficult getting a landline and might not be able to ring for an ambulance if anyone's ill in the middle of the night - therefore in her case I don't think a mobile phone could be classed as a luxury.

olly300

Premier wrote: »

As well as the excellent advice given by basmic above, perhaps you could teach your friend the importance of concentrating on paying the essentials first (like the leccy) before splashing out on luxuries (like mobile phones)!

To get a landline connected now costs about £125. The only time that it doesn't cost this is when there is a special offer on.

If you are renting it means you are not staying in accommodation permanently so a pay-as-you-go mobile is cheaper.

Especially as with those mobiles you only pay for what you use unlike the standing charge you pay for with a landline phone.

olly300

I wish people would understand that in England and Wales a landlord where you rent a AST cannot legally:
1. Stop you changing gas or electricity supplier
2. Prevent you from getting a different sort of meter

Also if you have a 12 month contract they cannot legally stop you from changing to a water meter.

If a landlord puts this in their tenancy agreement it's an unfair clause and you can threaten them with legal action over this.

If the OP's friend cannot get an appointment with the CAB they should contact shelter asap on the phone as they have children. They will probably need to find a phone box, or as there are very few phone boxes around, they may need to go around to someone else's house and use their landline phone as it's a free phone number - 0808 800 4444

The friend needs to mention they have children, explain the situation and ask what they should do.

Be aware the shelter advisors dole out frank advice.

polo2209

basmic wrote: »

My advice is that in life you need to pay your bills, or pay the consequences.

totally agree with you

Council Tax
Gas
Electricity
Water

Anything else isnt as important, especially not a mobile phone