arrears on elec bill

vippymini

I posted in the utilites section and not had much response . i dont know if anyone can suggest anything but i thought it be worth asking ..with have arrears on our elec bill and i know it my fault but i think they are to blame too?!

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heres how it stands.

apparently we missed a dd in april last year which was reset up, then one in november which i tried to reset up andthey would not let me. untill the total of £300 was paid off

at present our circumstances are bad , were using cccs who suggested to ask for a year to get it paid of.

they tried setting a payment scheme up in november which then the cab were trying to arrange a agreement and never happened . I then ordered a payment meter that never come.

i then spoke to them and they wanted £177 month which i told them was too much and they were going to have first move department contact me to arrange payment this never happened .

Just contacted them again and said i cannot afford the £177 per month double or monthly bill i have offered £100 per month our bill is about £80 pm they now said there first move department will contact me again

the bill was £925 and i paid £100 so its down to £825 and planning to pay more this comming week ..

I know its our fault for not paying but i feel they are at fault too for not allowing resonable payments or time to sort i out .What annoys me most is when i tried sorting it out in december they would of had £600 in dd paid by now

what does anyone suggest?

Any help much appricated

amosworks

Where are you based geographically?

You might want to look at financial support available for people with low incomes or having money problems. I know my local water company (Anglian Water) have a fund available to pay utility bills (for gas, leccy too, not just water) if you're struggling.

Might be worth having a nosy for them to try and get some support if things are quite tight right now. Good luck!

Amos

nickyhutch

We got behind in payments and couldn't afford to pay what they wanted, so they offered us a pre-payment meter which would be adjustd to take £5 per week for debt and let us budget the rest. It's great! We know just how much everything costs, how much we're spending, and we never get big bills. Just stick a tenner on here and there and forget about it, and arrears paid off without even noticing.

amosworks

The prepay meters are a total ripoff though!! Plus you can't take advantage of cheaper bills by paying through DD. I'd seriously crunch some numbers before screaming and ripping the meter off the wall in anticipation of a new one.

Floss

Prepay meters are only a "rip-off" when your landlord sets the tariff - if it is direct to the supplier it will be set to take the first £5 a week (or whatever its set at) off your debit balance, then you pay as you use. When you get your bills, you can see the debit balance coming down with all the payments.

I would advise keeping ALL receipts and cards for your meters though, just in case any payments are ever missed off your account.

When I worked for my local leccy board about 10yrs ago, we used to get people who had debts in the past leaving the meter set high, then ringing up & asking for their leccy rebate just before Christmas as it was the only way they could save on a low income.

amosworks

But you can get money off your bill by paying through DD, and you can always pay £5 off your debt through standing order.

nickyhutch

You can ring up and pay amounts off your debt too. However much I would save on direct debit would be counterbalanced by the fact that I am far far far more careful about using electricity when I can see it counting down in pence on my meter, instead of waiting for a quarterly bill.