Utility Arrears with Atlantic Energy

wobblymummy

Hi there

Looking for some advice really. We owe close to £1000 in arrears with Atlantic Energy.

Our normal direct debit payment is about £110 per month but the original direct debit was set so low we now have shedloads of arrears. We have had to cancel it a few times as we are just so poor.

We are now paying them £231 a month and its crippling us. How can we arrange to pay it back at a lesser rate does this mean a card meter and is the tarriff more expensive on a card meter ?

Thanks in advance for replies.

Tixy

Hi

Is your current usage working out at £110? and so you are paying £121 off your arrears each month? often a utility company will allow you to pay off arrears over 12months and so it might be worth contacting them to see if you can reduce the arrears payment down a bit each month.

Have you worked out a detailed statement of affairs (income & expenditure) to see how much you can afford per month? are you paying anything towards non-priority debts (credit cards, loans etc) each month? if so paying off the utility arrears should take priority over these.

Have you looked at ways you can reduce your ongoing usage? presumably this is both gas & elec? £110 a month seems quite high for these and if this was not convering your bills perhaps there are places you could reduce your usage a bit.

Being on a prepayment card meter does work out as more expensive yes. It might be worth a read of this factsheet - (pages 20-21) http://www.nationaldebtline.co.uk/england_wales/pdf/self_help_pack/priority_debts.pdf