Help please :( :(

NicoleWild

Okay so I got a Gas and electricity bill for around £1,200

Basically it's added up over the months as the company, E.On would only allow us to pay £300 per month to clear it off, which we cannot afford by any stretch of the imagination, but they agreed to let us have 4 months with no payments and pay it all off in one sum. Which was great. I am a Childminder and I was receiving £800 a month, tax free which was completely to spare so we were going to pay off the bill with that... until the parent cut his days downand now I get £100 a month. I rang them up to explain btu they offered nothing, just £300 a month.


So we've been saving, and all we have saved in 4 months is £300. We're currently going without heating and minimum electricity so me and the kids are all in jumpers and three pairs of socks. Me and my partner go without meals 3 days a week to make sure there's enough in with the kids to save some money.

anyhow I just got a letter this morning they want an immediate payment of £950.87 PLUS our new bill of £327.

I've been applying for loans all morning and keep getting refused, my partner has an IVA so can't apply for anything.


We've nto even got our children 1 christmas present this year, hoping that other people have got them something so they can atleast have one thing to open.

Does anyone have any suggestions? I'm going to ring them up anyway and just pay this £300 that I've saved up.

jd87

Stop applying for loans, you are trashing your credit file.

Do not pay anything until you have taken some proper advice.

Get over to the Debt Free Wannabe board and post a thread in there including your statement of affairs (read the "help for first time posters" sticky at the top in the DFW board).

spiro

Given that the bill for the last 3 months was £327 (I assume its for 3 months) that means you need to be able to pay at least £110 per month just to cover ongoing consumption and thats before the winter starts. As a result the supplier is likely to be looking for at least £200 per month to allow the arrears to be cleared.

You need to produce a statement of finance (all income and outgoings) and use this when negotiating with the supplier.

Given the position you are in a PPM may be better because then you will have to payt for what you use and hopefully the supplier would set the debt recovery rate to a reasonable amount (they are rerquired to by their licence) per week.

WestonDave

Your inability to find money to pay this bill isn't really the problem, its a symptom of your overall finances being in a mess. If you've had 4 months and haven't been able to put aside £400 when you say your child minding fees are all spare, then clearly something is amiss in your budgeting. In fact it should be more than that as presumably the £800 per month didn't cease immediately? (Incidentally you can't earn £800 per month tax free as it exceeds your personal allowance - slightly outside the issue now but you need to be aware of this in future).

Firstly you need to look for more work - another child or if necessary dump the reduced hours one for one nearer full time. Secondly as advised get your SOA on the DFW board and let them point out where you can improve your finances. Putting a sticking plaster over the energy bill problem won't resolve the cancer which is eating away at your financial stability. The best Christmas present you can give your kids this year is getting serious about proper financial management.

E.ON_Company_Representative:_Helena

Hi NicoleWild,

I think the first thing to do is speak to us again, as long as you haven't failed previous payment arrangements in the past, we may be able to offer you an extended amount of time to pay off the balance.

But you will need to be paying for your usage and some towards the debt.

It does depend on the specific account details but we may allow you up to 12 months to re-pay this balance.

It may also be helpful to speak to our energy efficiency department to try to reduce your usage.

Also check you are on the best tariff for your needs and make sure the account is billed up to date will accurate meter readings.

I hope you are able to get things sorted, if you do need any help from me please just ask.

Helena