Can't pay gas/electricity bill - options available?

wild_rose

I've just received a combined bill for over £500 for the last quarter, and there's no way that we can afford to pay it.

We live in a part of the country that saw very low temperatures, hence the heating having to be on for most of the time.

So it's not as though we've been overly extravagant, and having 2 children means we can't keep wrapping them up in duvets.

What are our options regarding paying?

We've never been in this situation before - my OH hasn't been working recently and so our finances are in the worst position they've ever been.

I could do with some advice about what to ask about or say to the energy company before I ring them - I've still in shock, have been crying for the past hour and feel so sick of the thought of being cut off until we can pay up in full.

gemmalouanna

Is the bill based on estimated or actual meter readings - in other words is it accurate?

wild_rose

Hi Gemmalouanna...sorry, I should have posted that huh?

It's estimated, but the readings are very slightly lower than the actual readings so the bill amount is probably only out by approx £10.

The provider is E.On if that will have a bearing on how they handle customers struggling to pay.

TIA.

undaunted

You have children in the house & the energy company should not just cut you off so please try not to worry unduly.

You need to contact them and make a reasonable offer of payment based upon what you can afford (eg ideally look to repay the balance in no more than the time the debt has accrued in, plus your likely future usage etc). Do not make an offer that you cannot stick to out of fear of being cut off - breaking an arrangement would only look bad later. Your supplier may ask you to provide a breakdown of your income / expenditure, any other debts & repayments you may have

If you wish you could also ask for a pre payment meter to be fitted (though you cannot gain any direct debit discounts with one of these, if you run out of money the power goes off & you may have to pay to remove it later with some companies) or, if currently on benefits you could ask to use Fuel Direct (information is available on the directgov website if necessary) which makes payments direct to the supplier from your benefit

If your partner returns to work and you can address future bills but are strufggling with the current debt you may be able to make an application to an energy trust - several suppliers have them administered through charis grants (again info available from google)

Finally, if you are still in any doubt or have other debts you are concerned about someone such as consumer credit counselling service (who also have a presence on here), your local citizens advice bureau or community legal advice centre can offer you free assistance.

Good luck

ic

Are you paying quarterly? How much were you expecting to pay? TBH £500 sounds reasonable for a winter quarter if you're always clearing your bill at each bill (so get much cheaper bills during summer). Direct Debit often gets a bad rap, but does help in the respect that it allows you to pay the same every month throughout the year, spreading the more expensive months over summer. Perhaps you should talk to them about getting on to a direct debit plan.

macman

Is this a bill for actual usage, or a catch-up bill due to a previous (under) estimated bill?
What tariff are you on? if you're on quarterly billing, then you are wasting money, as most of the cheapest online discount tariffs require monthly fixed DD payment. Switching to monthly DD will also even out the seasonal peaks and troughs due to varying usage, and will allow you to access the cheapest tariffs.
If you can agree say a 12m repayment period then you'll need to pay about £40pm on top of your existing usage.
If you are unable to agree a repayment plan (preferably by DD) then the best option is to voluntarily agree to have a PPM fitted.
Presumably, since you are on quarterly billing, you were expecting this bill (though maybe not such a large one), so you will have some funds in place to clear part of the bill now? Being able to do that will greatly strengthen your hand with negotiating a repayment plan on the balance.
You might also look at your annual kWh consumption figuresand see what you can do to reduce it by way of improving insulation (loft, cavity walls etc) and cutting your usage.

NittyGritty

i would ring them asap and expalin to them you cant afford it, they will probably put you on some kind of plan where you pay so much off every week,

how much were your direct debits before ? just double check you gave a meter reading, and the bill is not an estimated one, if it is give them a new meter reading they will send a new bill out to you.

NittyGritty

ic wrote: »

Are you paying quarterly? How much were you expecting to pay? TBH £500 sounds reasonable for a winter quarter if you're always clearing your bill at each bill (so get much cheaper bills during summer). Direct Debit often gets a bad rap, but does help in the respect that it allows you to pay the same every month throughout the year, spreading the more expensive months over summer. Perhaps you should talk to them about getting on to a direct debit plan.

our bill was £593 if thats any help, we now paying £91 a month abviously in the summer you will use less, and ur bill will be a fraction of what it is in summer,

savemoney

OP the worst that can happen is the supplier fits a pre paid meter so when you top it up some goes to energy you will use and some of the debt. I believe you get charged standard rate which is a little more than some better deals around but not by much around 4%

Have you checked you entitled to all the benefits if you said your partner is out of work? sometimes you can get cold weather payments depending on benefits you get. Energy suppliers have charities who can help with any debt, But the best advice is shop around and monitor your usage. I often sit in cold mid winter as I try and cut back. I also wear lots of clothing and just started wearing vest, it helps keep warm and can make the difference between being cold and mildly warm

Joyful

If you have never defaulted on a payment plan then my first suggestion would be to call and ask how much the monthly amount would be to include the bill. If you cannot afford this then Fuel Direct through the benefits agency can take £3.50 towards the debt and whatever your consumption is on top of it.

The other option is a prepayment meter which again the weekly recovery rate can be set low for someone on benefits.

The main difference between the FuelD and PP meter is the first is more evenly spread across the whole year as the PP meter would use more in the Winter and a lot less in the summer.

chanz4

With it been a current debt (withing last quarter ) the first step is call the supplier for a 12 month payment plan. The grants wouldnt be available for such a new bill. Inregards to cutting off it is last option .