Can utility companies take benefits?

MingVase

My son is on UC and barely subsisting. He has a gas bill of £300 - Scottish Gas - and says he is being hounded by calls and letters daily, He seems to think they are going to take £70 off his UC per month - can they do this? Is it legal?  (Re the actual bill, it's a complicated situation. Long-term partner died, son went to bits and had a breakdown, so things got in a muddle and we are trying to sort it all out.

MattMattMattUK

MingVase said:

My son is on UC and barely subsisting. He has a gas bill of £300 - Scottish Gas - and says he is being hounded by calls and letters daily, He seems to think they are going to take £70 off his UC per month - can they do this? Is it legal?  (Re the actual bill, it's a complicated situation. Long-term partner died, son went to bits and had a breakdown, so things got in a muddle and we are trying to sort it all out.

They cannot do it themselves, that is not possible, they can apply to a court and have the court do it for them, that is legal. 

Has your son actually engaged with Scottish Gas? In general they will accept payment plans that are reasonable rather than go to court, which they normally always do if people make derisory offers or refuse to engage. 

itsthelittlethings

They can but they should be taking £70 a month.

RAS

Ming, has your son explained to Scottish Gas about the bereavement and the mental health issues? They should be treating him as vulnerable.

Also has he checked "social" tariffs, although many seem to be phased out with the Warm Home Discount. Did he qualify for either as UC is supposed to be a qualifying benefit ? 

And some suppliers have hardship funds.

And it may be worth speaking to Charis or Turn2Us who can make small grants.

MingVase

Thank you . His internet was cancelled & phone stopped, so he's got a very cheap basic setup that's no use, I can hardly hear him and it cuts out all the time. Between that and the strong accents of the people in the call centre he says he can't hear them or understand them, and hangs up. I've got him to come down here to us this weekend and told him to call from here. And better still, authorise me to deal with it and speak for him. Hoping that does come and stops the head in sand mode! It's a wee bit worrying that they can deduct from his UC, he barely scrapes along as it is.
RAS he has had some great help local to where he lives, the doctor sent him to the CAB and a few other places.  He just seems to want to hide away and ignore everything.  in his 50s though so isn't easy to manage

itsthelittlethings

British Gas Energy Trust can pay off arrears if you apply to them. You don’t have to be with British Gas. It’s a long form though and you might have to agree to go on prepayment meter but I can’t remember if that’s everyone.

TheElectricCow

Generally speaking, if he can get a repayment plan set up and is able to stick to it there shouldn’t be any further debt recovery action from the supplier. 

The repayment plan might not need to be a large amount, but will at least need to cover his ongoing usage plus a bit extra to reduce the debt. The length of the plan and how much extra is paid towards the debt should be based on what’s affordable for his individual circumstances, but even offering say £10 extra per month if that’s possible could be more agreeable to the supplier than them pursuing court action. 

To better prepare for contacting the supplier it may be worthwhile to go over his past bills with him to get an estimate of his current annual energy consumption and costs. With that information to hand it will be easier to suggest a reasonable payment plan that isn’t excessive but will eventually get the debt repaid.

Some suppliers also have discretionary funding available to customers in financial hardship who meet certain criteria, so it could also be worth looking into if this is something SP may offer - this route would likely involve a full review of your son’s income and expenditure and potentially a lot of cooperation needed from him.

RAS

Ming, try and get him out for a walk. Sounds like he's still grieving and possibly a bit depressed if he doesn't want to see people? A bit of UV does a lot of good.

Not sure where he lives, but is there anything like Men's Sheds or Andy's Shed near him? Aimed at blokes doing something practical together and just talking if they want.

Has he still got a physical phone? 1p may not be the cheapest but £10 PAYG every three months, a mix of calls, texts and data. Do need to turn the data off if you are not using it. If you can get him going, much as I hate it, try WhatsApp.

Also any access to a community hub or library? They often have free WiFi.

Scot_39

See for example 

https://nationaldebtline.org/get-information/guides/gas-and-electricity-arrears-ew/

Interacting proactively with the utility firm - is suggested as perhaps the best approach - and often likely to end up in an agreed debt repayment plan - which will be set based on budget / affordability. 

So it is great your son has you avialable to help - but also - as per that link - it is probably best to get a professional advisor involved.

That link has a worksheet for budget - but suspect it might be best - to get say CA involved.

Even more so given the distresed state (post bereavement) - as they are likely to know the best ways to address - botht the health and the actual raw debt factors.

The concept of the utiltity going for £70 from UC just for the current £300 bill (debt) seems worryingly high.  

So do you know if the £70 is purely debt - or covering usage and debt.

As under the above link - the Fuel Direct - can cover not only debt - but actual monthly usage can be paid from certain benefits including UC directly.  Which at £70 - perhaps is more likely what he is being pushed towards.  

Edit

"And note it says "If you want to pay by Fuel Direct" - doesn't explicitly mention the utility company making you do so. However", I am certainly aware of people in rent arrears having applications made by landlords (including HA) to have UC housing compenent paid direct (again in many cases as was old Housing Benefit pre UC)  (and ultimately court action for other debt components) but to be honest hadn't heard of the Fuel Direct scheme.

MingVase

RAS said:

Ming, try and get him out for a walk. Sounds like he's still grieving and possibly a bit depressed if he doesn't want to see people? A bit of UV does a lot of good.

Not sure where he lives, but is there anything like Men's Sheds or Andy's Shed near him? Aimed at blokes doing something practical together and just talking if they want.

Has he still got a physical phone? 1p may not be the cheapest but £10 PAYG every three months, a mix of calls, texts and data. Do need to turn the data off if you are not using it. If you can get him going, much as I hate it, try WhatsApp.

Also any access to a community hub or library? They often have free WiFi.

Got him to come down here today RAS, and promised to come back at weekend. GP referred him to an Andy's man club thing and he found it very helpful. He can use my landline when he's here. but it's one step forward and three steps back just now sorting stuff. TY

MingVase

Scot_39 said:

See for example 

https://nationaldebtline.org/get-information/guides/gas-and-electricity-arrears-ew/

Interacting proactively with the utility firm - is suggested as perhaps the best approach - and often likely to end up in an agreed debt repayment plan - which will be set based on budget / affordability. 

So it is great your son has you avialable to help - but also - as per that link - it is probably best to get a professional advisor involved.

That link has a worksheet for budget - but suspect it might be best - to get say CA involved.

Even more so given the distresed state (post bereavement) - as they are likely to know the best ways to address - botht the health and the actual raw debt factors.

The concept of the utiltity going for £70 from UC just for the current £300 bill (debt) seems worryingly high.  

So do you know if the £70 is purely debt - or covering usage and debt.

As under the above link - the Fuel Direct - can cover not only debt - but actual monthly usage can be paid from certain benefits including UC directly.  Which at £70 - perhaps is more likely what he is being pushed towards.  

Edit

"And note it says "If you want to pay by Fuel Direct" - doesn't explicitly mention the utility company making you do so. However", I am certainly aware of people in rent arrears having applications made by landlords (including HA) to have UC housing compenent paid direct (again in many cases as was old Housing Benefit pre UC)  (and ultimately court action for other debt components) but to be honest hadn't heard of the Fuel Direct scheme.

This helps, ty. Re the £70 per month, I thought the same. Very high for a modest bilI really. I need to see how much he is using - he doesn't know. He also doesn't know how to use the heating control. It's such a battle to do the simplest wee thing!!! CAB is helpful but the poor lady has about a million clients and he's so complicated it's taking forever..