Dealing with priority debts: utilities arrears

YOUR SERVICES CAN BE CUT IF YOU FAIL TO PAY YOUR UTILITY BILLS.

If you're in arrears with utility bills, you should contact the affected service providers as soon as possible. Failure to do so may result in your service being cut off.


Making contact
Explain the circumstances of your financial difficulty. If these difficulties are only temporary, you can try to arrange for arrears to be paid off over a number of months. Alternatively, you could try to arrange for monthly payments to include a small element of your arrears.

With regard to certain utilities such as as gas or electricity, consider requesting a pre-payment meter. This will require you to pay for utilities, including arrears, before it is consumed. The use of a pre-payment meter will help you to better appreciate your fuel usage and will all but eliminate the risk of going into further debt on your utilities.


Additional considerations
If you are having difficulties budgeting, and are in receipt of the benefits bullet-pointed below, consider asking the DWP to make payments directly from your benefits (Third Party Deductions).

• Job Seekers' Allowance (Income Based)
• Income Support.
• Pension Credits.
  
  

If you feel that the utilities supplier you are with is too expensive and you are able to find a better deal elsewhere, you should consider price comparing and changing providers. Note, however, that changing providers does not release you from debts owed to your existing provider.