When things go wrong
Don’ts
1. Whatever you do, DON’T DO NOTHING. Doing nothing will
actually cost you money.
- If you do nothing about your electricity bill & get cut
off, you’ll have to pay to get reconnected – as well as pay what
you owe.
- If you do nothing about your rent arrears & RBH have to go
to court, you’ll be charged court costs.
- If your council tax arrears get sent to the bailiff, he’ll
charge you extra just for coming round.
Doing nothing is very expensive!
2. Don't panic. Think it through. Don’t do anything
rash like borrow what you can’t afford to pay back.
3. Don’t try and cope by ignoring the problem. It won’t go away
– it’ll only get worse.
Do’s
1. Ask for help. There is plenty out there. As well as RBH
staff, there is the Council’s
Advice Service & the Citizens Advice Bureau.
2. Maximise your income. Could you be entitled to housing
& council tax benefit? Try the calculator
tool
3. What about other benefits – see the section on
benefits.
4. Is everyone in the household paying their way?
5. Minimise unnecessary spending. Cut everything down to
essentials.
6. Prioritise your debts. All ‘the unavoidables’ (rent /
council tax / gas & electricity) are all priority debts.
7. Act positively – it’s never too late & there are
always options. Communicate & negotiate.
Rent
Talk to us. You may know you’ve got problems, but no-one else
does until you tell them. Get in touch with your housing officer.
If you get a letter, open it, read it, ring the number.
Council Tax
Don’t ignore letters - legal action can start very early. If you
are ever faced with bailiffs, you’ll need to get advice. Find out
about your rights. Useful contacts are Citizens Advice Bureau and
Directgov
Better still, never let it get to that stage. Telephone the
Revenues & Benefits service on 0845-121-2970
This is a call centre, so:
- Take time out
- Get all your paperwork together
- Get a pen, paper & calculator
- Get an idea of what you can & can’t afford
- Sit down by a landline phone
- Take a deep breath
- Don’t give up till you get through & get it sorted.
Gas & Electricity
Get copies of your latest bills & read & re-read them
until you know your way around them. Get in touch with your
supplier.
The options are usually one of
- Short term arrangement
- Instalments through a payment plan
- Through a prepayment meter
- Through fuel direct (deducted from benefits)
Steps to Disconnection
Your supplier has to take certain steps to recover outstanding
charges before they disconnect your supply. While not all suppliers
will follow this exact process, as a general guide your supplier
will follow these steps:
- Day 1 – Your supplier will send out a bill as normal
- Day 14 – First reminder will be issued
- Day 28 – Outbound call/2nd reminder issued
- Day 35 – Final demand for payment issued and then pre
disconnection letter
- Day 42-49 – Further outbound calls
- Day 60 – Debt advisory visit to your property
- Day 67 – Warrant proceedings start- including Human Rights
Letter being issued
- Day 129 – Warrant executed – you get cut off.
Please note that if you have a poor payment history then this
process may be speeded up.
You can stop the disconnection process at any time by calling
your supplier to arrange a repayment plan.
If you have been disconnected or are worried about disconnection
call Consumer Direct as soon as possible on 08454 04 05 06.
Find out more – check out the Consumer Focus and
Consumer Direct
websites
And finally
When you’ve sorted out your bills, make sure it doesn’t happen
all over again. What went wrong? How did you get in the mess
in the first place? What can you do about it?
- Change supplier?
- Change tariff?
- Cut down your usage?
- Find a better way to pay?
Got a query? Need more information? Telephone the Money Matters
team on 01706-273817 or email