How to best deal with debts to your electricity board

There are a number of reasons why you might get into debt with your energy supplier. This could be through sudden ill health to redundancy as just two examples and in times like this, it can seem like a serious crisis. Here we shall be discussing how to deal with such debts.

Do not bury your head in the sand

For whatever reason, you may suddenly find yourself in debt to your electricity board. All too often (and especially after you have managed with your bills successfully for many years), it is all too easy to bury your head in the sand and just hope that everything turns out okay. However, this approach more often than not leads to even more trouble and this need not be the case: energy companies are more than willing to help you in your times of trouble and the sooner you take action the sooner you will be out of your current situation.

Communication

Speak to them The first step into sorting out your debt with your gas or electricity supplier is to communicate with them. If you have already received letters from them with threats of taking further action then the first thing to do is speak to them. It may be all too tempting to write them a letter and avoid speaking to someone, but it could be some time before your letter is acknowledged - during such a time further action may be taken by them. Explain your situation and how you would like to sort it out and try and stay calm. More often than not they will come up with a payment plan to suit your current financial situation there and then. Be sure to make a note of the time of the call and ask for a reference number and politely ask them if they could send details through the post to you of the agreement. What if you have left it too late? You may well have shied away from your debt to the electricity board and now they are planning on taking further action. Do not worry as all is not lost. Even though you might feel it is too late to communicate directly with them, there is still a good chance they will negotiate a payment schedule with you. Further debt help
For more help with debt, try the following free services: - Citizens Advice Bureau
- Consumer Credit Counselling Service
- National Debtline
- Debt Advice Foundation
- Payplan