What happens if I can’t pay my gas bill this month?

[Sweetladyjane]

What happens if I can’t pay my gas and electric bills this month? I’ve been managing to pay the increased DD up until now but I’ve had to pay for car repairs this month (need it for work) and if I pay my gas and electric bill I won’t have enough for food for the next two weeks. Would they accept a reduced payment this month? I should get my cost of living payment at the end of April / early May and was planning on paying it straight to the energy company to pay off the debit I’ve built up over the winter.

I’ll be ok paying the proper rate next month, it’s just this one I’m struggling with.

Call them and explain , also could you pay something and access a food bank , surely this is what they are for .

Yeh I mean I'm not paying my total gas bill every month. I pay £120 but my bills are £250-350! Our account is about a grand in debt and we will increase our DD to them now and then our gas over summer is very little so we will reduce the debt down that way by keeping the payments the same or higher. But as far as paying off the bill every month....no. 🤷

The food bank is run by the charity I work for so it would be really awkward to ask for a food parcel and almost impossible to keep it private.

Ring them and explain.

Have you given meter readings recently? Our bills were increased a few months ago but when I gave our actual readings this month they realised they’d really over estimated and our bills have been dropped so it’s worth checking.

Could you speak in confidence to your manager? If anyone understands they will, it’s nothing to be ashamed of.

It's not awkward to ask for a food parcel from a charity who supply food parcels. If anything it might give them a wake up call.

Food banks aren't the only option.

Check out community fridges, food pantries ect
Some require a small donation (£3ish) per week but others can be free to use and no requirements for using them

@Sweetladyjane the key is to pay as much as you can afford and to tell them you are having problems.

If the bill is £200 and you can afford £125 then pay that. The worst thing you can do is not pay anything.

Can you log into your account and change the direct debit, I would try that first before ringing them. I think most people are going to be in debt this month.

They should be pleased to help , perhaps ask for a pay rise at the same time .

When does your direct debit go out? If it’s more than 2 weeks away, you might be able to change the direct debit amount.