Payment Difficulties Disconnection Policy
Our Position on Supporting Customers in Payment Difficulty: What You Need to Know
The help available to you and what happens if you do not pay
We understand that paying your heating and hot water bills can sometimes be difficult. If you are struggling, or think you might struggle, to pay your charges, we are here to help. This policy explains what support we must offer you, what we will never do, and your rights as a customer.
*Switch2 Energy may be appointed as the metering and billing service provider at your site on behalf of the heat network supplier and some of these processes may differ dependent on the supplier.
You will be able to locate your supplier on a copy of your bill or within your welcome pack.
1. When we will get in touch with you
We will contact you proactively as early as possible, if we think you may be having trouble paying. We will reach out to you after:
- two monthly payments in a row have been missed, or
- one quarterly payment has been missed, or
- you tell us you cannot make your next payment.
We will not wait for the situation to get worse, we will try to speak with you as soon as we have reason to believe there may be a problem.
2. The support we offer:
If you are in payment difficulty, we offer:
Affordable repayment plans
We will work out a repayment plan based on what you can actually afford. We will take into account:
- your individual circumstances and ability to pay
- any information available from third parties (such as debt advice organisations)
- what you tell us about your situation.
Payments can be made by regular instalments, either through your normal billing arrangement or, where possible and appropriate, through a prepayment meter.
Information to help reduce your bills
We will give you information about energy efficiency measures that could help you reduce the charges you pay.
Debt advice referrals
If you raise concerns about your ability to keep paying, we will tell you about free, independent debt advice services that may be able to help you.
3. How we set your repayment plan
We take repayment plans seriously and will always try to make sure they are fair and manageable for you. Here is what you can expect:
- We will treat your case individually, no two situations are the same.
- Our staff are trained to understand your ability to pay and to explore all available options with you.
- We will not set payment amounts that are higher than what you can reasonably afford.
- We will not demand large upfront payments before reconnecting your supply.
- If we do not yet have enough information to set a personal rate, we may set a temporary default amount, but we will tell you clearly that this can change, and any default rate will be set at a reasonable level.
- We can pause your repayments for an appropriate period and will review your plan regularly before restarting payments.
- Where possible, we will explore whether debt repayment can be deducted directly from benefits you receive.
We will make sure you understand your arrangement clearly, including how much you are repaying, how it is deducted, when your debt will be cleared, and what to do if you hit difficulties.
4. How we monitor your repayment plan
Once a repayment plan is in place, We will:
- monitor your arrangement to check it is working
- if a payment is missed, contact you promptly to discuss whether a different plan or payment method would work better for you
- review arrangements regularly to make sure they remain appropriate.
5. Prepayment (Pay-as-you-go)
We may offer a prepayment meter where it is safe and reasonably practicable and where any future instalments of existing debt payments will be recovered through the meter based on your personal circumstances.
6. Disconnection
We will try all other options first
Disconnection is always a last resort, and we will do everything we can to prevent this from happening. We will work with you to find a suitable arrangement especially during the winter months and we will not disconnect your home if we know or have reason to believe that you need immediate support. More details about our priority services register can be found here.
Before we consider any disconnection, we will take all reasonable steps to find out whether anyone in your home falls into these protected categories.
We will never disconnect your home at any time of year if we know or have reason to believe that any occupant has a medical condition that means they need a heating or hot water supply throughout the year.
If you’re struggling to pay
Please contact us as soon as possible, the sooner you get in touch, the more options we have to help you. You will not be judged and there is no charge for any of the support we offer.
You can also contact a free, independent debt advice service at any time: