Ask Energy Supplier to Accept Affordable Payments – Letter
For free & impartial money advice you can visit MoneyHelper. We work with The Debt Advice Service who provide information about your options. This isn’t a full fact-find, some debt solutions may not be suitable in all circumstances, ongoing fees might apply & your credit rating may be affected.
For free & impartial money advice you can visit MoneyHelper. We work with The Debt Advice Service who provide information about your options. This isn’t a full fact-find, some debt solutions may not be suitable in all circumstances, ongoing fees might apply & your credit rating may be affected.
Introduction
If you are in arrears with your gas or electricity supplier, our pre-written letter is an effective way to ask your energy supplier to accept affordable repayments. All you will need to do is download the template for free and insert some account details to make it relevant to your situation. Adding a budget will also help show your energy supplier you are being honest and realistic about what you can afford to repay each month.
Ofgem has your back! They state that energy suppliers must take into consideration a customer’s financial situation when negotiating affordable monthly repayments. Download our letters to get your energy company to agree to a repayment plan – and read on to learn more!
Letter Template
To Whom It May Concern
Regarding Case #: [your case number]* (required
Type of supply: [electricity/gas/both electricity and gas]* (required).
I am writing because we are unable to pay what we owe all at once.
I understand that I owe:
£[amount]* (required) for our electricity;
£[amount]* (required) for our gas.
Ofgem requires energy suppliers to consider customers’ circumstances and ability to pay when agreeing a debt-repayment plan.
I ask you agree a new repayment amount of £[enter amount per week/month]* (required).
[include a paragraph outlining the special circumstances you have that you want the energy supplier to take into account]* (required).
I enclose a copy of our budget sheet which shows that this is all I can afford.
Please reply to this letter in writing within 10 working days, confirming my new repayment rate, including any other information you feel would be relevant or helpful to me (for example trust fund information, energy efficiency information and so on).
I look forward to hearing from you.
Yours sincerely
Downloadable Resource
The download links below take you to a Google document template where you can make a copy or save in any document format you like. Note, you may have to login to your Google account.
Download – Single (for one person)
Download – Joint (for couples)
Who should use our free letter template
Our free letter template to ask your energy supplier to accept affordable repayments can be used by anyone responsible for an energy debt in the UK. With rising energy prices, it is understandable that we may get caught out and don’t have enough to pay our latest bill on time without financial hardship.
Sending our letter with your details will politely ask your energy company to agree to an amount you specify each month. Including a personal budget will add value to your argument and could help you get the repayment plan that works best for you.
How a debt solution could help
Some debt solutions can:
- Stop nasty calls from creditors
- Freeze interest and charges
- Reduce your monthly payments
A few debt solutions can even result in writing off some of your debt.
Here’s an example:
Situation
| Monthly income | £2,504 |
| Monthly expenses | £2,345 |
| Total debt | £32,049 |
Monthly debt repayments
| Before | £587 |
| After | £158 |
£429 reduction in monthly payments
If you want to learn what debt solutions are available to you, click the button below to get started.
Do energy companies have to offer me a repayment plan?
Ofgem states that energy suppliers should be reasonable and understanding of their customer’s financial situation. They go on to say that they should agree to repayment plans that do not put their customers into hardship.
That’s why we refer to these statements within our free letter template you can download today.
How long can an energy company backdate a bill?
A gas or electric supplier can only charge you for energy use within the last 12 months. So if you receive a bill that goes back further than a year, you do not need to pay this part of the bill. You will still be responsible for paying for the energy used within the last 12 months.
It is the supplier’s responsibility to give you timely bills so you don’t get hit with a big bill at one time. That’s why you will never have to repay a bill that accounts for energy use from over one year ago.
If you have been receiving estimated bills for over one year and the energy company finds out that you owe more from over a year ago, they cannot charge you for this either.
If you are agreeing on a repayment plan, be aware of these rules and don’t include any unnecessary older bills in your repayments.
Thousands have already tackled their debt
Every day our partners, The Debt Advice Service, help people find out whether they can lower their repayments and finally tackle or write off some of their debt.
Natasha
I’d recommend this firm to anyone struggling with debt – my mind has been put to rest, all is getting sorted.
Reviews shown are for The Debt Advice Service.
Consider switching to a cheaper energy supplier
Most people in the UK were not making the most of the cheapest energy deals available to them because of the headaches involved with switching suppliers. This has been made easier thanks to the UK Government’s USwitch programme. You can call USwitch and they will ask some questions and tell you which provider would be cheapest for you. They’ll even take care of the switch for you.
It’s recommended to call USwitch every year to make sure you are saving the most money possible.
