Renegotiate with your Energy Supplier – Letter Template

Introduction

If you are behind on your utility bill repayments, you could benefit from our letter template to renegotiate your current energy debt repayment plan to make it more affordable. Gas and electricity prices have risen over the last years, making it difficult for households to keep up. If you are struggling to meet your energy debt repayments for whatever reason, this letter could help you. 

We have a free letter template to download whether you are the sole name on the energy bill, and we have a template for joint bill payers. Download the one that matches your situation, add a few personal details and send it off. Ofgem is on your side, and it could make a big difference to your monthly finances. 

Letter Template

To Whom It May Concern

Regarding Case #: [your case number]* (required)
Type of supply: [enter the type of supply]* (required)

I am writing to you because I am unable to keep paying my agreed repayments.

I understand that I owe:
£[enter the amount]*(required) for my electricity;
£[enter the amount]* (required) for my gas.

The current repayment arrangement of £[enter the amount]* (required) is difficult for me to meet and I would like to negotiate a more affordable payment.

Ofgem requires energy suppliers to consider customers’ circumstances and ability to pay when agreeing a debt-repayment plan.

I ask you to agree a new repayment amount of £[enter the amount you can afford to pay towards your arrears.]* (required)

I enclose a copy of my budget summary which shows 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 letter template?

Our letter templates are provided to be used by people who are already in debt with their energy supplier. If you have agreed to a debt repayment plan with your gas or electric company to repay, but are struggling to keep to the repayments, sending a letter to renegotiate could help. 

It will ask your supplier to renegotiate your repayment plan to a lower amount. This is more likely to be successful if you have a valid reason for needing to lower the repayments, such as a loss of income or reduced income. 

» TAKE ACTION NOW: Fill out the short debt form

How long can energy companies chase you for debt?

Debts in the UK are enforceable for at least six years. After this point, they become too old to be discussed in court and the utility company cannot force you to pay. Only in rare instances will a company not chase you for the debt within six years, meaning you probably won’t get away with it. 

However, there are some instances when you don’t have to pay your energy supplier. You cannot be billed for over a year’s worth of energy in one bill and you do not have to pay for energy used more than 12 months ago. Read more about these ways to write off energy debt on the Ofgem website here. 

Ofgem is on your side in other ways too. They state that an energy company must take account of a debtor’s circumstances and financial situation when repaying debts. This means they should be renegotiating a repayment plan in line with what you can afford. We remind them of this in our letter template. 

Should I include a budget in my letter?

Remember how we said you are more likely to renegotiate if you have a valid reason for wanting to lower repayments? One of the best ways to prove lower income and financial hardship is by supplying the energy company with a breakdown of your budget, showing what you can afford to repay.

That’s why our template letter also discusses a budget you should include. You can use the MoneyNerd budgeting section for help with this!

Other ways to lower my energy bill

There are other ways to lower your energy bills. You might want to give USwitch a call to discuss if there are cheaper companies providing in your area. Moreover, various financial packages are available to some people, such as the winter payment and warm home schemes.