What happens if I don't pay?

What if I can’t pay my next bill?

If you’re struggling to pay your bill, please get in touch. Our friendly advisers can talk you through the support available and help find a plan that works for you. And if you’re already behind on your bills, don’t worry. The sooner you contact us, the sooner we can help you.

If you don’t pay your bill

We want to do everything we can to help – that’s why it’s so important for you to contact us. But if there’s an outstanding balance on your account and we can’t get hold of you, we may have to take extra steps like:

• Passing your details to a debt collection agency

• Applying for a warrant to install a Pay As You Go meter so you can pay back the money you owe gradually

• Switching your smart meter to a smart Pay As You Go meter remotely

We’ll always take into consideration your individual circumstances before doing any of those things, but it really is important to get in touch ASAP so we can find the best way to help you.

Will my credit rating be affected if I can’t pay? How can I avoid this?

If you don’t pay, you could damage your credit rating. And that can make it harder to borrow money in future – including higher interest rates and stricter rules. You can avoid this by paying your bill on time or by letting us know as soon as possible if you can’t pay your next bill in full. We can arrange an alternative way to pay that works for you – just get in touch with one of our advisers.

Will my supply be disconnected?

We know everyone’s circumstances are different. So we’ll only consider disconnection as a last resort after we’ve exhausted all other options. We’ll do absolutely everything we can to protect you from disconnection – especially in the winter.

What happens when a Direct Debit gets returned?

If your Direct Debit is returned by the bank, we’ll try to collect it again – usually around 14 – 30 days later. However, we’ll always write to let you know exactly when we’ll collect your Direct Debit again.

If your payment fails for a second time, we’ll have to cancel your Direct Debit and send you a bill instead. And you’ll need to pay this in full within 14 days. From then on, we’ll go back to sending you bills for the energy you use on a monthly or quarterly basis. How often you get a bill will be based on the terms you agreed when we created your account.

We know everyone’s circumstances are different, so you can choose a payment method that works for you. Find one that suits your needs on our Paying for my energy page.

What will you do with my information?

We’ll treat anything you tell us about your circumstances as confidential – and we’ll only use it to help find the right way forward for you. For full details about what personal data we collect and how we process it, please read our Privacy Policy.