[ESB]Electric Ireland bill in Arrears

masculinist

To cut a long story short, I got hit by a financial tsunami. It did not help that I donated 10 grand to help a child with leukemia personally known to me. Basically the recession was tough but I was left with very little. I returned to finish my University course. A lot of bad things happened and I always dealt with them maturely... but anyway thats besides the point.

This is the situation. I keep getting warning letters from ESB [Electricity Ireland] since August . I had no idea at first that the bill had been 500 or 600 euro but ignored by my girlfriend who is terrible with money but great at filing away letters before I get to see them. I paid a little bit off again and again but pretty quickly considering and received another warning letter today that the bill was 310 euro. I paid off 60 euro today again so now its down to 250 euro. I am sure it will be cleared before Christmas but dont particularly want to call them as the bill is not even in my name but in the name of an absent tenant. To get it into my name would involve a deposit I cant afford and bank charges I cant afford. I accept responsibility for the outstanding and all current bills. I especially do not want my name being threatened by ''lower credit ratings'' like todays bill warned.
I am hoping it is enough that they can see someone is not ignoring his responsibilities or at least is making an excellent attempt to pay. It will be cleared but want to know, can they sneakily disconnect me and all the extra charges heaped on top of something like this [without informing me of a disconnect date ?] . It wont be less than 10 days until I can probably clear it off for good. Do they check that someone is making an attempt to pay before they disconnect you ?

Degag

First things first: You need to get the account into your name. You then need to accept liability for whatever you owe (agree to have the charges in the ex tenants name transferred to your own)

You then need to engage with Electric Ireland and enter a payment plan with them. As far as I know, they will give a date whereby if the balance is not paid, the electricity is in danger of being cut off. It's about 160e total for the disconnection/reconnection.

ytpe2r5bxkn0c1

I'm afraid you will need to talk to them. They will not just assume an occasional payment will clear the debt by christmas.

masculinist

Degag wrote: »

First things first: You need to get the account into your name.

why does this matter ? As far as I know this will make paying the bill much less convenient. I will be liable for future bank charges from a direct debit if I cant find a hefty deposit [which I cant]. Like I said , I am trying to pay this off as quickly as possible. Can I ignore their letters and just keep paying it off ? How small does this bill have to get before they will stop considering disconnection ? I am getting it down. I have been paying off chunks of it even while appliances etc have been running up charges as normal.

masculinist

Mason Sticky Ray wrote: »

I'm afraid you will need to talk to them. They will not just assume an occasional payment will clear the debt by christmas.

They can probably see that I have been paying off more than occasional payments though. I have been paying the regular usage charges at the same time as paying this one off. It has been a moving goalpost but I dont see it lasting long as I am due to be paid for a lot of overtime in 10 days. Id rather not talk to them... I find this embarrassing as I never owed anything in my life before...

Degag

masculinist wrote: »

why does this matter ? As far as I know this will make paying the bill much less convenient. I will be liable for future bank charges from a direct debit if I cant find a hefty deposit [which I cant]. Like I said , I am trying to pay this off as quickly as possible. Can I ignore their letters and just keep paying it off ? How small does this bill have to get before they will stop considering disconnection ? I am getting it down. I have been paying off chunks of it even while appliances etc have been running up charges as normal.

Because you are living in the property and should be liable for the usage - not the ex tenant. It's just common sense that if you move into a property that you transfer all utilities into your name.

jsd1004

masculinist wrote: »

To cut a long story short, I got hit by a financial tsunami. It did not help that I donated 10 grand to help a child with leukemia personally known to me. Basically the recession was tough but I was left with very little. I returned to finish my University course. A lot of bad things happened and I always dealt with them maturely... but anyway thats besides the point.

This is the situation. I keep getting warning letters from ESB [Electricity Ireland] since August . I had no idea at first that the bill had been 500 or 600 euro but ignored by my girlfriend who is terrible with money but great at filing away letters before I get to see them. I paid a little bit off again and again but pretty quickly considering and received another warning letter today that the bill was 310 euro. I paid off 60 euro today again so now its down to 250 euro. I am sure it will be cleared before Christmas but dont particularly want to call them as the bill is not even in my name but in the name of an absent tenant. To get it into my name would involve a deposit I cant afford and bank charges I cant afford. I accept responsibility for the outstanding and all current bills. I especially do not want my name being threatened by ''lower credit ratings'' like todays bill warned.
I am hoping it is enough that they can see someone is not ignoring his responsibilities or at least is making an excellent attempt to pay. It will be cleared but want to know, can they sneakily disconnect me and all the extra charges heaped on top of something like this [without informing me of a disconnect date ?] . It wont be less than 10 days until I can probably clear it off for good. Do they check that someone is making an attempt to pay before they disconnect you ?

Utilities companies are not attached to the ICB. They cannot affect your credit rating. Note that they say your credit rating ' with us '.

masculinist

Degag wrote: »

Because you are living in the property and should be liable for the usage - not the ex tenant. It's just common sense that if you move into a property that you transfer all utilities into your name.

if I have a bad name , I'd rather it be in any name but my own. But hey listen , I am not a con artist. I'm paying it off for peace of mind. But still why have people harassing me in my name when I can leave it in someone elses name ? It will cost more to change names too. If I cease to live there I will do the right thing and inform them. Thats the least I can do.

ytpe2r5bxkn0c1

masculinist wrote: »

They can probably see that I have been paying off more than occasional payments though. I have been paying the regular usage charges at the same time as paying this one off. It has been a moving goalpost but I dont see it lasting long as I am due to be paid for a lot of overtime in 10 days. Id rather not talk to them... I find this embarrassing as I never owed anything in my life before...

I'm sorry but they are not mind readers and don't manually review every account movement. The account will show as overdue with arrears over and above the payment terms without any agreed payment arrangement. If you want to play a gamble for the next 10 days then that is your choice but you really need to get the account in to your known name. A DD is far from expensive now, is it?

masculinist

Mason Sticky Ray wrote: »

The account will show as overdue with arrears over and above the payment terms without any agreed payment arrangement

well it depends which part of it you consider paid off. You might consider that I paid off the amount owing from August yet still have the part from October left to pay.

And yes bank charges and Direct Debits are extortionate. I had a direct debit from O2 mobile internet bounce and instead of owing 9 euro for just that one charge, I ended up owing 18 euro even though I paid it almost immediately. In fact I think I will turn that particular happenstance into another thread !

Degag

masculinist wrote: »

well it depends which part of it you consider paid off. You might consider that I paid off the amount owing from August yet still have the part from October left to pay.

And yes bank charges and Direct Debits are extortionate. I had a direct debit from O2 mobile internet bounce and instead of owing 9 euro for just that one charge, I ended up owing 18 euro even though I paid it almost immediately. In fact I think I will turn that particular happenstance into another thread !

At the end of the day it is up to you what to do, but if you are disconnected then it will be your fault and no one elses. If you are disconnected you will have to put an account in your name, pay reconnection charges, possibly a deposit and any potential arrears - and that may possibly before you are given an appointment for a reconnection. You've gotten good advice here of what to do. Ignore it if you wish.

Also, my bank charges me about 20c for a direct debit. I imagine most banks are pretty much the same.

ytpe2r5bxkn0c1

masculinist wrote: »

well it depends which part of it you consider paid off. You might consider that I paid off the amount owing from August yet still have the part from October left to pay.

And yes bank charges and Direct Debits are extortionate. I had a direct debit from O2 mobile internet bounce and instead of owing 9 euro for just that one charge, I ended up owing 18 euro even though I paid it almost immediately. In fact I think I will turn that particular happenstance into another thread !

This is why you need to talk to them. If a bill issues with arrears then it is all due immediately - not just the arrears portion. I don't know why you asked when you have your own mind made up and just look for an out in any answer given. The entire debt is overdue. You have not cleared you liability by only paying the arrears amount! As for DD charges: again you are to blame for the example you quote as you did not honour the DD when due. I have never paid a DD charge for utility bills in over 30 years.

masculinist

Mason Sticky Ray wrote: »

This is why you need to talk to them. If a bill issues with arrears then it is all due immediately - not just the arrears portion. I don't know why you asked when you have your own mind made up and just look for an out in any answer given. The entire debt is overdue. You have not cleared you liability by only paying the arrears amount! As for DD charges: again you are to blame for the example you quote as you did not honour the DD when due. I have never paid a DD charge for utility bills in over 30 years.

I never said I was not responsible for anything. And I did not come here with a closed mind like you claim. I am a very responsible person actually. if you read my OP carefully you will see that control had been wrestled from my hands by a few different events. I am paying this back pretty quickly if I say so myself because this is on top of the regular bill which is usually quite high.

slimjimmc

As previously advised, EI (or any provider) will not take the view 'Ah sure he's chipping away at it, paying what he can when he can. He'll get there soon'. They're looking at a debt that has been outstanding since June or July (based on you getting written warnings in August). They only have so much patience so unless you take the initiative and engage with Electric Ireland you are at increasing risk of disconnection. EI are socially conscious and tolerant of peoples struggles once you make them aware and agree a realistic payment plan. As you are not in control now this is one way (if not the only practical way) of regaining that control which was wrestled away from you.

dudara

OP, I can move this thread to the Talk to Electric Ireland forum, where a rep there can assist you. I think this might be the best thing to do. Please let me or another moderator know if you would like it moved.

dudara

masculinist

Thanks for the nice advice. Yes. Please move it there. I was searching for an electricity forum but could not find it.

slimjimmc

Moved from Consumer Issues at OP's request.

EI: Aoife O

Hi masculinist,

Thank you for getting in touch regarding this issue. I understand that you're in a difficult position at the moment, we'll certainly look into this for you and try and resolve this. Customers who contact us and enter into repayments with us will not be disconnected. The important thing is to enter into a conversation with us. We will need to take a look at the account in question to determine what the next step is. If you've already received letters regarding this balance, we will need to put a plan in place as soon as possible to ensure that a disconnection order is not placed. 

Please PM us with your address, the account number and your contact number. As you are not the account holder, I will be limited in the details I can advise you of, but I will give you as much general information as possible.

Kind regards,
Aoife