Usually, you would have to pay for the gas and electricity that you use, even if you haven’t signed any sort of a contract with an energy supplier. If the energy supplier doesn’t send bills for over a year, then you probably would have to pay for the energy you consumed in the last year.
Paying your landlord for energy
There is a way to get rid of the nuisance caused by energy suppliers at a time. In many cases, you might not have to pay the energy suppliers at all.
You would tell the supplier that you aren’t responsible for paying the bill, but your landlord is. Then, make sure you check the tenancy agreement to see if your electricity bill is covered in your rent or not.
Make sure to ask for a copy of the tenancy agreement from your landlord. In this case, if your rent covers the electricity bills, you wouldn’t have to worry about directly dealing with the provider.
If your name is on the bill
This can happen if someone else puts your name on the bill. It probably means that someone signed a contract without notifying you, and then you would have to pay for the electricity bill.
Struggling to pay the shares
There are times when you would have to pay the bill in whole and then get the money back afterward. If you yourself struggle to pay your share of the bill, your supplier should be notified, so he can guide you through it.
However, if you are in a situation where the other person refuses to pay their own share of the bill, then you can take action legally and make them pay by making a small claim.
However, taking this legal action can be expensive and stressful as well, so it might not be the best decision to go for it before trying to solve the situation from your end.
Avoiding paying energy bills
There are some ways through which you might not have to pay the full price of the energy bill. However, it varies from situation to situation. If you pay the landlord the energy bill, then you would have to tell the energy supplier that you are not directly responsible for paying the bill yourself.
Instead, tell the supplier that the energy bill is to be sent to the landlord instead. In case you have just moved in, make sure you check the dates of the first bill that has arrived to see if you are being charged for the energy you didn’t even consume.
The energy company would need proof, e.g., the meter reading, as well as proof of the date you moved into the house or apartment.
Click here to find out how to avoid big energy bills and more information about energy suppliers in the UK.
Energy crisis
There are many options you can go for if you want to avoid a huge bill. There is a major energy crisis in the UK mainly due to the increase in the price of gas. A lot of energy suppliers have started to go out of business which has also led to food shortages.
Hence, households are told to stay vigilant and careful in circumstances like these. They need to start thinking of cheaper ways of living and getting fixed energy deals to avoid major price hikes and avoid it. They can do the following things to avoid such situations:
• They can choose to stick with the price cap for six months and then wait for the fall in prices.
• They could switch to the cheaper options for a few years and get fixed deals.
Do businesses pay their energy bills?
In case you haven’t paid the previous bills or haven’t been paying the regular amount of your bills and towards the future invoices, then you might be in arrears with your supplier for a while.
This means you would be in debt with the current provider you have, and it would be a priority debt. This means it would carry major and gravest consequences and should be dealt with urgency.
There are many businesses that end up finding themselves in this position, due to which they need to take a proactive approach and work on how they will pay off the debt.
They need to get in touch with the provider and then figure out a payment plan that is suitable and fair to both sides.
Then a copy of this business budget should be provided as proof that the business can handle paying off the required amount according to the payment plan. If the business pays the maximum amount, it will start reducing the debt.
If this matter of debt isn’t solved as soon as possible, then the energy supplier would have the right to cut off your supply of energy.
This tends to be the last resort for the supplier, due to which companies should definitely take notice of this beforehand and start working towards a payment plan. Disconnection of business companies leads to a lot of problems and also ruins the reputation of the business.
Financial loss, as well as a reputation going downhill, can lead to business to worse consequences, especially if the business requires a loan. Banks would consider the inability to pay off energy bills as a red flag and deny any loans.
Domestic customer’s inability to pay energy bills
If domestic customers fail to pay their energy bills on time, then energy providers tend to cut them off. However, if you are a domestic customer who is unable to clear the energy bill, then make sure you start working on how to pay off the bill and what you owe to the supplier in total.
This would require you to contact your supplier and then come up with a payment plan and arrangement that is suitable for both sides.
However, cutting you off the energy might be the last resort for the supplier, but if you fail to make payments according to the arrangements, then there is a possibility that the supplier might just install a prepayment meter for you.
Conclusion
In conclusion, you have to pay for electricity in the UK. No matter which household you are in or which business you’re running, you would still have to pay off and clear your energy bills on time.
In case it isn’t possible to do so, or if you are falling behind, make sure you contact the supplier and make a payment plan, or else you might get cut off from the electricity.
Moreover, you can either pay directly for the energy bill to the energy supplier, or you can pay the landlord. It usually depends on the agreement and contract between the landlord and the tenant.
