Excellent

Great staff, so helpful

Excellent service

The best helping people in the worlds....100%

Great advice, and service from Money Wellness

Don't sleep on this!

peace of mind

Made me feel comfortable

Money Wellness

What to do about energy arrears

PrimarySurface

<h1>What to do about energy arrears</h1>
If you&rsquo;ve fallen behind with your energy bill payments, this is known as being in arrears. Find out what happens when you have energy arrears and how to deal with the situation.

What's in this guide?

Contact your supplier

White

If you&rsquo;ve fallen behind with your energy bills, the first thing you should do is contact your supplier to try to come to an arrangement.
Energy arrears are a priority debt. This means you need to pay them before non-priority debts like unsecured personal loans.
Find out more about <a href="https://www.moneywellness.com/guide/what-are-priority-and-non-priority-debts">the difference between priority and non-priority debts</a>. &nbsp;
If you don&rsquo;t try to come to a payment arrangement with you supplier, they might make you move onto prepayment or threaten to disconnect you.
Find out&nbsp;<a href="https://www.moneywellness.com/guide/what-to-do-if-your-energy-supplier-is-trying-to-move-you-to-prepayment">what to do if your energy supplier is trying to force you onto prepayment</a>.

Agreeing a payment plan

Any payment plan you agree will include an amount towards your arrears and an amount towards your current use.
Your supplier must look at:
<ul>
<li>how much you can afford</li>
<li>how much energy you use</li>
</ul>
Our guide on <a href="https://www.moneywellness.com/guide/how-to-create-a-budget">how to create a budget</a> may help if you&rsquo;re not sure how much you can afford to pay.
Alternatively,&nbsp;<a href="https://www.moneywellness.com/debt-advice">get in touch</a> and we&rsquo;ll work out a budget together.

Or learn how Money Wellness can help with <a href="https://www.moneywellness.com/debt-advice" rel="follow">free debt advice</a>.
All our debt advice is free. Some solutions are free. For others, there&rsquo;s a fee.

<h3>Worried about bills? [exclaim--orange]Get [underline-3--primary80]free[/underline-3--primary80] debt advice today[/exclaim--orange]</h3>

Repaying energy debt through your benefits

You may be able to pay off your energy debt directly through your benefits.
Under the&nbsp;<a href="https://www.gov.uk/bills-benefits" rel="follow noopener" target="_blank">fuel direct scheme</a>, a fixed amount will come straight out of your benefits to cover what you owe.

Financial support from energy suppliers

Secondary Purple 10

Quite a few energy suppliers offer grants to help customers who are struggling.
<a href="https://www.moneywellness.com/guide/financial-help-from-your-energy-supplier">Find out what grants are available and how to apply</a>.

Priority services register

If you're vulnerable, you can sign up to the priority services register for free. This entitles you to extra help from your energy supplier.
<a href="https://www.ofgem.gov.uk/information-consumers/energy-advice-households/getting-extra-help-priority-services-register" rel="follow">Find out what qualifies as being vulnerable and what you need to do to sign up.</a>

<h2 style="text-align: center;">Money Wellness [underline-3--primary60]blogs[/underline-3--primary60]</h2>

BT has successfully defended itself against a £1.3bn class action lawsuit following concerns about prices for landline customers.

BT defends £1.3bn class action lawsuit

Water bills to jump by £86 in 2025: what you need to know

Food prices set to rise throughout 2025

More support for vulnerable households needed as water bills set to skyrocket

2.6 million people have stopped driving because of high premiums, new research by Citizens Advice shows. Find out how to bring costs down.

Millions of drivers can’t afford car insurance

Ofgem delays smart meter reforms: what it means for your energy bills

If you&rsquo;ve fallen behind with your energy bills, the first thing you should do is contact your supplier to try to come to an arrangement. Energy arrears are a priority debt. This means you need to pay them before non-priority debts like unsecured personal loans. Find out more about <a href="https://www.moneywellness.com/guide/what-are-priority-and-non-priority-debts">the difference between priority and non-priority debts</a>. &nbsp;
If you don&rsquo;t try to come to a payment arrangement with you supplier, they might make you move onto prepayment or threaten to disconnect you. Find out <a href="https://www.moneywellness.com/guide/what-to-do-if-your-energy-supplier-is-trying-to-move-you-to-prepayment">what to do if your energy supplier is trying to force you onto prepayment</a>.

Any payment plan you agree will include an amount towards your arrears and an amount towards your current use.
Your supplier must look at:
<ul>
<li>how much you can afford</li>
<li>how much energy you use</li>
</ul>
Our guide on <a href="https://www.moneywellness.com/guide/how-to-create-a-budget">how to create a budget</a> may help if you&rsquo;re not sure how much you can afford to pay. Alternatively, <a href="https://www.moneywellness.com/debt-advice">get in touch</a> and we&rsquo;ll work out a budget together.

You may be able to pay off your energy debt directly through your benefits. Under the <a href="https://www.gov.uk/bills-benefits">fuel direct scheme</a>, a fixed amount will come straight out of your benefits to cover what you owe.

Quite a few energy suppliers offer grants to help customers who are struggling. <a href="https://www.moneywellness.com/guide/financial-help-from-your-energy-supplier">Find out what grants are available and how to apply</a>.

If you're vulnerable, you can sign up to the priority services register for free. This entitles you to extra help from your energy supplier. <a href="https://www.ofgem.gov.uk/information-consumers/energy-advice-households/getting-extra-help-priority-services-register" rel="follow">Find out what qualifies as being vulnerable and what you need to do to sign up.</a>

Rent and utility arrears

Debt Advice

Types of debt

<h2 style="margin-top: 18pt; margin-bottom: 6pt;">Page coming soon</h2>
This page is coming soon, in the meantime you may be interested in:
<ul style="margin-top: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; padding-inline-start: 48px;">
<li style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; color: rgb(0, 0, 0);">
<a style="text-decoration: none;" href="https://www.moneywellness.com/debt-advice">Debt advice</a>
</li>
<li style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; color: rgb(0, 0, 0);">
<a style="text-decoration: none;" href="https://www.moneywellness.com/debt-solutions">Debt solutions</a>
</li>
<li style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; color: rgb(0, 0, 0);">
<a style="text-decoration: none;" href="https://www.moneywellness.com/money-booster">Money booster</a>
</li>
<li style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; color: rgb(0, 0, 0);">
<a style="text-decoration: none;" href="https://www.moneywellness.com/money-saver">Money saver</a>
</li>
<li style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; color: rgb(0, 0, 0);">
<a style="text-decoration: none;" href="https://www.moneywellness.com/blog">News</a>
</li>
</ul>

A guide on the action energy suppliers can take if you fall behind with your payments and how you should deal with energy arrears

If you&rsquo;ve fallen behind with your energy bill payments, this is known as being in arrears. Find out what happens when you have energy arrears and how to deal with the situation.