Supporting customers in financial difficulty

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Suspending or disconnecting a customers heat supply is a last resort.

Before we suspend or disconnect a heat supply we must first try and support the customer to repay the debt and/or seek third party support and the credit control and debt management service will be managed by the relevant metering and billing provider for the property.

The process we ask our representatives to follow is detailed below:

Our representatives responsibilities:

PAYG exception review

For Customer accounts which are operating in PAYG mode, the Contractor shall perform an exception review and provide a report on a monthly basis indicating those Customer accounts where exceptions exist. The following exceptions will be highlighted:

• no consumption;
• high credit balances;
• Heat Meters which continue to clock usage despite no credit being available on the CIU;
• CIUs which have not received payments sent via GSM communication; and
• Customers who have not made further payment following the cessation of Heat due to all credit (including any emergency credit available through the CIU) having been used up.

The report will detail any action that has been taken during the previous month and the representative shall discuss with GEC any further action to be taken to resolve any outstanding exceptions.

Credit control procedure for residential customers

Where a customer accrues debt totalling over £100.00, either by not repaying loans or by the standing charge acruing and no credit has been applied on the account, the process shall be carried out as follows:

• Once the debt accrued totals over £100.00 an initial account reminder will be issued to the customer. This letter will act as a reminder that the debt exists and should be paid immediately. The letter will show the current outstanding balance and suggest ways in which the account may be settled;
• if the account remains outstanding at the expiry of a further twenty-eight business days, at least three telephone calls shall be attempted to the customer with at least one call being made outside of normal working hours. The call shall confirm the current outstanding balance and check if payment has recently been made. If a payment has been made, the customer will be asked how the payment was made and when, thanked and apologies made for the call. If no payment has been made, the customer will be asked if they would like to pay the account balance by debit card whilst on the telephone; if so, payment will be taken. If not paid, the customer will be reminded that the account should be paid immediately. Additionally, the customer will be asked if any problems exist with the account or its ability to pay. Any communication with the customer shall be recorded in a database, noting the date and time of the call and a brief explanation of the purpose and outcome of the call; and
• if the account remains outstanding at the expiry of a further fifty-six business days, a final letter is issued. The letter will list the means of payment, advise the customer to contact our representatives immediately with any query or difficulty in making payment and give a time frame for settlement.

Debt management service for residential customers

If, following the Credit Control Procedure, no further action is taken to settle the account within twenty-eight business days of the final letter being issued, the representative will notify GEC and:

• recover the debt as a percentage of purchases made, at a daily rate or percentage of each transaction made, such rate not to exceed 20% of the purchase made; and
• if the customer is tenant of a Registered Provider, notify the relevant Registered Provider to determine whether they will make payment on behalf of the customer and take responsibility for payment for any subsequent heat consumed customer; and
• if the customer is classed as vulnerable, inform GEC and follow any reasonable instructions given by GEC.

Debt recovery service for residential customers

If, after twelve weeks following the Debt Management Service, no further payments are made using the PAYG system and no payments are made by a Registered Provider, our representatives will notify GEC and subject to our instruction, will suspend the supply of heat to the relevant property in accordance with Residential Heat Supply Agreement or undertake any other actions we may ask.

Suspension of heat shall be undertaken by closing the PAYG Valve. If heat continues to be consumed following such steps, the supply will be manually isolated (using the lockable isolation valves outside of the HIU where they have been provided, otherwise any other available isolation valves that are least likely to be tampered with).

Following suspension of supply of heat our representatives will pursue any outstanding debt from a customer as a debt claim via the courts system; and on payment by the customer (or Registered Provider, if applicable) of the outstanding debt due (or on satisfactory establishment of a debt recovery plan), our representatives will reinstate the heat supply within 4 hours (discounting times outside of normal working hours) if suspension of heat was via the HIU, or twenty-four hours if suspension was using isolation valves not controlled by a HIU.

Notification

Our representatives will, on a monthly basis, notify GEC of any customer account which it has commenced the Debt Management Procedure and/or Debt Recovery Service, with full details of the amount outstanding and relevant circumstances.

Vulnerable customers in financial difficulty

GEC, or its representatives, will not disconnect heat supply to a vulnerable customer, or to a property where a vulnerable person lives, during the heating season (1st October - 31st March).