how long until the esb cut your supply off??

LordDorington

jeckle wrote: »

If you have made a payment arrangement with them & are sticking to it they won't cut you off. You are probably getting automated letters. If worried you should ring them to confirm this.

No they are completely messing us around. we made a verbal payment arrangement by phone yesterday where they said 250 per week for two weeks was fine. This morning we got a phone call from someone else saying that she had over rode this decision and was demanding another 250 today or else they woudl disconnect. Am so afraid we are going to be left in the dark...

Fnergg

LordDorington wrote: »

No they are completely messing us around. we made a verbal payment arrangement by phone yesterday where they said 250 per week for two weeks was fine. This morning we got a phone call from someone else saying that she had over rode this decision and was demanding another 250 today or else they woudl disconnect. Am so afraid we are going to be left in the dark...

My contacts in the ESB tell me that they are getting very much tougher on debt and customers will not be allowed to let bills slide as much as they might have done in the past.

Payment of the ESB bill has to be seen as a priority for every customer and ignoring the payment date of 14 days from date of issue is now increasingly attracting the attention of ESB in ways that wouldn't have arisen in the past.

Customers are being phoned and texted and reminder letters are carrying a more emphatic message. Notifications of disconnection are being followed through on as there are now more ESB Networks electricians available to withdraw supply than there was a couple of years ago when they were tied up connecting supply to new houses.

So, don't assume the ESB will be the pushover where payment arrangements are concerned anymore. Times have changed and the gloves are off.

Bottom line: pay the bill on time, don't let it build up.

Regards,,

Fnergg

Max Power1

Fnergg wrote: »

My contacts in the ESB tell me that they are getting very much tougher on debt and customers will not be allowed to let bills slide as much as they might have done in the past.

Payment of the ESB bill has to be seen as a priority for every customer and ignoring the payment date of 14 days from date of issue is now increasingly attracting the attention of ESB in ways that wouldn't have arisen in the past.

Customers are being phoned and texted and reminder letters are carrying a more emphatic message. Notifications of disconnection are being followed through on as there are now more ESB Networks electricians available to withdraw supply than there was a couple of years ago when they were tied up connecting supply to new houses.

So, don't assume the ESB will be the pushover where payment arrangements are concerned anymore. Times have changed and the gloves are off.

Bottom line: pay the bill on time, don't let it build up.

Regards,,

Fnergg

Fnergg is correct. Both ESB and BGE supply businesses had been takeing a slowly slowly approach on disconnection in the past. This is no longer the case as disconnection orders are now being followed up on.

LordDorington

Fnergg wrote: »

My contacts in the ESB tell me that they are getting very much tougher on debt and customers will not be allowed to let bills slide as much as they might have done in the past.

Payment of the ESB bill has to be seen as a priority for every customer and ignoring the payment date of 14 days from date of issue is now increasingly attracting the attention of ESB in ways that wouldn't have arisen in the past.

Customers are being phoned and texted and reminder letters are carrying a more emphatic message. Notifications of disconnection are being followed through on as there are now more ESB Networks electricians available to withdraw supply than there was a couple of years ago when they were tied up connecting supply to new houses.

So, don't assume the ESB will be the pushover where payment arrangements are concerned anymore. Times have changed and the gloves are off.

Bottom line: pay the bill on time, don't let it build up.

Regards,,

Fnergg

Gee thanks a million for providing info which a)I already know, b) helps me in no way at this particular point in time and c) makes me feel even smaller than I feel right now. Talk about kicking someone when they are down.

Davy

LordDorington wrote: »

where do esb actually carry out the disconnection/ is it where you read the meter?

Usually yes.

LordDorington wrote: »

Our meter reading thing is around the back with no access - can they disconnect us elsewhere?

Yes, depending what service you have under or overground.

You should ring and ask to speak to a manager and get a bottom line why you were told one thing, and now its changed and try to come to some agreement. The electricity bill is usually put last on the priorities for paying, but and esb always gave a lot of room but that seems to be going now.

LordDorington

Davy wrote: »

Usually yes.




Yes, depending what service you have under or overground.

You should ring and ask to speak to a manager and get a bottom line why you were told one thing, and now its changed and try to come to some agreement. The electricity bill is usually put last on the priorities for paying, but and esb always gave a lot of room but that seems to be going now.

Thanks for that, and I appreciate your advice. Of course we are aware that this is something that should have been tackeld sooner, but things have been pretty rough and at times it ahs come down to a choice between paying for light and paying for heat. As it is we no longer use our gas heating, instead we just light a fire and stay in that room. not looking for sympathy vote genuinely just explaining how bad things were.. We are trying to catch up now and I really scrimped for that 250 and its a total kick in the teeth to be told "sorry we are actually not willing to wait another week for another 250 and are going to disconnetc and charge 184 for the privellege"

Davy

LordDorington wrote: »

Thanks for that, and I appreciate your advice. Of course we are aware that this is something that should have been tackeld sooner, but things have been pretty rough and at times it ahs come down to a choice between paying for light and paying for heat. As it is we no longer use our gas heating, instead we just light a fire and stay in that room. not looking for sympathy vote genuinely just explaining how bad things were.. We are trying to catch up now and I really scrimped for that 250 and its a total kick in the teeth to be told "sorry we are actually not willing to wait another week for another 250 and are going to disconnetc and charge 184 for the privellege"

I understand that your not paying them for the fun, everyone has hard times. You should try ringing them and see what they will do.

If you cant get much improvement you could contacts MABS and see if they can get a bit more breathing space for you. Another option that you could look at, is getting a token meter installed. These are pay as you go type meters where you can topup a fiver or whatever you have at anytime. They may not want to go for this as i think they want to get rid of the token meters.

LordDorington

Davy wrote: »

I understand that your not paying them for the fun, everyone has hard times. You should try ringing them and see what they will do.

If you cant get much improvement you could contacts MABS and see if they can get a bit more breathing space for you. Another option that you could look at, is getting a token meter installed. These are pay as you go type meters where you can topup a fiver or whatever you have at anytime. They may not want to go for this as i think they want to get rid of the token meters.

Yes I agree, who said anything about fun Of course more and more people are having hard times right now- although some harder than others and in some cases not as much their fault as with others.. Thank you for your advice.

Fnergg

Davy wrote: »

.....The electricity bill is usually put last on the priorities for paying..

And that's the nub of the problem.

When you think of it, the electricity bill should be up there with food and rent/mortgage in the priority list as you can't do a lot if your supply is disconnected.

And yet, too many people will opt to pay their TV Multichannel service, their phone bill, etc., etc., before their electricity bill.

And it's not that it is a huge expense: according to the Central Statistics Office the average household expenditure on electricity is less than 5% of total household expenditure per month.

The average bill is probably around €25 a week - €3 odd per day. It ain't onerous.

So forgive me if I don't have a bleeding heart for those who are being threatened with disconnection or refused yet another payment arrangement. Get your priorities right and pay your electricity bill on time. ESB has even introduced a nifty way to pay towards your next bill from your computer: https://www.esb.ie/esbcustomersupply/residential/your_account/pay/startPayInit.do

If you pay, say, €25 per week online your next bill will mostly be paid (you may actually be in credit) by the time it arrives.

Regards,

Fnergg

LordDorington

Fnergg wrote: »

And that's the nub of the problem.

When you think of it, the electricity bill should be up there with food and rent/mortgage in the priority list as you can't do a lot if your supply is disconnected.

And yet, too many people will opt to pay their TV Multichannel service, their phone bill, etc., etc., before their electricity bill.

And it's not that it is a huge expense: according to the Central Statistics Office the average household expenditure on electricity is less than 5% of total household expenditure per month.

The average bill is probably around €25 a week - €3 odd per day. It ain't onerous.

So forgive me if I don't have a bleeding heart for those who are being threatened with disconnection or refused yet another payment arrangement. Get your priorities right and pay your electricity bill on time. ESB has even introduced a nifty way to pay towards your next bill from your computer: https://www.esb.ie/esbcustomersupply/residential/your_account/pay/startPayInit.do

If you pay, say, €25 per week online your next bill will mostly be paid (you may actually be in credit) by the time it arrives.

Regards,

Fnergg

You know nothing about me, and like I said, it was a query, I am not looking for your "bleeding heart" - anyway as things worked out it turns out that our payment was enough to keep the wolf from the door until next week when we can pay the same again. Oh and there are no multichannel packages in my house you will no doubt be disappointed to learn.
Do you work for ESB.....? It seems you do!

zexstream

You can go to the social where you can get an emergency payment to help you pay a ESB bill you cant afford, providing you have legit reasons.

Also you can also go onto a household budget planner if you are on social welfare.


The gits CAN NOT disconnect you if you are on this. government Rules. You can even pay arrears payments using this service. ESB will get funny with you and ask for more but legally they can not enforce any more than 25% of your weekly welfare payments.

http://www.anpost.ie/NR/exeres/A2B30CA6-BBC5-45CF-AA38-9DE8061E0822.htm

The total payments do not exceed 25% of your flat weekly Social Services payment

2.E.S.B
A minimum of €3.50 per week applies. Payment for electrical appliances is not permitted under this scheme

Failing that for those not on welfare simply swap you supplier, change from ESB to Airtricity.

It is only ESB networks who can disconnect you, ESB supply will order a disconnection, but if you are a customer of another supplier ESB networks can not disconnect you.

ESB supply will have to take you to court for their money.

Fnergg

zexstream wrote: »

You can go to the social where you can get an emergency payment to help you pay a ESB bill you cant afford, providing you have legit reasons.

Also you can also go onto a household budget planner if you are on social welfare.

The gits CAN NOT disconnect you if you are on this. government Rules. You can even pay arrears payments using this service. ESB will get funny with you and ask for more but legally they can not enforce any more than 25% of your weekly welfare payments.

http://www.anpost.ie/NR/exeres/A2B30CA6-BBC5-45CF-AA38-9DE8061E0822.htm


Failing that for those not on welfare simply swap you supplier, change from ESB to Airtricity.

It is only ESB networks who can disconnect you, ESB supply will order a disconnection, but if you are a customer of another supplier ESB networks can not disconnect you.

ESB supply will have to take you to court for their money.

ESB Customer Supply, like every other supplier, will insist on a realistic payment arrangement. If the payment being proposed through the deduction at source Social Welfare system is not sufficient to pay ongoing usage plus the arrears than it will NOT be accepted. The idea that you can pay whatever you like through the Social Welfare system and that the ESB has to accept it is not correct. It is a very useful option for people surviving on Social Welfare but the payments have to be acceptable to the ESB.

Changing suppliers is an option, sure, but you'd better make sure you pay your bills on time with your new supplier. And preferably by direct debit or you might have to pay a deposit.

At the first sign of payment difficulties other suppliers will drop you like a hot potato and tell you to go back to the ESB or face disconnection. If you still owe money to the ESB they will not take you back until it is paid in full. So, you could end up stuck with your new supplier who WILL withdraw your supply..and pretty damn quick too. And they will be nowhere near as understanding as the ESB where payment arrangements are concerned. One of the reasons why they can undercut the ESB is that they do not intend incurring costs servicing bad payers.

The sensible thing to do is to avoid any such difficulties by paying your bill on time. The electricity bill should be up there with food and shelter in the list of household spending priorities.

Regards,

Fnergg

LordDorington

zexstream wrote: »

You can go to the social where you can get an emergency payment to help you pay a ESB bill you cant afford, providing you have legit reasons.

Also you can also go onto a household budget planner if you are on social welfare.


The gits CAN NOT disconnect you if you are on this. government Rules. You can even pay arrears payments using this service. ESB will get funny with you and ask for more but legally they can not enforce any more than 25% of your weekly welfare payments.

http://www.anpost.ie/NR/exeres/A2B30CA6-BBC5-45CF-AA38-9DE8061E0822.htm




Failing that for those not on welfare simply swap you supplier, change from ESB to Airtricity.

It is only ESB networks who can disconnect you, ESB supply will order a disconnection, but if you are a customer of another supplier ESB networks can not disconnect you.

ESB supply will have to take you to court for their money.

Thank you for your kind advice and for, unlike others, resisting the urge to kick someone when they are already down. We managed to pay 500 off it and the (very small) remaining balance will be tackled using weekly repayments.
I do not for one moment believe that anyone will be left "in limbo" and your idea of switiching to airtricity is great for the bigger reason that they are in fact cheaper and greener. Once our bill is up to date this is something we will be doing.
Of course they CAN take people to court if repayments proposals were not acceptable but of course they would come out even worse as they generally do when areas such as income/outgoings/other creditors/travel etc are taken into account.

Thank you again you have been very helpful and relevant in your posts, and I appreciate your kind advice!

Regards x

zexstream

Fnergg wrote: »

ESB Customer Supply, like every other supplier, will insist on a realistic payment arrangement. If the payment being proposed through the deduction at source Social Welfare system is not sufficient to pay ongoing usage plus the arrears than it will NOT be accepted. The idea that you can pay whatever you like through the Social Welfare system and that the ESB has to accept it is not correct. It is a very useful option for people surviving on Social Welfare but the payments have to be acceptable to the ESB.

Changing suppliers is an option, sure, but you'd better make sure you pay your bills on time with your new supplier. And preferably by direct debit or you might have to pay a deposit.

At the first sign of payment difficulties other suppliers will drop you like a hot potato and tell you to go back to the ESB or face disconnection. If you still owe money to the ESB they will not take you back until it is paid in full. So, you could end up stuck with your new supplier who WILL withdraw your supply..and pretty damn quick too. And they will be nowhere near as understanding as the ESB where payment arrangements are concerned. One of the reasons why they can undercut the ESB is that they do not intend incurring costs servicing bad payers.

The sensible thing to do is to avoid any such difficulties by paying your bill on time. The electricity bill should be up there with food and shelter in the list of household spending priorities.

Regards,

Fnergg

Im sorry but I have to disagree.

When you avail of this payment method it is the Welfare who are setting it up.

If the ESB insist of switching you off for unpaid bills, Welfare will make an emergency payment to pay your arrears.

However the ESB have to accept a minimum of your further bills providing you pay at least the minimumof €3.50 per week.

Its all there in black and white.

And I know many people who avail of this.

Again if you build up too much arrears Welfare will rpovide an emergancy payment.

However I have seen the people at welfare giving telling the ESB of the rights of the consumer and how they legally must except payments from the customer using the payment scheme.

Also I should point out that the if the ESB do try to cut anyone off you have to receive 7 days legal notice of their intent. During this time you should make an emergency meeting with Welfare and seek the emergency payment to cover you arrears and avoid being cut off.



LordDorington I hope you have everything sorted. And good luck to you.

Remember there are thousands of people in the same situation, so we all do have a voice. Good luck.

LordDorington

zexstream wrote: »

Im sorry but I have to disagree.

When you avail of this payment method it is the Welfare who are setting it up.

If the ESB insist of switching you off for unpaid bills, Welfare will make an emergency payment to pay your arrears.

However the ESB have to accept a minimum of your further bills providing you pay at least the minimumof €3.50 per week.

Its all there in black and white.

And I know many people who avail of this.

Again if you build up too much arrears Welfare will rpovide an emergancy payment.

However I have seen the people at welfare giving telling the ESB of the rights of the consumer and how they legally must except payments from the customer using the payment scheme.

Also I should point out that the if the ESB do try to cut anyone off you have to receive 7 days legal notice of their intent. During this time you should make an emergency meeting with Welfare and seek the emergency payment to cover you arrears and avoid being cut off.



LordDorington I hope you have everything sorted. And good luck to you.

Remember there are thousands of people in the same situation, so we all do have a voice. Good luck.

Hi thank you for your support. yes we have it sorete dnow it is certainly more manageable and the threat of disconnection is no more so we can sleep at night ha ha. Thank you again x

Max Power1

Fnergg wrote: »

ESB Customer Supply, like every other supplier, will insist on a realistic payment arrangement. If the payment being proposed through the deduction at source Social Welfare system is not sufficient to pay ongoing usage plus the arrears than it will NOT be accepted. The idea that you can pay whatever you like through the Social Welfare system and that the ESB has to accept it is not correct. It is a very useful option for people surviving on Social Welfare but the payments have to be acceptable to the ESB.

Changing suppliers is an option, sure, but you'd better make sure you pay your bills on time with your new supplier. And preferably by direct debit or you might have to pay a deposit.

At the first sign of payment difficulties other suppliers will drop you like a hot potato and tell you to go back to the ESB or face disconnection. If you still owe money to the ESB they will not take you back until it is paid in full. So, you could end up stuck with your new supplier who WILL withdraw your supply..and pretty damn quick too. And they will be nowhere near as understanding as the ESB where payment arrangements are concerned. One of the reasons why they can undercut the ESB is that they do not intend incurring costs servicing bad payers.

The sensible thing to do is to avoid any such difficulties by paying your bill on time. The electricity bill should be up there with food and shelter in the list of household spending priorities.

Regards,

Fnergg

In addition to what Fnergg said above, I would like to add that the non-esb suppliers will not take you on if you have a disconnection order on your account at present, or in the past. Unlike ESB supply, who are the SOLR for electricity (supplier of last resort - ie they have to accept you as a customer) the non incumbent suppliers are under no such obligation, and will not touch a customer with bad credit history.

If your bill is issued bi-monthly then a realistic payment arrangement would be 1/8 of an average bill. If you do not offer this they will not accept your payment arrangement as a stay on disconnection as you will fall deeper and deeper into arrears

ytpe2r5bxkn0c1

zexstream wrote: »

Im sorry but I have to disagree.

When you avail of this payment method it is the Welfare who are setting it up.

If the ESB insist of switching you off for unpaid bills, Welfare will make an emergency payment to pay your arrears.

However the ESB have to accept a minimum of your further bills providing you pay at least the minimumof €3.50 per week.

Its all there in black and white.

And I know many people who avail of this.

Again if you build up too much arrears Welfare will rpovide an emergancy payment.

However I have seen the people at welfare giving telling the ESB of the rights of the consumer and how they legally must except payments from the customer using the payment scheme.

Also I should point out that the if the ESB do try to cut anyone off you have to receive 7 days legal notice of their intent. During this time you should make an emergency meeting with Welfare and seek the emergency payment to cover you arrears and avoid being cut off.



LordDorington I hope you have everything sorted. And good luck to you.

Remember there are thousands of people in the same situation, so we all do have a voice. Good luck.

Lord help anybody making decisions based on your advice! That is completely off the wall. ESB Customer Supply (or any other supply company) do not have to accept an arrangement between the Social Welfare and a Customer. There is most definately no legal requirement for anybody to accept payment terms set down by the social welfare. Where is this black and white you refer to? An "emergency payment from the Social Welfare to a customer to avoid disconnection is a matter between the social and the customer with no input from ESB. The social may make a payment in certain circumstances but not necessarily so.

I'm staggered that people don't give the payment of electricity or gas bill the same importance as rent or food.

LordDorington

Max Power1 wrote: »

In addition to what Fnergg said above, I would like to add that the non-esb suppliers will not take you on if you have a disconnection order on your account at present, or in the past. Unlike ESB supply, who are the SOLR for electricity (supplier of last resort - ie they have to accept you as a customer) the non incumbent suppliers are under no such obligation, and will not touch a customer with bad credit history.

If your bill is issued bi-monthly then a realistic payment arrangement would be 1/8 of an average bill. If you do not offer this they will not accept your payment arrangement as a stay on disconnection as you will fall deeper and deeper into arrears

I am no longer on the disconnection list and I thought I made that perfectly clear. Actually we have been in negotiations with them and they are willing to accept less than that. Of course I will try to pay more to get it sorted asap but no they are not going to disconnect.

LordDorington

I'm staggered that people don't give the payment of electricity or gas bill the same importance as rent or food.[/quote]

Well bully for you that you have never been in a situation where you have had to decide between and figure out which two of the three you need the most. Whats the point paying ESB for a supply you wont be able to access if you are evicted?

foggy_lad

zexstream wrote: »

You can go to the social where you can get an emergency payment to help you pay a ESB bill you cant afford, providing you have legit reasons.

you mean the local community welfare officer usually based in your local health centre? these have cut back drastically on payments to people in recent times.

Also you can also go onto a household budget planner if you are on social welfare.

you do not have to be on social welfare payments to avail of this service in any Money Advice And Budgeting Service office throughout the country! see here

The gits CAN NOT disconnect you if you are on this. government Rules. You can even pay arrears payments using this service. ESB will get funny with you and ask for more but legally they can not enforce any more than 25% of your weekly welfare payments.

http://www.anpost.ie/NR/exeres/A2B30CA6-BBC5-45CF-AA38-9DE8061E0822.htm

WRONG! the esb or any supplier can disconnect supply for non payment at any time but if you have an arrangement in place with MABS that the ESB have agreed to then they will not disconnect unless you fail to meet several of your agreed payments.

as for the 25% of your weekly payments this is only a figure used by the Household Budgeting Scheme operated through the post office on behalf of the department of social welfare whereby you can pay household bills by having the money taken from your payment in the post office before you get it! but if your bills amount to more than 25% of your payments then it is up to you to make further arrangements to pay the excess.

Failing that for those not on welfare simply swap you supplier, change from ESB to Airtricity.

airtricity will demand a deposit usually €400 and direct debit payments and will order disconnection much sooner than the ESB if you fall into even minor arrears!

It is only ESB networks who can disconnect you, ESB supply will order a disconnection, but if you are a customer of another supplier ESB networks can not disconnect you.

you will not be accepted as a customer of airtricity or bord gais if you have a disconnection hanging over you

ESB supply will have to take you to court for their money.

the ESB will still take you back even after disconnecting(or threatening to) your supply several times but the others will not entertain you at all! i dread to think how many people would have survived the 80's without the tolerance of the ESB.

foggy_lad

LordDorington wrote: »

I am no longer on the disconnection list and I thought I made that perfectly clear. Actually we have been in negotiations with them and they are willing to accept less than that. Of course I will try to pay more to get it sorted asap but no they are not going to disconnect.

it is always best to contact the ESB in times like this as they are not interested in writing debts off when they can make an arrangement for people to pay weekly etc

i would also recommend the money advice and budgeting service for anyone not just those on social welfare.

LordDorington

foggy_lad wrote: »

it is always best to contact the ESB in times like this as they are not interested in writing debts off when they can make an arrangement for people to pay weekly etc

i would also recommend the money advice and budgeting service for anyone not just those on social welfare.

Trust me I HAVE been in contact with them, I feel like I know them all personally at this stage! We ahve also had MABS liasing with them on our behalf and I have to say MABS are great. Yes evrything we do is run by MABS first and even when we make payments we fax a copy of th receipt to ESB AND MABS I would recommend them for anyone experiencing difficulties.

ytpe2r5bxkn0c1

zexstream wrote: »

Failing that for those not on welfare simply swap you supplier, change from ESB to Airtricity.

It is only ESB networks who can disconnect you, ESB supply will order a disconnection, but if you are a customer of another supplier ESB networks can not disconnect you.

What planet does your information come from? You will not be accepted by BGE or Airtricity if you are due for disconnection on your existing account and they will require deposits.

More importantly, you are giving serious mis-information on disconnections. Yes ESB Networks carryout the disconnections but only at the request of the supply companies. They do this for ALL supply companies and certainly not just for ESB Customer Supply. The Networks business provides the same services for all Supply companies. You can be disconnected irrespective of what supplier you are with. :rolleyes:

OLP

zexstream wrote: »

It is only ESB networks who can disconnect you, ESB supply will order a disconnection, but if you are a customer of another supplier ESB networks can not disconnect you.

Just on this,

ESB Networks own every last inch of cable and wire in the country including you're meter, if you're with a different supplier and they decide to dis-connect you they will send a request to ESB Networks and they will do the dis-connection, as only ESB Networks and approved contractors can work on the network