Struggling to pay for your energy?

StepChange can offer free and independent debt advice online or over the phone to suit your needs. They can also provide practical help for your debt problems and offer the support you need to achieve long-term financial control. Find out more at www.stepchange.org.

Customers living in Scotland can get help through Money Map to find sources of online support to increase your income, reduce your bills or ease the costs of daily living. Find out more at www.moneymap.scot

The MoneyHelper service offers free and impartial advice on areas such as budgeting and checking your entitlements to help improve your finances. Find out more at www.moneyhelper.org.uk

Turn2us helps people in financial need gain access to welfare benefits, charitable grants and other financial help. Find out more at www.turn2us.org.uk. They also have a Benefits Calculator to help you check what benefits you are entitled to claim: Turn2us Benefits Calculator

For free, practical advice and information on energy-related issues for Scottish citizens visit energyadvice.scot or contact Advice Direct Scotland on 0808 196 8660. Calls are free.

If you’re worried about the introduction of Universal Credit, you can find out more in the government’s Universal Credit guide. It will tell you about eligibility and how the changes will affect you. If you’re moving over to Universal Credit you can apply for a money advance to help you during the transition period. Ask your benefits office about a Universal Credit advance.

Make sure you’re getting the support you’re entitled to. The Winter Fuel Payment is an annual tax-free payment to help with heating costs during the colder months. If you have reached State Pension age and receive a qualifying means-tested benefit, you may be eligible for a payment between £200 and £300. If you live in Scotland, you’re unable to receive the Winter Fuel Payment. Find out more at www.gov.uk/winter-fuel-payment

You may be eligible for tax relief for additional household costs, like your gas and electricity, if you must work from home regularly. Find out more at www.gov.uk/tax-relief-for-employees/working-at-home

For independent, practical advice and actions you can take to get ready for winter and save money on your energy bills, visit the government’s latest energy saving tips campaign How to save energy and lower your bills this winter - Help for Households.

If you think you will struggle to pay your bill, please let us know as soon as possible. One of the fastest ways to get in touch is to use the online chat function, available to all customers. We are open Monday to Sunday 7am to 11pm.

We also have dedicated teams who are specially trained to support our customers who are experiencing affordability issues. You can call us free on 0800 634 0010 to discuss your options. Lines are open Monday to Friday 9am to 5pm. Please note this number is only to be used for customers with affordability issues.

A repayment plan lets you repay any arrears over a period of time at a regular agreed amount, based on what you’re able to afford. If you think you will struggle to pay your bill please get in touch to discuss how we can help.

If you’re not currently paying by Direct Debit, it could be worth changing to a cheaper payment method. You can spread your payments evenly across the year, avoiding higher bills in the winter. You also have access to our Direct Debit Manager tool, where you can easily check your account is on track and adjust your payments. Move to Direct Debit

For customers on our standard variable tariff: Your tariff is protected by Ofgem’s energy price cap and you’ll automatically benefit from any reductions as and when the price cap falls. However, if a cheaper tariff becomes available, we’ll let you know on your next bill or statement.

For customers on our fixed and flexi price tariffs: We have a range of tariffs for you to choose from – simply visit your online account or our app to find out more. You can move to any of our tariffs without paying exit fees.

If your fixed or flexi price tariff is ending soon, you’ll automatically move to our standard variable tariff when your tariff ends, and we’ll be in touch to explain all the details.

Remember, if we have a cheaper tariff available, we’ll always let you know on your next bill or statement. However, if you’re looking elsewhere, make sure you’re getting an accurate quote based on the amount of energy you’re actually using. Most online quotes are based on average house sizes, but for a fair comparison, it’s best to use your own energy consumption figures.

In addition, if you pay by Direct Debit, and your current payment amount includes any credit or debit balance on your account, it may not be directly comparable if you get a quote from another supplier. It’s best to compare estimated annual costs of your current tariff against other suppliers rather than monthly Direct Debit values.

The Standing Charge is a fixed daily amount that you have to pay, no matter how much energy you use. It covers the ‘non energy’ costs that suppliers pay per customer, which includes the cost of supplying your property with gas and electricity and varies depending on where you live. It also covers the service administration fees, connections to and maintenance of the energy network, and government schemes to help reduce carbon emissions and fuel poverty.

The largest driver in the recent increases has come from the costs of the 29 suppliers who exited the market in the last year (excluding Bulb). The total costs of the loss of the other suppliers is approximately £2bn. Ofgem agreed that this would be shared across all remaining suppliers in the market through ‘Last Resort Supplier Payments’. These are added to the electricity Standing Charges as the costs are recovered on a flat rate basis per customer. For gas, they are being recovered via a volumetric charge, meaning the costs are added to unit rates.

If you cancel your Direct Debit instruction, you’ll automatically move to a cash payment method which has higher prices, meaning this will have an immediate impact on your energy bill. If you’re struggling with your Direct Debit payments, please get in touch.

You can check and set your credit refund preferences in your online account. We recommend you keep some credit on your account to keep your Debit payments/bill amount as low as possible, especially as we approach the winter months, and remember, you can request a credit refund at any time.

If the prices increase you may find that your normal top up amount does not last as long as it used to. You may need to top up more regularly to cover the increased unit rates and your daily Standing Charges, which you pay even if you’re not using energy, as well as any agreed debt recovery rate if you have one. Anything you can afford to top up above your charges will be saved to your meter, ready for when you start using more energy in winter. If you’re not able to top up there are two key support measures to help you: