What do I do if I have unpaid bills?

If you have an unpaid electricity or gas bill, we will tell you everything you need to know.

I have unpaid electricity or gas bills. What will happen?

Non-payments are normally due to financial reasons. The first thing you should do is check with the bank from which your direct debits are paid to find out if it was due to an error. If you made a direct payment, make sure that everything is in order and contact the electricity company to let them know.

If you pay through a platform (website or app), log in with your username and find the unpaid bill.

Speak directly with your electricity company to find out which bill has not been paid, the date and amount, and check that the information is correct and not a scam attempt. If it is not a bank error or a scam, the solution is to pay the bill as soon as possible. Failure to pay a bill could result in your electricity being cut off.

However, there is a process for this. If a bill has not been paid, the company will send it again, accompanying the bill with a letter warning of the consequences of it remaining unpaid. If it is not paid after that, the electricity company will send a payment request with a postal certificate stating that the letter has been received by the contract holder. This letter will include the date on which the supply will be suspended if the bill is not paid, which is usually two months from receipt.

There are some cases where the gas and electricity supply cannot be cut off, even if the bill has not been paid, as is the case for vulnerable consumers.

How can I pay outstanding electricity and gas bills?

Remember that you have 20 days to pay a bill from the date it is issued. Also, keep in mind that unpaid bills do not accrue interest. That said, there are three ways to pay your bill from the electricity company:

1. Direct debit.
2. Direct payment.
3. Through the website or app: this is the easiest method because you have full and direct control of your contract, with access to all your bills and you can make the payment on the spot without any delays. Keep in mind that some banks can take up to 3 days to make their transactions effective, while payments on the website and app are immediate.

Five things you need to know about your unpaid bills

1. No penalties are applied to unpaid bills, so you only have to pay the outstanding bill amount without interest or penalties.
2. If the bill is not paid and the electricity company cuts off the supply, a reconnection fee will be charged, which varies according to the company. Electricity must be reconnected to the main within 24 hours after the outstanding bill has been paid and 48 hours in the case of gas.
3. Electricity cannot be cut off on public holidays or the day before public holidays.
4. When the amount of the bill or bills is very high, electricity companies can offer consumers a fractional payment in order to pay the bill more conveniently.
5. If the bills are not paid, in addition to cutting off the supply, companies may take legal action to recover the debt.

What if the unpaid bills aren't mine?

You may have a rental house: to avoid the situation of a tenant not paying bills, meaning that you will have to pay them, the tenant should always be set up as the contract holder. This way, if there are unpaid bills, they will be their responsibility. Don't forget to change the contract holder if you get a new tenant.

I do not agree with the bill: can I refuse to pay it?

If you do not agree with a bill because there is an error, you must pay it and make a claim afterwards. You can make a claim during the month after the bill is issued. If you believe that there is an error in the reading, the equipment will be reviewed and readjusted when you make a claim according to the error that is detected. If, on the other hand, the bill does not correspond to the service (because you have had unjustified power cuts), you must also make a claim to adapt bill to those incidents.

Another common case is that your company issues several bills at the same time after a period without billing you (due to possible delays in consumption readings): In that case, the possibility of deferring or splitting the payment is usually offered as a facility to consumers.

To avoid delays in your bills or the issuance of estimated bills, you can always send your meter reading yourself.