Late payments

Why do I need to pay my business energy bills on time?

It's important to pay your energy bills as a priority to avoid late payment charges and a build-up of unpaid bills that could see your business fall into debt and even disconnection of your energy supply.

If your circumstances have changed and you're finding it difficult to pay for your business energy, see our help to pay page.

Will a late payment affect my credit rating?

We share information with credit reference agencies, so if you don't pay on time, it could affect your credit rating leading to higher interest rates, stricter terms, or a decline to give you credit at all. If any of the information they hold about you is wrong, you can ask them to update it.

Continued late payment may result in a default being registered against your business.

How do I know when my payment is overdue?

We'll contact you to let you know that you have an outstanding balance on your business energy account and notify you of any late payment charges or further action.

1. We tell you your payment is overdue

We'll contact you by letter, SMS, phone and email where possible.

2. We're here to help

If you need more time to pay, or your circumstances have changed, we may be able to help. We'll work with you to find the best solution for your business.

3. We'll request urgent payment and apply a late payment charge

If you haven't spoken with us or paid what you owe, we'll write to you asking for urgent payment and apply a late payment charge to your account.

If you're struggling to pay for your business energy, please contact us straight away, so we can try and help.

4. We'll visit your premises

If you still have an outstanding balance, we'll visit your premises and, if necessary, apply for a warrant from the magistrate's court or sheriff court (Scotland) to enter your premises and disconnect your supply.

Steps to collecting business energy debt

We take further action if you still owe us money after we've taken all reasonable steps to let you know. You can make a payment, or tell us you're struggling to pay and prevent further action being taken at any time.

1. Visiting your premises

We'll write to let you know we're going to visit your premises and add a late payment charge to your account.

If you're not there when we visit, we'll leave a Notice of Intention to disconnect your energy supply.

2. Applying for a warrant to enter your premises

If you still have an outstanding balance, we'll apply for a warrant from the magistrate's court or sheriff court (Scotland) to enter your premises and disconnect your supply.

We may not need a warrant to disconnect your supply if you have a smart meter.

If you pay your outstanding balance before the hearing, we'll withdraw our application, but you may still be charged for costs associated with the application.

Once granted, a warrant is valid for 28 days from the date it was issued.

We'll add charges to your account for the cost of obtaining the warrant plus any additional costs for executing it.

3. Disconnecting your business energy supply

Disconnecting your energy supply is a last resort and only after we've done all we can to explain how you can keep up with your payments and what we can do to help.

We'll charge you for the disconnection of your energy supply. We'll also register a default on your business credit file.

Reconnecting your energy supply

If you want us to reconnect your energy supply, it may take up to two weeks and we'll apply charges depending on the size of your meter. You may also need to pay a security deposit before we can accept you as a customer again.

Stay on track with an online account

Log in to check your bills, balance, make payments and more.

If you haven't registered yet, it only takes a couple of minutes - you'll need a recent bill to hand.

Why register for an account?