Debts & Disconnection
Having difficulty paying your bill?
Then let us help…
The water and sewerage services we provide have to be paid for, but we know that at times finding the money to pay bills can be difficult for some customers.
Our Code of Practice for Debt and Disconnection explains how we can help you if you are having difficulties paying your bill. It also outlines what will happen if you don’t pay.
This advice is important, so please take the time to read it. If there is anything you don’t understand, we will be happy to explain it to you.
We want to help customers in financial difficulty manage their ongoing payment commitments, so they can maintain access to water and sewerage services.
How can we help you?
You have 21 days to pay your Hunter Water bill. If you are having difficulty paying your bill or are concerned about meeting a payment on time, it is important that you contact us as soon as possible.
We can’t reduce the amount you pay, but we will try to reach an agreement with you on the amounts you can pay spread over an agreed timeframe.
Our bill will advise payment options and methods to help you, which may include:
- A short extension of time to pay
- A payment plan to pay the account in regular instalments over an agreed time-frame
- A budget plan where regular manageable amounts are debited from your savings account
- Access to a Payment Assistance Scheme that operates through local welfare agencies.
We will help you identify options and solutions to sort out the bill before the next one is due, so you can keep debts at a more manageable level.
We will consider your current circumstances and payment history when assessing an appropriate payment arrangement.
If you are a business customer we may offer you a short extension of time to pay your account based on reasonable commercial considerations.
In considering these options you should be aware that overdue accounts do attract interest charges.
If you are a residential customer experiencing financial difficulties, you may be eligible for support through a Payment Assistance Scheme which operates through registered community welfare agencies.
Welfare agency staff are well trained to assist customers experiencing hardship. The participating agency will assess your individual needs and circumstances, and may issue vouchers to help you with your Hunter Water bill.
For information on participating agencies call us on 1300 657 657.
Pensioner Concessions
If you hold a Pension Concession Card or certain types of Department of Veterans’ Affairs Gold Card, you may be entitled to pension concessions – contact us with your details.
What happens if you don’t pay your bill?
It is important that you are aware of the actions that we may take to recover outstanding bills. We may restrict or disconnect the supply to your property and/or take legal action if you do not:
- Respond to reminder notices
- Pay your outstanding debt or agree to a payment scheme
- Comply with agreed arrangements
The following outlines the steps that we will take to recover outstanding debts.
Recovery Action
Step 1:
If you don’t pay your account by the due date, we will send you a reminder notice and/or a Notice of Recovery Action advising your account is overdue.
You have seven days to pay this notice to avoid additional recovery action. You will also incur additional costs relating to any further recovery action.
Step 2:
If you fail to pay or make arrangements to pay within the required seven days, you will receive a final notice advising that if the account remains unpaid, the water supply may be restricted or disconnected without further notice.
Step 3:
If the water supply to your property is restricted or disconnected, we will make every effort to notify the occupants at the time or, if no one is home, we will leave a notice in the letterbox.
Before the service is restored you will be required to pay the overdue amount or make an agreed payment arrangement. You will also be required to pay a reconnection fee.
Note: if your property is tenanted or there is an alternative postal address other than the property address, we will send a copy of the notices in Steps 1 and 2 to both addresses on our account records.
Avoid worry by calling us on 1300 657 657
We will always prefer to help by reaching agreement with you about paying your bill, so that we don’t need to restrict or disconnect your water service. That’s why it’s important that you contact us as soon as possible, and preferably before your bill becomes due.
Once we agree on a solution, we will keep our side of the agreement. You will need to keep yours to avoid further debt recovery action. We will agree not to pursue debt recovery action if we have an agreement in place and you are complying with the agreement.
If you think your water account is incorrect
If you believe your account is incorrect, you should contact us before the due date. We will investigate further.
If you are a tenant
Hunter Water’s legal and billing relationship is with the owner of the property. We do not bill tenants for water and sewerage services. Any arrangement you have with your landlord is a private matter between yourselves.
If you are a tenant and your landlord has missed an account payment, we may allow a short extension of time so you can contact the property owner or managing agent. We will not commence any recovery action during this agreed period. The Hunter Water Act also allows tenants, in certain circumstances, to pay Hunter Water the amount due on the property and then deduct that amount from rent payable to the property owner.
If no suitable arrangements are made to pay the amount owed, we may restrict or disconnect services and begin debt recovery action. In such cases we will notify the property owner and ensure notice is given at the property address of the actions to be taken.
If you are not satisfied with our solutions
If you are not satisfied with our response, you can request that your complaint be referred to one of our Managers for review. If you are still unsatisfied you may refer matters to the Energy & Water Ombudsman of NSW.
The Ombudsman provides an independent dispute resolution service for customers of electricity, gas and water providers in NSW. This service is free of charge to you. The Energy & Water Ombudsman of NSW can be contacted at their website www.ewon.com.au or on 1800 246 545. However, before going to the Ombudsman, please give us the opportunity to resolve any issues first.
For further information
If you need more information about your bill, or how we will deal with overdue bills, or you need to speak to someone about alternate payment arrangements please telephone us 1300 657 657 during normal business hours.