Mariella is a widow with four young children. She initially came to us for help to resolve a disputed debt with her energy company, following three failed opportunities by the company to update meter readings accurately. This had resulted in accrued arrears on Mariella’s account.

Our adviser carried out a debt assessment for Mariella, while a complaint was raised on her behalf with the energy company. An energy payment plan was negotiated with the prospect of applying for a grant to clear the arrears at a future date. However, Mariella chose to pay the debt after the energy company agreed to reduce the bill by 10%. Mariella was then able to move forward and switch to a new supplier.

After calculating Mariella’s household income, our adviser registered Mariella for the water social tariff, reducing her monthly bill by £20 per month. A successful application was also made for help with Council Tax, which was a saving of £1,125 for Mariella. In addition, Mariella was also offered a £15 supermarket voucher.

Finally, the adviser arranged for Mariella to be added to the Priority Services Register for both energy and water, enabling her to receive advance notice of scheduled outages, support in an emergency and assistance when calling her new supplier. After much correspondence back and forth between the parties involved, we were able to successfully close the case on Mariella’s behalf after three months.