Back on Track scheme - Terms and Conditions
Eligibility criteria
To be eligible for the Back on Track scheme you must:
- Receive one of the benefits/tax credits shown in the table below.
OR
- Have a household income of less than £21,000 a year if applying due to a recent life event. As part of the application process we will ask you to either provide evidence of the benefits you receive or provide proof of how your household income has reduced.
The table shows where to contact if you need to obtain replacement copies of the evidence required for your application.
| Name of benefit or tax credit | Evidence required | Who to contact |
|---|---|---|
|
Income support Income-related employment and support allowance Income-based job seeker's allowance Universal credit |
Copy of this year's benefit breakdown letter Print off/screenshot of your Universal Credit account showing your latest statement. |
Contact your local Jobcentre Plus office or benefits office |
|
Working tax credit Child tax credit |
Copy of this year's award notice |
Tax credit helpline: |
|
Housing benefit Council tax reduction/support |
Copy of this year's benefit breakdown letter Copy of this year's council tax bill showing your reduction |
Contact your local authority (council) for details |
| Pension credit | Copy of this year's benefit breakdown letter |
Pension service: |
As well as receiving one of the benefits or tax credits shown above you must either:
- Be in arrears with previous years’ water charges;
OR
- Be able to demonstrate a change in circumstances due to a recent life event that has resulted in a reduction in income impacting your ability to pay your water bill.
To be accepted onto the scheme you must:
(i) Complete an affordability assessment;
(ii) Agree to a declaration giving permission for United Utilities to validate your benefit receipt with third party organisations, and where specifically requested provide evidence of current benefit entitlement and/or household income; and
(iii) You must be happy to provide supporting evidence to complete your application, this could be means tested benefit evidence and/or if applying due to being financially impacted by a life event you will need to provide evidence to support the financial change in circumstance effecting the household income. E.G we would accept a redundancy notification, Wage slips showing a reduction in income, an application applying for means tested benefits or any other similar documentation.
In addition to the above, you must also:
- Live at the address which is on your water bill.
- Agree to pay an affordable amount towards any outstanding water charges* as well as paying your new charges.
- Water supplied to your home is not used for:
- watering a garden (other than by hand) by means of any apparatus; or
- automatically replenishing a large pond or swimming pool.
*the contribution you will be asked to pay towards your outstanding water charges is subject to a minimum amount.
Wherever possible, customers will be expected to pay their water bill by Direct Debit or via application to the Department for Work and Pensions to pay their water charges direct from their benefits. Where this is not possible, we will set up an alternative payment plan for you.
If you stop making payments you will be removed from the scheme and automatically go back to the way you were charged before you qualified for the scheme.
United Utilities’ decision in relation to a person’s eligibility for the scheme will be final. We also reserve the right to:
- amend the eligibility criteria and to suspend or cancel the scheme at any time; and
- close the scheme to new customers at any given time.