Help to pay terms and conditions
Eligibility criteria
To be eligible for the Help to Pay scheme the person applying must:
- be in receipt of Pension Credit (either Pension Guarantee Credit or Pension Savings Credit);
- all other adults living at the address must be receiving Pension Credit or state pension;
- occupy the premises as your only home;
- meet our affordability criteria, which will include us looking at all possible ways of reducing your charges.
The following 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 |
---|---|---|
Pension credit |
Copy of this year's benefit breakdown letter |
Pension service: |
To be accepted onto the scheme you must:
(i) Complete an affordability assessment, providing income and expenditure information for the entire household;
(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.
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.