Late payment of utility bills?

[islandbobcat]

A family member of mine is having difficulty managing their finances, and I found out they haven't been paying their utility bills for the last few months. Looking online at the Kelowna website it says late payment results in 1.5% interest each month (and may eventually be added to property taxes?) but I am confused as to how it works and whether there is any way I can get my family member out of this. Has anyone dealt with this before? I am not local (I live on the island) and am trying to help from afar.

[whatwhat]

Try calling the cities utility billing and see if they can help you??

[AltaRed]

I assume this is the city water/garbage/sewer bill and not the electric or gas utility given the comment on arrears being added to property taxes. I agree the best thing is to call the Utilities department to discuss a make-up payment scheme.

[islandbobcat]

Thank you for your replies! I am just hesitant to call the utilities department as I don't want to alert them to the late bills if they aren't aware of them yet. But I will consider doing that next week...

[common_sense_guy]

I think the only way you're going to be able to help is offering to pay the bills for them. But I don't think calling them directly will help as they will not talk to you about somebody else's account unless you're on the account

[oneh2obabe]

A family member of mine is having difficulty managing their finances, and I found out they haven't been paying their utility bills for the last few months. Looking online at the Kelowna website it says late payment results in 1.5% interest each month (and may eventually be added to property taxes?) but I am confused as to how it works and whether there is any way I can get my family member out of this. Has anyone dealt with this before? I am not local (I live on the island) and am trying to help from afar.

Does the family member know you know they are in arrears? If so, ask them for the account number and do an online payment - either one-time or spread over a couple of months depending on how large the bill is - to bring them up-to-date.

[alanjh595]

Call the city and ask to be put on tax deferral.

https://www.kelowna.ca/city-hall/proper ... -deferment

[MAPearce]

Thank you for your replies! I am just hesitant to call the utilities department as I don't want to alert them to the late bills if they aren't aware of them yet. But I will consider doing that next week...

Oh they're aware , trust me ..

Best thing to do is call them , explain and offer a payment plan ...

They're human but want their money .. They will work with you .

[oneh2obabe]

Get the account number, setup the utility in your online banking list of payees then pay whatever amount you want. City won't know who made the payment or care as long as the bill is paid in full or reduced.

[P65]

By all means contact the utility supplier and let them know the situation. If they can’t give you personal information due to privacy issues, they should at least be able to point you in the right direction for how to access help.
I believe Fortis was even proactively contacting customers early on during the pandemic asking if customers need assistance with their bills.
Just leaving it to add up will only cause further, unnecessary stress for your relative.
Good luck!

[BC Landlord]

Thank you for your replies! I am just hesitant to call the utilities department as I don't want to alert them to the late bills if they aren't aware of them yet. But I will consider doing that next week...

Make no mistake, they are aware without you alerting them. It's always better to talk to them directly before they come after you. Not sure how they deal with these issues in this Covid time, but they usually send out 2-3 payment overdue notices before cutting services off and taking it to collections afterwards. The later guys would go after you like hyenas. Someone earlier in the thread mentioned, a property tax deferral might work, but that's assuming the debtor owned the property and the taxes were not deferred already.

[normaM]

the only break they had ended August 2020. I agree, need to get it sorted before they decide to suspend service. Calling on a Friday best day to call, Mondays they can be rather cranky

[polelady]

Just food for thought.. if you can get the account number ... and into your online bank... send them say 5.00 per week... not sure but it used to be if any payment is made they have to accept it and can not get stupid...
Just an idea to settle things down ... as for calling on a friday... if you get NEWBIE Joe,, he only follows orders and wants more coin until paid UP... good luck...