If we determine you are in financial hardship, we will offer you more time to pay your account or have you enter into a payment plan. A payment plan is an agreement between you and us where we agree to receive a certain amount of money in regular instalments over an agreed timeframe. We do not charge any fees or interest as part of your extension or payment plan.
We will involve you and your financial counsellor (if applicable) in setting up a payment plan. When setting the conditions of the plan, we will consider your capacity to pay and, if relevant, your water consumption history.
We will work with you to base a payment plan on how much you can afford to pay and determine a realistic amount based on your individual circumstance.
We will review and revise your payment plan where appropriate. If our review indicates you are unable to meet your obligations under the plan, it will be revised.
If you do not adhere to the terms of the arrangement, reasonable efforts will be made to contact you before taking further action.
A payment plan may not be offered if you have previously had two payment plans cancelled because of non-payment.
Tenants
Tenants registered to receive water use bills experiencing payment difficulties can contact us directly to discuss options. We will negotiate a proposed payment plan with you and notify the owner of the proposed plan on your behalf, as their consent is required for the plan to proceed. We can also provide you with assistance and information on ways to manage future water use bills.
Owners
As a service to landlords, on request we will issue water use bills to either their nominated real estate agent or tenant. By authorising a tenant to receive water use bills, you also authorise us to discuss matters in relation to the water use bills directly with them. However, this does not affect your liability for the charges. Where the water use bill is sent to anyone other than the owner and remains unpaid, formal recovery action will commence against the owner. If you are having payment difficulties or financial hardship, please contact us to make a suitable arrangement. If your tenant is registered to receive water use bills and contacts us to request assistance with water use charges, we will inform you of the proposed plan for your consent.