My 93 year old grandmother lives some distance away and is getting forgetful regarding paying bills but is reluctant to accept any help. On at least two occasions she has failed to pay her phone bill and has been cut off. She is reliant on the service as she has regular falls and wears a buzzer connected to a care company via her phone. She has no other way of alerting medical assistance. I adviced BT of this in September when it first happened, however she is now in the same situation again. She cannot be the first customer to be in this situation. Is there some way of BT alerting a family member so we can step in and pay the bill? We are very concerned that if she has a fall and does not get help quickly that it could have serious consequences for her. I think that the electric and gas companies aren't allowed to cut off a vulnerable customer. I would appreciate knowing who I could contact for help with this.
Thank you for your help.
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Welcome to this user forum. @Karen14
Its the Protected Services Scheme.
If you need more help, please ask.
Hi Keith
Thank you very much for your prompt reply. It is really helpful.
Thank you for your time.
Karen
If you encounter any problems, then please post back here, and I can ask one of the BT moderators to assist you.
Along with @Keith_Beddoe ' suggestion, can you not persuade her to pay the bills by direct debit?
That would definitely be the best solution all round but unfortunately she is unwilling to set up direct debits, despite our best endeavours to change her mind.
Thanks for taking the time to reply.
Karen
Thanks. I will do if necessary. I have printed out the forms for my grandmother and mother to fill in. Hopefully we will get it sorted out soon.
I am disabled myself,if you phone water companies,gas companies .and phone companies and tell them there is vulnerable person in house if ever there is a problem with these services you will be top of the list,as for missing payments be careful because they quickly send them to debt recovery agency's who increase the debt and put mark against credit score,hope this helped
Dear Keith
Thank you for the information you gave me last night. I emailed the Protected Services Scheme and Tracey from the BT Inclusion & Dementia Support Team contacted my mum this morning and sorted everything out for her and my grandmother. This is a huge relief to us all and the phone line is all sorted and we have a back up plan in place for them to support my grandmother going forward.
Best wishes
Karen
Excellent news