Rather than phoning, you ought to put it on paper as well, keep copies & send it recorded/registered. If you can prove you made reasonable attempts/offered to pay but were ignored. It is unlikley that you will be expected to make back payments. Also, power/gas companies can be utterly appaling when it comes to managing back payments & initially, they do tend to be utter shits at making unreasonable demands. I went right throught to the debt-collector stage with Scottish Power once, not because I owed them anything but because they credited my payments to the right months in the wrong year. It was literally an "oh, I've just checked your account for 2000 & it seems to be a bit overpayed" moment! If they do get on your bsck, kep calm & keep pushing firmly till you get put through to someone with the authority to make decisions. If you do want to pay-up tho, they are obliged to offer you terms within your means & at worst, you can insist they take you to court & pay at the court-mandated rate, which is not much. Under Scots law, they more or less have to accept any offer you make them. Equally, if there are any health issues to consider, they are forbidden to cut you off as well. Don't get a card meter, the rate is unattractive & you can end-up with other problems if you want to change or your housing provider starts to do dodgy franchising deals. Remember this site for info/complaints: http://www.energywatch.org.uk/index.asp