Last Thursday afternoon the MACC advocacy department got a call from a local family who was in crisis. The parents had been in and out of work for the past five years and had three children to support. As a result they were behind on their bills and the electric company wanted a large sum of money in order to keep their lights on. The company also told them that they were not eligible for any sort of payment plan.
"I really didn't think we were going to be able to help this family," says Deb Rutledge, Director of Advocacy Services, "They were so far behind on their bills and I knew they didn't have much money"
Deb decided to have them come into MACC for a meeting because at the very least she would be able to get them coded "hardship" meaning that the electric company could not shut off their lights. When she looked over their income and put all of their bills together it was clear that this family was definitely in a hardship situation. Deb called Eversource and explained the situation to one of their customer service representatives. The representative asked if they family was interested in the New Start Program which is a repayment plan for people who are below 60% of the state median income guidelines with a past due balance of 60 days or more than 60 days in arrears. The customer agrees to pay a budgeted amount each month and receives a credit on the arrears for every budget payment made on time. This gives the customer the opportunity to reduce or eliminate past due balances in as little as 12 months.
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The family accepted the New Start offer at a reasonable budget payment. They were put on a payment program which would stop the shut off notices, and ensure that as long as the continued to make their payments, then they would most likely be able to eliminate their large back balances.
"This was so exciting to me. I love a challenge and I was so happy that we could help this family. The New Start Program will help this family budget their money over the next couple months and hopefully get them back on track" states Deb Rutledge.
