Getting power connected with bad credit

Being declined for a power account is a specific and unpleasant kind of problem: electricity is not optional, and the decline usually arrives at the same time as everything else that is going wrong.

The short version is that it is nearly always solvable, and there are three or four routes. Knowing which to ask for is most of the battle.

Why the check happens at all

A standard power account is credit. You use electricity for a month and pay afterwards. The retailer is lending you the value of your usage, so it wants some basis for believing it will be paid.

That framing is useful, because it points at the fix: anything that removes the retailer's credit risk removes the reason for the decline.

The routes that work

Prepay. You pay for electricity before you use it, usually topping up online or through an app. There is no credit being extended, so credit history matters much less. The trade-off is real: run out of credit and supply stops, so it suits people who can top up in small amounts often, and suits badly anyone whose income arrives irregularly.

A bond. A refundable deposit held against the account. Ask three things before agreeing: how much, what has to happen for it to come back, and how long that takes. A bond you never see again is a fee with a friendlier name.

A guarantor. Someone with a payment record who agrees to be liable if you do not pay. Effective, and worth being honest with the person about what they are signing.

Trying another retailer. Credit policies are not uniform. A decline is one company's assessment, not a market-wide verdict, and it is worth asking a second and third.

What to ask, in order

1. "Is there a credit check, and what happens if it is unsuccessful?" The second half is the part that matters and the part people forget to ask.
2. "If a bond is required, how much, and what triggers its refund?"
3. "Is prepay available at this address, and what are the rates on it compared to your standard plan?"
4. "Is there a fee to connect, and is it payable up front?"

The protections that exist regardless

The Electricity Authority's Consumer Care Obligations set standards for how retailers deal with customers in difficulty. They cover what must be offered to someone struggling to pay, the process before any disconnection for non-payment, and additional protection where a person in the household depends on mains electricity for medical reasons.

If someone at your address is medically dependent on electricity, tell your retailer and get it recorded. It changes what they are permitted to do and it is not something to leave until it matters.

If a retailer will not engage, complain in writing, and then take it to Utilities Disputes, which is free and independent.

Where we can help, and where we cannot

We compare 8 power companies and can show you which of them serve your address and what plan types each offers. What we deliberately do not publish is a table of who credit checks and who does not: that is a policy which changes without notice, we have not verified it company by company, and a wrong entry on this particular page would send someone in a difficult position to the wrong door. Ask each retailer, in the words above, and get the answer before you commit.