BIG utility deposit - anyone else?

[pink_amulet]

I had heard that our utilities will charge a large deposit, if we included any past due amounts in our BK . Well I wasn't going for that. If I had the money for a deposit, then I would be able to pay my bill...DUH ?? LOL So I made sure NOT to include any utilies in our BK, and I worked out payement plans with them instead . We were discharged and closed on Jan 19th, and as of Jan 22nd all our utlities are current, my electric bill even has a credit on it!

I did my homework to avoid them sticking it to me!

Pink

[Minnymouth]

PINK - very smart..............

[SinkingFast]

I'm glad Lesa was able to get it all resolved and get lower payments.

Gas cooking does eat a lot. We read our guage 2 days before the gas delivery in December. The day before the gas delivery, we baked a ham in the gas oven downstairs. The oven was on probably 4 or 5 hours or so. When the gas delivery guy came the next day, our gas guage had gone down 50 gallons in 2 days. Our normal usage during that period was running about 30, maybe 40 gallons for a week. Made us think maybe buying a pre cooked ham would be the way to go.

I don't know about kerosene prices other places, but we decided against a kerosene heater here. Kerosene prices were double what propane costs. Propane was running $1.85/gal and kerosene was almost $4/gal. We fig'd it would cost us about $8/day to run a kerosene heater for 12 hours to heat one larger room, so we decided against it.

[Minnymouth]

Propane and gas can be so expensive.

I'm total electric at my house, but during the winter I burn fireplace (wood) every evening and all weekend......

Leave the electric heat off except for at night and turned down low..

Everybody is trying to get me to go to gas logs - don't think so!!! Wood is cheap around here - National Forest and all....

Besides love to watch the fire burn................

[AMISLANDER]

I did not include any of my bills in the bk either...

...we have high FPL deposits as it is in Florida.

But I am curious, will the bk issues come up if we move and have to reconnect to utilities?

I did just let the verizon bill go since October...we only used it for computer, and I didn't have the extra $...but am now paying monthly to get rid of that bill....it just seems so unecessary to have all these phones...cells are cheaper down here...

[Lesa13]

All great tips. I wish I had some type of wood burning stove or fireplace -that would be awesome since I have access to tons of free wood. I like it cold, myself, but I have 5 dogs and 3 of them are OLD (13+ years) and so I feel like I have to have the heat up a little bit more to keep them warm and healthy. Doesn't help my house is about as energy UNfriendly as can be. Someone said a space heater might actually work better (a couple, actually, in each of the colder rooms) because that would pull energy off the electric instead of the gas.

Anyway, I happily was able to solve my issues with the gas company, but it's interesting that every time I talk to someone over there, I get a different answer.

[poorme]

I checked with my utility companies before filing to see how they would treat me if I included my balances with them. Two of them told me it was their policy to require 3 times your highest monthly bill for the past 12 months as a cash deposit. I had a $387 electric bill last August so I simply found a way to exclude these guys from my filing.

[Jenn]

When we moved across the river to another city, we had to get new utilities, and all they wanted was a letter of credit from our former company. We were not charged a deposit because we always paid on time.
When the company is a monopoly like that, there is no other option, its sad, but they can do whatever they want- they know you want heat water and lights.

[Minnymouth]

Lesa13,
They now have "free standing" (self contained)fireplaces that burn wood.
If you owned your own home I would suggest you invest in one...... Renting, it would be hard to move around...

And it's not very safe to leave electric heaters on with dogs around them all nite..... could be dangerous......

You said you have older dogs...... suggestion....... give those babies a "baby asprin" a day to help with their arthuritis (can't spell)..... and when they lay down at nite put a "blanky" (big bath towel) over them.... BELIEVE ME THEY WILL LOVE IT.......... and wait for that "blanky" every nite - mine do!! They don't go to bed without their "blanky" in the winter time....... LOL.....

[arf75]

I have one question about utilities. I haven't had any of them under my name for about 3 1/2 years. I was living w/mom. I filed for bankruptcy. objection deadline is 9/12/06. I think I might be moving due to lack of space I have 3 kids. Will utilities require a deposit to get new service? When I had them under my name I always paid on time. and shut off service in good standing with them.

[SinkingFast]

It's really gonna depend on the Utility and what they look at.

When we moved here, both gas and electric were gonna do a Credit check. We had to pay a security deposit to the electric. $225. Gas,........ They said they could tell we'd had utility service before and always paid as agreed. So no deposit.

Who knows what either of them looked at??!!