Unless bills are included in your rent, you will probably have to make sure that they are paid by yourself. You can do this either by post, telephone, on-line, direct-debit or by visiting a post office and paying over the counter.

Each month you will receive bills by post and you must then arrange to have them paid. If you ignore them you will quickly lose your services, such as gas, water and electricity, so it is important to make sure that you have a convenient system to help you stay in control.

Telephone

When a bill arrives you can pay it straight away by calling the bill-payment number that should be written on the bill, it should start with the numbers 0800 which means that it is a free call. To do this you will need to have a credit or debit card, otherwise you will be unable to pay by telephone.

Post

If you have a cheque-book you can write a cheque to the company and post it along with the bill-payment-slip that you will find attached to the bottom of the bill. Most companies should also include an envelope, with their address written on it to make payment easier.

Paying at a counter

If you have just arrived in the UK then you will probably not have a cheque book or debit card. In this case it is easier just to visit a local Post Office, which you can find on most British High Streets, and pay over the counter in cash. You will also find that many UK banks also allow you to pay your bills this way if you have opened an account with them.

The person behind the counter will need your bill and can then take payment; they will then stamp the bill to show that it has been paid. Make sure that you keep this with you for future reference.

Direct Debit

This is the most common way for Brits to pay their bills because it involves the least amount of effort and guarantees that you will not accidentally forget to pay. However it does mean that you have to manage your bank account reasonably well, otherwise you might end up getting charged if you have set up a direct debit and do not have enough money in there to cover it.

You simply ask your bank to arrange to pay a set amount each month to your service providers and this will happen on an agreed date, but you will also need a job that pays you directly into your account before the bank will agree to do this for you.

On-line

Most companies in the UK have an on-line payment system these days, just go to their website and follow the icons to ‘bill-payment’. However, remember that you will need to have a credit or debit card to do it this way, just like paying by phone. Also you should make sure that the website uses a ‘secure’ web-page before you start typing in your card details (all major UK service providers will have this), after all you are trying to pay for your water-bill, not for a criminals skiing trip.

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USEFUL WORDS

to pay / settle a bill
utility bills = gas, electricity and water bills
shared bills = bills which are divided between you and your flatmates
direct debit = an instruction to your bank to allow somebody else/a company to take an amount of money from your account on a particular date
standing order = an instruction that you give to your bank to pay someone/a company a fixed amount of money from your account on the same day each week or month
banker’s order = an instruction to your bank to pay money to somebody/a company directly from your bank account
online payment = paying via the Internet
spread the cost = to separate payments into parts which are paid at different times
to run up a massive bill = to use a lot of a service and finish with a very large bill
to pay a bill on time =  to pay by the deadline date shown on the bill
the bills are piling up = there are more and more bills which need to be paid
red bill = a bill which has not been paid by the deadline date
final demand = the last bill a company sends to you when you haven’t paid – usually saying that they will start legal proceedings if you don’t pay

GRAMMAR SPOT

Echo Questions

Used when we do not understand what someone says, or we find it hard to believe.  The second speaker is asking the first to repeat the important information.  The voice rises on the question word:

I received a £500 electricity bill yesterday ~ How much? / It was how much?
My landlord has told me to pay my rent in cash ~ What has he told you? / He’s told you what?
Did you see the final demand which arrived this morning? ~ Did I see the what?