Return to Cloudburst

Disconnection, the last resort  

One of the hardest parts of a Utility employee’s job is disconnections. As many shut off moratoriums end, your team may be facing evaluating your disconnection program. Nobody wants to disconnect an essential service but sometimes it becomes necessary. This article discusses some steps that may avoid the shut off including offering more payment options.  

A Proactive Process  

There are two critical factors that need to be part of a proactive plan; being alert to a possible payment problem and having a process in place to notify customers that immediate action needs to be taken to avoid the drastic step of disconnection.   

To track non-payment, you can set up a custom report in your InvoiceCloud Biller Portal (reports/custom/outstanding invoices) which runs monthly and is delivered to the email address you specify. Most accounting/CIS systems also have a report of this type, so you could use that system as well.  

Once you have identified customers that are in jeopardy of disconnection, here are a number of ways to communicate the importance of making their payment or creating a payment plan (if applicable).  

  • Communications could include:  
  • The minimum payment necessary to avoid disconnection is (can they make installments, or do they have to pay the outstanding balance all at once?)  
  • Be clear about next steps  
  • Also remind them what the fees are to reconnect if disconnected  
  • Have office staff call customers directly for a personal touch  
  • Utilize door hanger notices for impending shut offs.  
  • Attract attention with a brightly colored “final notice” envelope   
  • Refer customers to local services or charities that help people get over a short-term hurdle.  
  • National organizations like Low Income Home Energy Assistance Program (LIHEAP), Weatherization Assistance Program (WAP) or Community Action Committees also offer assistance.  
  • Offer payment programs or a fuel assistance program for eligible customers  

Offer the Maximum Number of Payment Options  

There could be many reasons that accounts are delinquent, so a variety of payment types means maximum flexibility and a higher likelihood of avoiding shut offs. You can offer the following options with InvoiceCloud:  

  • Credit card  
  • Cash (kiosk or PayPal)  
  • Check  
  • PayPal Pay in 4 or PayPal Credit*  
  • Check Free Pay  
  • Flexpay payment schedules  
  • Partial payments  
  • Phone Payments 

For help adding any of these payment options, please email helpdesk@invoicecloud.net 

* PayPal Credit is subject to consumer credit approval. About Pay in 4: Loans to California residents are made or arranged pursuant to a California Finance Lenders Law License. PayPal, Inc. is a Georgia Installment Lender Licensee, NMLS #910457.