FAQs
Why is my Electricity invoice so high?
In spite of stable rates, your bill may be higher than expected for one of the following reasons:
- The weather is extremely hot or cold, causing your Air-conditioning/HVAC unit to work overtime, keeping your home/office comfortable.
- Your home or business has air leaks. If your location is not properly insulated, you could be losing cool air or heat as fast as your HVAC unit pumps it out. You’re using more energy than you realise.
- It’s easy to rack up a sizable electric bill if you adjust the thermostat a few degrees,
- Or you leave the TV on while you run errands.
But the good news is that it’s easy to lower your bill.
If you still have questions, we’ll be happy to help you figure out what’s behind your high bill. To do so, please submit a help ticket.
I have vacated, why are you still charging me?
All Active Utilities customers are billed in arrears, i.e. we bill you for your usage from the previous month. So when you receive your bill, you will have been billed for the previous month.
What is an Estimated Electricity read?
An estimated bill is when Active Utilities predicts the usage you would have used for the billing period. This may be based on your usage from the previous year or other calculations as allowed by relevant regulators.
Your charges will be reconciled once an ‘Actual’ read is received.
What is a heating charge?
If you have hot water service billed through Active Utilities, you will notice a line item on your invoice called a heating charge. This charge is for the provision of hot water to your tenancy, including all services and infrastructure costs associated with delivering that service and is metered individually. For more information on hot water charges and how they apply to you, please contact us on 1300 587 623 during normal business hours or at info@activeutilities.com.au.
Do you have an interpreter Service?
Our Translating and Interpreting Service (TIS) can provide assistance in over 100 languages – phone 13 14 50.
How can you charge me for hot water?
Active Utilities may be the retailer for the centralised hot water supply at your building. If this is the case, Active will charge you for the heating of the water used at your premises. This will be demonstrated by a heating charge listed on your invoice. Please note that your premises are individually metered and you are not charged for the heating of water outside of your premises.
Can I request a payment extension?
If you are having difficulties paying your Active Utilities bill, it is important that you contact us as soon as possible.
Ask us for a payment plan—where you pay for your utilities in regular, agreed amounts (instalments). We will offer you a payment plan unless you have already had two or more plans in the last year and did not keep to them.
When working out your payment plan instalment amount, we will take into account your capacity to pay (what you can afford to pay each week or fortnight), as well as how much you owe and how much further you are likely to use over the coming year. Best that you only agree to an instalment amount you can realistically afford, because if you don’t stick to the payment plan or skip a payment, your plan will be cancelled.
For more detailed information on ways we can help, click the link below to read the full article.
Who can call on behalf the account owner?
An authorised representative is the only person that we may provide with information relating to any given account. You can add an authorised representative to your account at any time. Please review the article ‘How to add an Authorised Representative‘ for the process.
If I do not pay my account can this affect my credit rating?
Yes, it can. Should your account remain unpaid, we may report this as a default, which may affect your obtaining credit in the future.
However, we do make many attempts to contact you and resolve the debt before this occurs. We understand that everyone has financial difficulties sometimes, and we always encourage you to contact and speak with us.
We have many ways to assist you through your hard times to ensure your lights stay on. You can contact us via phone at 1300 587 623 during normal business hours or via the contact us page on our website. Alternatively, you can email us at accounts@activeutilities.com.au.
How often will l be billed?
We invoice our customers on a monthly basis and have 21 business day payment terms.
Am I charged for the gas in my hot water?
No. Our hot water charge is not generated solely from Gas, the fee includes all infrastructure and services used to generate and distribute hot water to your tenancy/property.
When is my payment taken from my nominated account?
If you have elected to make your monthly invoice via Direct Debit, the invoice amount will be deducted from your nominated account on the Due Date listed on the relevant invoice. You can find out more information on our Direct Debit policy below.
Do you use credit agencies?
For unpaid debt that we have made multiple attempts to recover with no success we may refer your debt to a credit agency.
Can I claim any government concessions?
Yes, however, Active Utilities is not directly responsible for processing your concession. We can, however, direct you to the relevant body in your state. You can contact us by phone at 1300 587 623 during normal business hours or submit a request on the ‘Contact Us’ page. Alternatively, you can email us at service@activeutilities.com.au.
Can I request copies of my invoices?
All of your invoices are available via your customer portal. If you are not already registered, simply click on the login button on our website and click register. Please note that to register for your online portal, you will need to provide the name and email address registered on your account. Alternatively, you may request copies of invoices directly from our office. Please note that multiple requests may incur an administration fee.
Does Active Utilities add a surcharge to Direct Debit payments?
No. You can also review our ‘Direct Debit‘ policy for more information.
How do I apply for Direct Debit?
All customers who wish to apply for Direct Debit must do so via our Customer Portal. To access the customer portal, you’ll need your customer number and password. If you aren’t yet registered, you’ll need to provide the name the account is in and the registered email address to activate your account.
How do I add an Authorised Representative to my account?
To add an Authorised Representative to your account, you can:
1. Add via the customer portal (preferred).
2. Download and submit the application form below.
3. Or you can contact us via phone at 1300 587 623 during normal business hours or email us at service@activeutilities.com.au.