What a single mum did who couldn’t afford the energy bills

A single mum, separated from her ex-partner due to family violence, now has 100% care of their three children.

She is facing various difficulties, including experiencing medical issues and facing an upcoming operation. On top of that, one of her children has a disability. As a result, she is experiencing high out of pocket medical costs and her operation will mean she can’t work in her casual job for 6 weeks.

Her ex-partner is not working and can’t help financially, so she’s only receiving $34 per month in child support.

She reached out to the Better Place Australia free financial counselling service, because she resides in one of the many funded areas across Melbourne and Geelong.

She presented with utility debts (gas and electricity) from a previous place of residence which she shared with her ex-partner. All the bills from the household were in her name only, and she was not working at the time, as she was parenting young children. Her ex-partner allegedly did not contribute to household expenses at the time because he was not working.

Better Place Australia financial counsellor, Tammy, went into mediation with the energy provider and requested a waiver of debts on her behalf, under family violence and financial hardship grounds. The energy provider agreed on a total debt waiver, which amounted to $2,086, under family violence and financial hardship grounds.

Listen to the podcast below where senior financial counsellor for BPA, Tammy, shares how she assisted the woman and prepared her for managing finances in the future.

Better Place Australia free financial counselling

The mission of Better Place Australia is to empower people to become more resilient, enjoy healthier relationships and support them through challenging times. When it comes to finance troubles, Better Place Australia free financial counselling is accessible if you live in one of the many funded areas across Victoria. For help, contact us today.

For more real stories about people with financial troubles and how our financial counsellors mediated for them, go to the Financial First Aid website and scroll down to Real Stories.