How can I pay my bills if I’m in hospital?
You can give someone else the right to access the money in your bank or building society account. To do this, you need to ask your bank or building society for a ‘third-party mandate’, which is a form that both you and the person you want to access your bank account will need to sign. You then need to give this form to your bank or building society and it will allow a friend or relative to withdraw money from your account and subsequently pay for certain bills for you.
You can give someone else the right to access the money in your bank or building society account.
If you use a Post Office card account, a second card can be issued to the person who collects your benefit.
There are some payments you make monthly that are more important than others and these priority payments include rent, mortgage, council tax, gas, electricity, TV licence, Magistrate’s court fines and hire purchase agreements. They are priorities because if you don’t pay them, you could lose something important. E.g. if you don’t pay your rent, you could lose your home.
Payments to credit cards, unsecured loans, catalogues, overdrafts and store cards are non-priorities. If you can’t afford to pay them your credit rating will be affected, but usually nothing will be taken from you.
It’s generally possible to pay for most goods or services by direct debit or standing order, which is where money is taken directly from your bank account and sent straight to whoever you need to pay, usually around the same time every week or month. If you go into hospital, as long as you have enough money in your account, these payments will continue to be made automatically.
It’s generally possible to pay for most goods or services by direct debit or standing order.
If you can’t afford your non-essential bills, you or a relative should write to the companies and explain why. You can also cancel any non-essential payments that are due to go out of your bank account.
