Delinquency and service protection

Understand the shut-off process before it reaches your door

The safest time to ask about a past-due balance, payment arrangement, or hardship protection is before the final notice. This page translates the provider’s published rules into a practical checklist.

Customer protection notice

Review the delinquency rules before your service is interrupted

A past-due balance can trigger fees or a shut-off process. Contact the provider promptly if a notice is incorrect, a payment is pending, or a household needs assistance.

Grace period

13 days after the billing date is the payment deadline; the account is considered delinquent when the last two billing cycles remain unpaid.

Late charges

A late notice fee of $10 applies under the current fee schedule. When service is discontinued for nonpayment, the $80 water-service delinquency base fee and any other delinquent charges must be paid in full before restoration; a returned payment costs $35. Inside-city water and sewer fees are also subject to a 6% franchise fee, excluding deposits.

Shut-off timeline

Payment is due 13 days after billing. When two months’ charges are due, Bend may send a shut-off notice at any time after the second bill’s due date; service becomes subject to shutoff or termination 10 calendar days after that notice. Restoration requires the total bill and delinquent fees in full.

Reconnection

A delinquent restoration carries an $80 base fee during normal processing. Same-day restoration outside business hours adds $100, for a combined $180 in delinquency-related fees before other charges; after-hours service is available 5:00-8:00 p.m. weekdays and 8:00 a.m.-8:00 p.m. weekends/holidays, not 8:00 p.m.-8:00 a.m. A non-delinquent same-day turn-on/off is $50 in business hours or $100 outside them.

Notice and timing

How delinquency is handled

Grace period after the due date

13 days after the billing date is the payment deadline; the account is considered delinquent when the last two billing cycles remain unpaid.

Late-fee calculation

Disconnection timeline

Statutory warning protocol

What notice should you expect?

The adopted fee resolution describes a shut-off notice issued after the second unpaid bill and a 10-calendar-day period before service is subject to termination. The reviewed source does not specify whether the notice is mailed, emailed, called, texted, or accompanied by a door hanger.

If a notice seems wrong

Document the account balance, payment confirmation, notice date, and any household medical or accessibility concern. Then call the provider using the contact information on its official bill or profile before the stated deadline.

Restoring service

Reconnection costs and timing

Need a payment arrangement?

Ask before the shut-off date

Tell the customer-service representative that you are responding to a delinquency notice and ask specifically about installment plans, hardship protection, charity referrals, and the amount required to stop the disconnection order.

Customer protection guide

What to do when a bill becomes urgent

A delinquency notice from City of Bend Water Services should be treated as a time-sensitive account document. Read the exact due date, amount required, notice method, and contact instructions on the notice, then compare them with the provider details in this guide.

If you have already paid, gather the confirmation number and posting date. If you cannot pay the full amount, call before the stated shut-off date and ask about arrangements, hardship protections, agency referrals, and the minimum amount needed to pause action.

Keep the conversation specific: ask what will stop the order, when the payment must post, whether a reconnection fee applies, and whether the utility requires a separate request for medical, accessibility, or household-protection status.

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