Written by a parent, not a doctor. Nothing here is medical advice.

Childhood Cancer Lantern
Search Saved

Indiana program

A doctor's statement that delays a utility shutoff

A medical statement can postpone a utility disconnection when losing service would immediately threaten health.

What it is

A medical statement can postpone a utility disconnection when losing service would immediately threaten health.

A shutoff notice can become a medical problem when a child depends on service at home. Indiana's medical postponement uses a statement from a licensed doctor or public health official. The utility must be within the rule's scope.

Eligibility rules
  • There must be a threatened disconnection and a statement from a licensed doctor or public health official.
  • A licensed physician or public-health official must describe a serious and immediate threat to a resident's health or safety.
  • The ten-day hold applies at the big regulated electric, gas and water companies; a town utility or rural co-op has its own policy, but the winter hold from December to mid-March reaches them too for gas and electricity.
What you get
  • A ten-day postponement of a qualifying utility disconnection.
  • Time to discuss a payment arrangement or energy assistance.
What the help includes
  • Winter gas/electric protection runs December 1 through March 15 for assistance recipients, or qualifying applicants who give the utility written proof of their formal application.
  • Winter protection includes municipal and cooperative gas/electric utilities, but not water, sewer or bulk fuel. Its scope differs from the IURC medical-postponement rule.
If you decide to apply
  1. Ask the clinic whether disconnection would pose a serious and immediate health or safety threat.
  2. Work with your social worker and utility on where and when the medical statement must arrive.
  3. Ask the utility to confirm receipt, the actual hold and its end date in writing.

Utility account office; Indiana Office of Utility Consumer Counselor · Official page ↗

After you ask
  • The medical postponement is ten days, with one further ten-day extension supported by another qualifying statement. A gas utility may allow more at its discretion; further mandatory renewals are not established.
  • The utility confirms how and when it must receive the statement, whether it qualifies and the hold's end date. A signed statement alone is not proof that a hold is active. The overdue balance remains due.
Good to know

This postponement does not pay the bill. A separate payment arrangement or assistance decision is still needed.

Other details
  • Your answers here do not settle that a shutoff notice has arrived.
  • A payment plan usually asks for 10% up front, at most $25, with the rest spread over three months on top of current bills.
Official sources
Ask your social worker

“If a shutoff threatens our child's health, could the clinic's statement delay it? What limits should we understand, and could you help arrange the statement and other bill help if needed?”

Why I’m asking: I want to know how to protect service at home if a utility notice arrives.

More background and detailed requirements
Additional program information and published rules

Who does what

The three parts, side by side. The agency decides; nobody on this page does.

You

Ask the clinic for the statement the day the notice arrives and deliver it before the disconnection date.

Your social worker

The utility records the postponement.

The care team

A licensed doctor or a public health official signs the statement.

Who decides
The utility.
Ask your social worker
“A shutoff notice arrived. Can someone write me a medical statement today saying a disconnection would be an immediate threat to my child?”

How to apply

First step: Ask the clinic for the statement the day the notice arrives, and take it to the utility before the disconnection date.

  1. Get the statement from a licensed doctor or a public health official the day the notice arrives.
  2. Ask the utility in writing to record the postponement.
  3. Use the ten days to apply for energy assistance or set up a payment plan.

Official application / program page ↗

Where it starts: Take the medical statement to the utility before the disconnection date.

What to gather

  • The disconnection notice
  • The doctor's statement
  • The utility account number

How long: Ten days, with one ten-day extension under the applicable conditions. The utility confirms receipt and the actual hold's end date.

What a yes looks like

The utility records the postponement and gives you a new date.

What a no looks like, and the next move

If the utility says it is not covered, ask whether the December-to-March moratorium applies instead.

Watch out

  • The medical postponement is ten days, with one further ten-day extension supported by another qualifying statement. A gas utility may allow more at its discretion; further mandatory renewals are not established.
  • The ten-day medical postponement is an IURC rule for utilities subject to its service rules, including regulated electric, gas, water and sewer service. It is not a blanket rule for every municipal or cooperative utility. The winter gas/electric moratorium is broader and includes municipal utilities and REMCs, but not water, sewer or bulk fuel deliveries. The utility or IURC can confirm the rule covering this account.

Dates that change this

2026-01-01: The medical postponement is ten days, with one further ten-day extension supported by another qualifying statement. A gas utility may allow more at its discretion; further mandatory renewals are not established. The utility confirms how and when it must receive the statement, whether it qualifies and the hold's end date. A signed statement alone is not proof that a hold is active. The overdue balance remains due. (not yet confirmed against the final rule)

The numbers and the rules

The arcane layer, kept on purpose. Checked September 11, 2026.

What it is worth

A ten-day postponement of a shutoff on a licensed doctor's statement, and a December-to-March moratorium for energy-assistance households.

  • $10 — Days a shutoff is postponed on a medical statement

Legal protection: Ten-day postponement on a licensed medical statement · No disconnection between December 1 and March 15 for a household receiving or formally applying for energy assistance, including municipal and cooperative utilities

What it costs the family: None.

The eligibility facts, as published

Trigger
a threatened disconnection and a statement from a licensed doctor or a public health official
Scope
The ten-day medical postponement is an IURC rule for utilities subject to its service rules, including regulated electric, gas, water and sewer service. It is not a blanket rule for every municipal or cooperative utility. The winter gas/electric moratorium is broader and includes municipal utilities and REMCs, but not water, sewer or bulk fuel deliveries. The utility or IURC can confirm the rule covering this account.

The trap: The medical postponement is ten days, with one further ten-day extension supported by another qualifying statement. A gas utility may allow more at its discretion; further mandatory renewals are not established. The utility confirms how and when it must receive the statement, whether it qualifies and the hold's end date. A signed statement alone is not proof that a hold is active. The overdue balance remains due.

Where I read this

← Back to your options