National Grid’s Financial Hardship Form is the application you file to stop a gas or electric shutoff when you can’t afford your bill. Fill in your account and household information, check the hardship category that fits your situation, attach a medical letter if you’re claiming a medical emergency, and send it by email or fax for the quickest processing. National Grid serves customers in New York and Massachusetts, and the protections differ by state, so the rules that apply to you depend on where your service address is.
Who the Form Protects
You qualify under any single category below; you don’t need to meet all of them.
Financial hardship. In Massachusetts, hardship has a specific legal meaning: household income within the eligibility guidelines for the Low-Income Home Energy Assistance Program (LIHEAP).1Mass.gov. 220 CMR 25.00 – Termination of Residential Service If you received fuel assistance the previous winter, National Grid must presume you still meet the guidelines and protect your account from November 15 through January 1 while you reapply. In New York, the standard is broader and tied to whether a shutoff would cause serious health or safety harm.2New York State Senate. New York Public Service Law 32 – Termination of Service
Medical emergency. A doctor, nurse practitioner, physician’s assistant, or local board of health official must certify that someone in the household has a condition that would worsen without utility service. In New York, protection lasts 30 days and can be extended for another 30 or 60 days depending on the condition.3National Grid. Special Protections In Massachusetts, serious illness gets 90 days and chronic illness gets 180 days, so make sure the doctor’s letter says which one applies.4National Grid. Protection Application Form
Elderly, blind, or disabled household. If you are blind, disabled, or 62 or older, and every other person in the home is also 62 or older, under 18, or blind or disabled, National Grid must attempt personal or phone contact at least 72 hours before any shutoff.3National Grid. Special Protections
Infant in the home (Massachusetts only). If a child under 12 months lives in your household and you can also show financial hardship, service cannot be shut off.1Mass.gov. 220 CMR 25.00 – Termination of Residential Service New York doesn’t have an equivalent infant-based category.
What to Enter on the Form
The form is short, but incomplete entries are the most common reason applications stall.
Account and Contact Details
Start with your National Grid account number from the top of your bill. Enter your full name, service address, mailing address if it differs, and a phone number where National Grid can reach you. The form does not ask for a Social Security number.4National Grid. Protection Application Form
Household Members and Income
List every person living in the home, including children, with their dates of birth. For each person who earns income, write the source (wages, Social Security, unemployment, disability, and so on), the dollar amount, and how often it’s received: weekly, biweekly, or monthly.5National Grid. Financial Hardship Form If someone has no income, list them anyway with $0. Leaving a household member off the form, or skipping an income source, is a common reason applications get bounced back.
You don’t need to attach pay stubs or benefit letters with the initial filing, but National Grid can request documentation to verify what you wrote.5National Grid. Financial Hardship Form Keep recent pay stubs, SSA benefit letters, or unemployment statements ready in case they ask.
Hardship Category
Check the box for the category that fits your situation: financial hardship, medical emergency, elderly/blind/disabled, or (in Massachusetts) infant in the home. Check every box that genuinely applies. Each category triggers its own protections, and qualifying under more than one gives you stronger coverage.
Medical Certification Requirements
If you’re checking the medical emergency box, a signed statement from a medical professional must come with your form. The letter must be on the provider’s letterhead and signed by a doctor, nurse practitioner, physician’s assistant, or local board of health official. It has to name the person who is ill, give their address, and specify whether the illness is serious or chronic.4National Grid. Protection Application Form
A vague note won’t count. The letter should explain how losing utility service would worsen the condition: reliance on a nebulizer or oxygen concentrator, for instance, or a cardiac condition aggravated by temperature extremes.
In New York, if a shutoff is close, your doctor can call in the initial certification. Written confirmation still has to reach the utility within five business days.2New York State Senate. New York Public Service Law 32 – Termination of Service
How to Submit the Form
National Grid takes hardship applications through four channels. If a shutoff date is close, don’t mail it.
- Online through your National Grid account at nationalgridus.com, under Special Protections.
- Email to NEProtections@nationalgrid.com with any supporting documents attached.
- Fax to 1-866-460-8549.
- Mail to National Grid, Attention: Protections D-1, 300 Erie Blvd West, Syracuse, NY 13202.
Email and fax are the fastest options when time is short.6National Grid. Special Protections Mail works if you don’t have internet access but can take over a week to arrive and be logged. There’s no filing fee. A printable PDF is available on National Grid’s website in the billing and payment assistance section.4National Grid. Protection Application Form
What Happens After You Submit
Once the application is received, review time and protection length depend on your category. New York medical emergencies get 30 days of protection, extendable by 30 or 60 more based on severity.3National Grid. Special Protections Massachusetts serious illness certifications run 90 days; chronic illness runs 180.4National Grid. Protection Application Form
National Grid sends the approval or denial in writing to your billing address. Your online account also shows your protection status. Watch both. If they ask for follow-up documentation and you miss the deadline, the protection lapses and the account goes back into normal collections.
Approval doesn’t erase your balance. It pauses disconnection while you set up a way to pay what you owe, usually through a deferred payment agreement or an assistance program. National Grid is required to negotiate a deferred payment plan in good faith, and in New York the rules cap the down payment and monthly installments and allow installments as low as $10 per month with no down payment when you can show financial need.7New York Codes, Rules and Regulations. 16 CRR-NY 11.10 – Deferred Payment Agreements
If You’re Denied or a Shutoff Is Imminent
A denial isn’t the end of it. Call National Grid’s Consumer Advocate team first and ask what additional documentation would change the outcome.
If you can’t resolve it directly, the New York Public Service Commission takes utility complaints at 800-342-3377. When a final disconnection notice is within 72 hours, call the Department of Public Service Emergency Hotline at 800-342-3355 (weekdays, 7:30 a.m. to 7:30 p.m.).8New York State Department of Public Service. File a Complaint Massachusetts customers can contact the Department of Public Utilities for the same kind of help.
Even outside the hardship process, New York utilities cannot disconnect residential service between 8 a.m. and 4 p.m. Monday through Thursday only, and never during the two-week period around Christmas and New Year’s Day.9New York Codes, Rules and Regulations. 16 CRR-NY 11.4 – Termination or Disconnection of Residential Service Both states also run winter shutoff moratoriums covering protected customers with heat-related service: November 1 through April 15 in New York,10NY.gov. Winter Preparedness and October 27, 2025 through April 1, 2026 in Massachusetts for the current season.11Mass.gov. Information on Winter Bills Filing the hardship form before winter starts is the safer move; waiting until you’re behind and the weather has turned narrows your options.