They'll just say those who can't pay won't pay?

[gotelltheoldmandowntheroad]

They say people will cancel their DD as part of DPUK. But some will cancel their DD because if they don't and it bounces they incur a charge, but the media will probably market this as 'thousands of bizarre far right antivaxxers sign up for DPUK and cancel their DD Illegally!!"

www.dailymail.co.uk/money/bills/article-11070049/What-Dont-Pay-UK-happens-cancel-energy-bill-payment.html

I'm on a key meter for both electric and gas, so have no choice but pay.

I thought DPUK was about paying what you use rather than the DD amount because energy firms make lots of money (interest) from people paying the DD amount which is usually more.

But some online talk about this suggests that some people plan to pay nothing and are hoping for a poll tax moment when the government steps in and bills are massively slashed.

I cant quite undertand the thinking behind the dont pay movement. Happy for someone to point out the benefits btw.

If you cancel your DD then the energy supplier will just install a payg meter. From that point on, dont pay, dont get any energy. They will then chase you for your outstanding energy bills through the courts and put a black mark against anyones credit history.

Where is the major pain for the Government or the energy companies? In fact it will probably suit them as people wont have the ability to rack up big debts and they will charge more for the metered energy.

Where is the 'poll tax moment' in this?

I ‘think’ by law the can’t cut you off even if you don’t pay as it’s a basic requirement by law. Or something along those lines??

So how are you going to manage? Will you have to forego other things? I remember being on a meter and having nothing for it and being freezing for a few days. It was absolutely awful.

I'm sure the original campaign is as you describe but the media are painting it as people illegally cancelling in some fraudulent way, this is my point. The DD can take any amount they choose if that's the amount they say you owe, so people who want to avoid charges for failed DDs will cancel to do just that, pay what they've used, or perhaps if that's not possible pay a token, or nothing, and they will all be painted in the media and treated by the companies as joining DPUK and choosing to fraudulently use services they never intended to pay for.

Well it's not as simple as you suggest for one thing. They don't turn up the day after you've not paid and put in the meter, in fact you can call them up each month and speak with them and they won't do that. I know from experience.

I'm not sure about the law but I do know that when I did not pay my gas bill during 2011 they came to cut me off. When I've not paid in my current home they've never cut me off. We pay towards our bill at a rate we can afford, have a huge debt, and they have never threatened to cut us off, only written to us via their inhouse debt collection company, MIL.

Why don’t you just pay your bills? I’m assuming you pay for your car insurance and your rent or mortgage?

There's a petition to remove VAT from home fuel on the petition board thats getting no traction at all.

A lot of people are doing it in protest to be fair. I don't see why the media wouldn't cover it as people refusing to pay obscene costs.

If you do need to not pay please raise a complaint with your energy company. They can't charge you until it is resolved I believe

They can't cut you off, instead they put you on a prepayment meter and so if you don't feed it money you cut yourself off.

You can always cancel your DD and pay by standing order or BACS. Paying by DD isn't a legal requirement.

I paid by BACS until April when OVO increased the charging differential between the two methods of payment. But I'm keeping a close eye on my balance and if it goes above £200 credit, I'll reduce the DD.