Energy bills direct debit

[Acidburn]

Hi all
Genuine question - what happens if people can't pay £££ for their enegry and cancel direct debit? After notifying the energy provider. What happens if people collectively do that?

While the energy companies are making huge profits & lining their own pockets then I fundamentally disagree with the prices they are charging & I cannot get past this - I have no interest in them taking more money from me now to ensure I can pay their exorbitant charges over winter.

The pensioners & low income households won’t be paying the planned charges anyway because they simply won’t be able to

That's not true if your provider offers the option to submit a timely online meter reading. They then don't need to estimate your recent usage based on heavy months, as you're suggesting.

To answer your question op, if everyone cancelled their DD is would cause huge cashflow problems for energy suppliers, which would impact (for some) the ability to buy supplies in bulk and in advance. Some smaller suppliers would likely go bust in that scenario, and the cost of that is ultimately paid for by us all. Profits are a tricky one - really it's the generators rather than the retail suppliers that are coining it (and some of those have the same parent company, which adds a layer of confusion). You can really see this if you compare the share prices of companies that have a generation arm to the ones that don't.

Energy suppliers are going to need to offer more flexible methods of paying - the current system of going into credit in the summer to have lower payments in the winter suits some but not others.
But the government need to step in on the spiraling costs, even if energy companies were not for profit we would still be in trouble IMO.

Plus the many many many threads that have been started!!!

it's hardly a new or mivel
idea.

but it's seriously STUPUD unless people want a bad credit rating & pre pay meters.

They are different contracts

People with domestic supply need to be very careful before blindly signing up to this 'cancel your DD' nonsense OR ALL they'll achieve is DEBT & more expensive pre pay meters.

baroque I do give monthly readings, hence I build up a credit for the winter months, by overpaying my summer usage. However OP was suggesting cancelling their DD, so they then need to pay another way, therefore I suggested what I would do if I didn't pay by DD.

Of course, it's all supposed to go up in October so I'm doing all I can now to make sure I can heat for less gas later.

The price of butter has already increased as much as gas is projected to - looks like a lot of us are going to feel the pain real soon. All I can say is that this pain will be felt by the majority, not just those that already suffer everyday - not very helpful but at least there might be more understanding of what it is like to be worried about how the bills can be paid. Or we get even more dog eat dog.

I'm on a fixed rate tariff. If I stop my dd they won't put me back on at the rate I have. I have over a year of fixed rate remaining and it's going to save me hundreds, possible thousands, by the time this madness ends. I'm all for sticking it to the man, but I have to prioritise looking out for our incredibly fragile finances. DP lost his job and we are living day to day with barely a scrap of spare funds.

The thing is they cannot force their way into your property. Don’t let them in, there’s nothing really they can do. Just make sure your doors aren’t unlocked as the can enter ‘peacefully’

I won't be paying in October if drastic action isn't taken. It's as simple as that.

Google Don't Pay UK. They're not going to arrest millions of us or send bailiffs round if millions of people suddenly cancel their direct debit at once.

All of the energy companies report to the credit reference agencies. Crack on and don't pay, but they will destroy your credit rating meaning getting a decent mortgage deal or securing a new rental will be almost impossible.

By all means cancel the direct debit. I did years ago, the savings they promise are not offset by them being in control of the amount. I pay monthly what I know I need to cover the year's expenditure and I'm in control.

If you venture down the debt path, they will trash your credit rating, they will install a prepayment meter (and can force entry to do so) and you will have to pay back the money on top of what you're using which will be eye watering.

Oh FGS the scaremongering has to stop.

They cannot force entry to install a pre-paid meter. Forced entry can only happen for unpaid criminal charges. It’s not a crime to not pay your bills.

And cancelling direct debits will not destroy your credit or chances of mortgage. I got a mortgage with CCJs in my past. Not to mention, many people have a mortgage already and won’t need to get one, or any kind of credit, ever again.

Yes they can to install prepayment meters. They will literally break in with police support. This is not secret information. Entirely different to the bailiffs that collect outstanding money.

Of course they can force their way into your property if you haven't paid. They just get a court order and do it. It happens every single day.

The debt is added to the prepayment meter so every time you load it up, a certain amount goes into paying off the debt and the rest is usable credit. telling people to stop paying their bills is really foolish advice.

You are absolutely wrong. They cannot force entry for pre-payment meters and the police won’t turn up for that.

They can obtain a warrant - but in practice this doesn’t mean they have a legal right to force their way into your home. A warrant isn’t worth the paper it’s written on if they can’t enter peacefully and you refuse entry.

Balliffs and enforcement agents can only force entry to businesses, not residential properties.

It's not scaremongering to tell the truth...

"When energy customers fall into debt, suppliers will attempt to collect payment over several weeks. This may include by e-mail, letters, telephone and house visits. If they don’t receive payments or arrange a plan with customers, they can apply to install a prepayment meter under warrant to help recover the debt. This should be a last resort before they consider disconnecting the customer. To get a warrant, the supplier must apply to the local magistrate. Then, they will visit the property and fit a prepayment meter with the help of meter engineers, locksmiths and dog handlers as required."

Source:
Ofgem

Although if your meter is outside they will install a pre-payment meter

We once ‘inherited’ a pre-payment meter in a new house and I swear it was cheaper than paying monthly

Ofgem disagree with you. See my most recent post.

They're not going to arrest ANYONE for simply cancelling their direct debit, ffs.

You are wrong @LydiaBennetsUglyBonnet

Check out section five of this document. www.fuelpovertyaction.org.uk/wp-content/uploads/2013/10/FPA-mini-guide.pdf

I work for the MOJ. Lock drilling with a warrant to install prepayment meters happens All The Time. Police would only attend if resident is known to have firearms/history of violence/BSD (Big Scary Dog)

To be fair to you, you repeat falsehoods with complete confidence. Maybe you should try to be an MP.

For anyone that thinks forced entry never happens, it does, and we have first hand experience of this.

We moved into a new house 3 years ago and were instantly bombarded with visits from debt collectors for the previous owners, plus a tonne of mail daily - they were in serious shit. We started opening the letters to try and prevent further visits and were calling companies every day.

One was for energy and they owed £3k. Huge red warnings on the letter about immediate action pending. We called, told them they'd moved, they said they'd update records, not to worry.

They didn't. A week later we got back from a family party at midnight, went inside. Everything was different - all the hallway doors were open (we kept them shut) and all of the contents from our understairs cupboard was pulled out. DH bundled us all back outside and called the police - we thought we'd been burgled. Pissing down with rain, midnight, hysterical young dc. Police visit, the works.

That day the bailiffs had been with a locksmith, drilled open our patio doors at the back and fitted prepayment meters. Left our stuff thrown everywhere. They left a note on the kitchen counter along with our new patio door key. They'd been all over the house, every bedroom door was open - I was told this was policy, they need to physically check every room in the house for people before they start work.

Not only do they fit prepayment meters, they cap off your gas supply for safety and its your responsibility to pay a gas engineer to uncap it - they helpfully advised that in the note they left. We had no heating for 5 days in November until we could get someone out and pay £130 to get the gas uncapped.

Anyway, it cost them a pretty penny in the long run in compensation, for their monumental fuck up (they updated their records that the debt owners had moved but made no attempt to inform the court and action was already instructed).

But it's not some urban myth, it most definitely DOES happen. If you're there and refuse entry, they call the police. If you're not there, in they go with a locksmith.

I understand why you are making that error but there are exemptions to the rule of peaceful entry and unfortunately fitting prepayment meters is one of them. You are right that they can not force entry for most debts but changing the meter is different and they can in that situation.

I do't know but I'm really scared about this coming winter. I can barely afford the summer months with no heating and the hot water on once every three days.

Don’t Pay
dontpay.uk/