To ask if you’re planning to refuse to pay energy bills?

[Gruffalocrumbles]

I’ve seen a few posts here and there on social media about collectively refusing to pay energy bills when the price hikes in October.

I was wondering if many people are on board/planning to do this?
(YABU = not refusing to pay, YANBU = refusing to pay?)

Most recent post I have seen is by a page called ‘dontpayuk’ on Instagram www.instagram.com/p/CghIfyeseTv/?igshid=YzAyZWRlMzg=

I am really concerned about how our household is going to manage to keep up with bills this winter.

I think it will just hurt people in the long run. People who refuse to pay will just be moved to prepay meters with higher tariffs.

No chance, I'm not refusing I can't risk the debt and the problems that come with not paying bills.

There is a big difference between people not paying their Poll Tax to the government to the extent it completely clogged up the court systems and forced the government to do a U-turn, and not paying your energy bills to a private company who will just turn off the supply and force you to have a prepayment meter.

I really don't think refusing to pay is a good strategy for dealing with this.

I’m on a prepayment meter so if I don’t pay I don’t have electricity.

surely people who refuse to pay will just end up pursued for the debt and have it show as bad credit?

At least we pay only what we use. Looking at EDF prices it's not probably that much more expensive now. I went from dd to payg when moving and it was much about the same spend. Of course it's different if you had some uber cheap tariff.

It's a bill and I'll have to pay it. We want to move in the next couple of years and I don't want missed payments showing on my credit record. Plus they'll just take it to court and eventually bailiffs, which will make the repayment amount much higher anyway.

No I am on a meter I don’t pay I don’t get it. 😏

Refusing to pay just means everyone else who does pay will be charged more to recoup the lost earnings.

If you're worried about bills, ask for a prepay meter to be put in.

It’d be reasonable to stop using electricity and gas, and so to pay nothing for them, but no, of course it’s not reasonable to consume them and not pay.

It’s no different to stealing anything else.

Save up now, sell things that you don’t need, find extra work, there are myriad ways to prepare for rising costs.

People aren't planning to literally not pay, but to cancel direct debits and pay for what they can afford.
A massive act of public disobedience is quite honestly what needs to be done now.

I will be cancelling my direct debit on 1st October. I won't be getting into debt because I will still have the money put aside.

So you’re still going to pay for everything that you use, but just make your own life less convenient?

That’ll really show them…

And what about people already on the breadline who have sold things and done all they can?

We should be lobbying government, getting rid of this fucking austerity mentality when there's millionaires avoiding tax, businesses paying shit all into the country etc. Re-nationalise utilities.

Actually cancelling dds and paying only based on use will probably half it for many.... That I would stand behind

You will cause yourself more problems if you refuse to pay. Your best option would be to just not use gas or electricity and do a sort of pay as you go thing with candles for light, heat and cooking. Racking up debt will at best trash your credit rating until six years after you settle it (which, eventually, you will have to). You will be moved onto a prepay meter at a more expensive tarriff than standard ones, and a little of what you owe will be deducted each time you top up.

Intentionally using gas and electricity and then refusing to pay is stealing. It's not a grey area like ripping a copy of a DVD, you're actually stealing by the definition of the word.

How will refusing to pay actually help? There will be those who genuinely won't be able to meet their bills and those people need help. But I'm not on board with people getting a free ride because they just don't want to.
By all means look at reducing your consumption, save what you can now or any other practical means. This can include lobbying your MP to help.

If only we hadn't privatised all our energy providers, the French have just renationalised EDF (it was always partly nationalised) and are benefitting from not paying bonuses to shareholders (I heard centrica are doing well in the year to date...). What is happening with that windfall tax?

Cancelling a direct debit isn't refusing to pay. No one is obliged to pay by DD. But if we all switch from DD to a 3 monthly bill it will cause a huge cash flow problem for these multi billion pound multinational corporations.

There's no reason why not to!

So if you cancel the DD and decide to just pay what you use you will be charged a higher tariff... As you don't pay more than you use in the end with a DD anyway, you will just be shooting yourself in the foot!

Oh dear, a pound shop Marxist.

Well do people already on the breadline who have sold things and done all they can do about getting food and clothing? They either find a legal alternative like food and clothing banks, or turn to crime. The choice is the same for people who can't afford to heat their home. Either find an alternative way to heat their home, don't heat it, or get into legal difficulties.

Apart from the fact that it will cost you even more in the long run and the tariff is higher if you pay every 3 months...

How will it possibly cause cash-flow problems? Utilities will all have working capital lines with their banks.

Even if you cut your usage to the bare minimum you will still have to pay standing charges which are even higher if you aren’t using a certain amount of gas and electricity.

I do think vital resources (water, gas, electricity, even internet) should be nationalised. No one should be making a profit off people’s basic necessities.

As if - me thinks you're a bit naive

How does anyone refuse? What good does that do? End up with bad credit rating and bailiffs?