Don't pay high energy prices protest

[Gmamaofboys13]

Drawing MN users attention to a campaign where 1 million people cancel their direct debits on the 1st of October as a protest against the high energy prices:

dontpay.uk/

Because vat on energy is only 5% - it doesn't touch the sides of the increases.

And, to complete the loop you insisted on dragging us on, by costing the energy companies time and money with pointless complaints they are helping drive the cost of energy up. So the only losers are... the consumers.

Thanks. I'm sure it's not foolproof but it seems more realistic. Perhaps not as drastic!!

What's your point?

I work in an associated industry so get visibility sometimes and we're seeing anything from 20 to 50 pence per unit at the moment, it really isn't much better for the bigger companies tbh which is another reason everything is getting so expensive

I'm sure you can work it out.

Surely it's better to pay something rather than not pay at all? Just pay what you are paying now and pay quarterly. That would be sending a better message I think.

The thing with prepayment meters is having to install a million at one time is surely going to be a massive task and a cost to the energy companies, so I do see what people mean. I think it is just going to put energy companies out of business though and create less competition in the future when this settles down. I think all of this is actually about creating a monopoly.

We do need to do something though. I'm not sure what the answer is.

It's a good campaign but we need something to back it up. Something physical. I think that will happen too though.

Used to work for an energy company yes the ombudsman charges £400 to look at a case but will only do so if you have followed the energy company complaints procedure not sure what you hope to achieve the costs will will just put the price up even more and more energy companies will go bust

you can cancel your direct debit and pay on receipt of your bill but most companies offer a direct debit discount if you don’t pay your bill they can enforce a prepayment meter which is usually more expensive or it will be passed to a debt collection agency which may incur charges.

electricity is seen as a basic human right gas isn’t so they can disconnect your gas supply for non payment obviously a last resort and not applicable to vulnerable people but it then costs you to get your supply reconnected

No, I'd like you to explain to me what you mean.

I'm not sure I see the problem with your friends being on holiday. Enjoying life. Helping other industries. Unless they're out there for an undisclosed unethical reason, of course.

Please elaborate.

Ah. I see you have missed the point.

You do realise the average gas bill in the winter is predicted to rise to £500 per month? It's not that we don't WANT to pay for gas, we're not sociopaths! We just don't see why Centrica and their friends are increasing the residential prices so much after announcing BILLIONS in profits.

Also - why shouldn't people be able to enjoy life? Why are you expecting people to literally exist not being able to afford anything at all after going in to debt with their bills? Like I'm not expecting champagne and caviar every night, but do you not think paying more for your energy bills than your mortgage/rent is a bit silly, at best?

I see the rioting types have arrived on thread

Ofgem won’t investigate the complaint about the cost of gas and electricity anyway they are the ones setting the price caps

Apart from anything else, if everyone does start making nuisance complaints to the ombudsman won't that totally clog up the system so that people who have genuine problems can't get them resolved?

Hopefully it won't come to this. But, yeah. Bleak times eh!

What's more of a genuine problem than literally not having enough money in your bank to pay a bill for having the heating on for an hour or so per evening?

Those profits come from wholesale gas and oil selling. NOT from residential domestic supply, which has been making losses in recent years. The business rates are literally subsidising the people who use energy at home right now.

You’re welcome to play the “but we deserve to have a standard of living!” card. I just ask why you deserve that, and not the billions of other people who never had, and likely never will have, the profligate waste of energy that the West has had. Do they not count?

There is not enough cheap energy on the planet. Now you are going to have to pay for it if you want to use it. If you can’t afford it, then the market will move on and find someone else.

They're not struggling now. The price cap hasn't gone up for everyone yet.

Again I reiterate - it's the 21st century. We work really hard and have just been through a hellish pandemic. Why shouldn't people be able to afford a few extra things?

Also worth noting they could be millionaires sharing this on behalf of the people who really will struggle, such as the poor, the disabled, the vulnerable, the elderly etc.

Surely you don't want to live in poverty yourself?!

I mentioned rioting. But not because I thought it was a good idea, just something that could end up happening. Sorry if this makes me a rioting type 😂

I like this idea. OFGEM are government owned, aren't they? So technically all the £400 fines could be distributed back to consumers?

I completely agree with you that we need to start living more sustainably. I am not disagreeing with this, but realistically without government help in other ways, that is a privilege for many people.

You mention people in other parts of the world who don't have access to this. Believe it or not, I think decent housing and living conditions are a basic human right and it is awful that they aren't given this option. Are you suggesting we should accept living like people in developing countries?

And lastly... you say that we shouldn't be allowed "cheap" energy but can you explain how is acceptable for British Gas to roll in BILLIONS of pounds worth of profit whilst we are all plunged in to poverty?

It's not a fine, it's just the regulatory cost of someone forwarding a complaint to the ombudsman. Whether you win or lose.

Legally they wouldn't be able to redistribute any costs. That is literally what the FCA are there to do, to regulate this sort of thing. I mean, if they did forward the costs on then realistically people would riot. I also feel like Centrica can't retain enough staff for them to do all the admin if people were to do it in their millions.