Energy don’t pay or what else

[jetadore]

So the “don’t pay” movement seems to be gaining some traction but so does the “just shut up and pay” movement telling us to stop being so naive and how there are ‘much better ways’ to tackle the issue? What are these ‘better ways’ then? Place my faith in the leadership and benevolence of Liz or Rishi?

I remember people refusing to pay (and rioting) over the poll tax, you hear about protest movements in other countries, what about the yellow vests for fucks sake. Here we’re too scared to do anything in case it affects our precious credit scores, make excuses not to demonstrate because we allowed the government to take away our right to protest.

What am I allowed to do then? Wait for people to start going broke or dying, and then tut over the newspaper headlines? Wait for the next election so we can vote in the same bunch of bastards, or Starmer’s diet bastards? Research and publish my proposal for a coherent, long term energy policy since nobody in government can be bothered? Campaign for world peace? Come up with patronising explanations for how the crisis is due to a complex and unfortunate coincidence of geo-political factors and the prevailing economic doctrine which is actually much better than the alternative when you think about it what are you a socialist or something? How long should I wait and see if things magically get better? Is ofgem going to wait to announce the price cap? No, they’re doing it next month. Just enough time to get onto my bank.

I’m fortunate that I could probably afford the projected (can’t wait for the big reveal, so exciting) increase with a bit of belt tightening. But I’m inclined to cancel my payments all the same, if it would put the shits up them. I don’t want to be all “I’m alright jack” while others struggle, nor do I want to be intimidated by the threat of ccj’s and conservative claptrap, so that the Tories and their mates can sit there laughing at us and blathering on about how profit isn’t a crime whilst we all meekly wring our hands and wait in the cold for the invisible hand of the market to come to our aid.

Just feel like is there something I can practically do to make a difference, now, or am I actually powerless?

PS I know there was a thread on this recently there probably have been others since I didn’t find any when I searched though.

@BloodyCamping hydroelectric schemes have nothing to do with being surrounded by water. You need huge mountain ranges with lakes and fast flowing rivers. Scotland had some hydro but this contributes a tiny amount to the uk overall.

So easy easy for you to say that people should just suck it up and pay up, even if it leaves them with no money to pay for anything else when you have just said in your post that you will just decamp to your other home in France. Massive hypocrite alert!

Many people stand to lose everything because of this. It is going to lead to financial devastation for many thousands of businesses and ordinary people and their families. People are going to get ill and some will die.

It is going to lead to homelessness for many, it is going to drive people to suicide. Families will be split up. Children are going to suffer - their parents won’t be able to afford to feed them nutritious food or keep their homes warm enough (that’s if they are lucky enough that they don’t end up losing their homes). Many schools are saying they won’t be able to afford to stay open 5 days a week so yet again children will lose out on a decent education.

But hey, so long as we pay up and the shareholders are paid their massive profits right? 🙄

Yay let's all fuck off to France for the winter!

The price cap is forecast to be 3500 , but is going up every three months I believe
It's all such grim news all round

Not paying is a worrying idea but the idea behind what others are planning is to cancel direct debits in October as it will create mass work for the companies to organise sending out bills etc to everyone every month. (Think idea is to go back to paper bills) Then paying for usage (or what your energy bills were before mass hikes) only. Then raising a complaint. Higher cost for admin. No extra money from people being In credit over the year which they invest and earn profit on and then each complaint once it goes to deadlock, Then the ombudsman costs £500 to the company, £550 if over a certain amount of complaints are made. Idea being to hit them in the only part that hurts... money and profit.

Our fixed rate is coming to an end and we're generally petrified. We both work full time but fall into those bottom notches. Very little wiggle room. Add into that rent increasing by over 50% in the last year due to 2 landlords in a year wanting to sell and just those 2 bills will have increased by £700 a month. Let alone the rest..

I think think the powers that be are sitting on their hands at the moment and choosing to ignore it out of plain laziness/ hoping that people will resign themselves to a new life of drudgery and hardship and just pay. This will have a domino effect as thousands of businesses will simply fold under. People will then find themselves having to try and cough up £7k+ a year in energy bills in the midst of a recession and without a job to pay for it.

I really don’t have a lot of hope at the moment given that the country is on a trajectory towards disaster while the Government is asleep at the wheel. And where’s Starmer when we need him? Some opposition - not!

@PasTrop if prices keep rising you'll be selling your second home in France to pay for your gas and electricity. But as long as you've used it and the company is charging you whatever they feel like that's okay right?

Maybe some small companies might go under like many already have and more probably will anyway but then we will just be left with the big six, how will that help anyone.

You can’t really tbh. At least not in terms of not paying your bill. So much terrible and plain wrong advice out there on that front.

If you are using it, you have to pay it. You don’t have to pay more, or have a Dd that’s too high, but you have to pay what you use, which will be dear.

@PasTrop you come across as incredibly arrogant and out of touch with reality, and that’s me being mild.
‘Why can’t you fuckity-fuck off to your own property in France, like the rest of us?!’

I’m not sure I can make you understand how preposterous your point of view is. But it might give you a moment to pause if I tell you you’ve embarrassed yourself. Massively.
Your solution it’s to tell people: ‘Pay!’

Other people’s circumstances ARE different from yours.

There are people in this world who’s children and loved ones depend on a machine that needs electricity in order to survive. Plugged 24/7.

When you’re old, your mobility decreases, elderly spend a bit more time than me sat in a chair. When you sit for a long period of time, you get cold. The pensions will mostly pay for (part of) the bills, leaving nothing for food. They simply cannot pay. In the real world, people actually die of hypothermia.

A family of 4, working full time, will see half of their income going on utility bills alone, most people don’t have trust funds, I hate to break it to you.

The ‘I’ll be alright Jacks’ of this world are 1-3% of the population.

Shall we think of a sensible solution now?

So much of what you’ve posted here is wrong!

You don’t have to pay over the year monthly in even bouts, of course not.

But most people find a consistent mothly bill much easier to manage than £170 pcm for a few months when is warm, being ramped up to a potential maximum of £550 pcm when it’s colder and after the cap has been risen.

Unless they keep it to the side and put it onto a savings account.

Ombudsman don’t just fine energy companies because someone has moaned. Look it up. The Jack Monroe school of advice is plain wrong.

What are all these complaints meant to actually be about anyway???

Mine’s simple enough, I’ll pay the bill, but if I think it’s too much we’ll spend much of the winter in the home in France where very little heating is needed.

Using the second home in France! Why didn’t everyone else think of that!

Oh no no no tut tut

Cut back some more for climate change!

You are not doing enough!

Oh no no no. Tut Tut.

Selling a second home wont be enough!

Anyone see the pattern?!

Nothing will be enough to satisfy those who want the Great Reset.
Nothing.

You can't take a service from a private company and refuse to pay, that's just asking for financial trouble further down the line with bailiffs and CCJ's.
If you're struggling to pay you need to notify the provider, discuss a payment plan and pay what you can.
Refusal is just has a blatant disregard for all other users who will end up picking up your bill.
You wouldn't fill your trolley at the supermarket and refuse to pay, that's shoplifting, why

Posted early...oops
Refusal is just has a blatant disregard for all other users who will end up picking up your bill.
You wouldn't fill your trolley at the supermarket and refuse to pay, that's shoplifting, why do it for energy and expect no recourse?

Energy should potentially be renationalised. Won’t help much though will it.
The wholesalers are responsible for the sales to the suppliers, hence why so many went bust last year, and the wholesalers are based offshore so are outside any many action the government can take.

Russia has all bit closed one of its pipelines. It’s causing major suffering here, but Russians are suffering more and contrary to what is said, they aren’t selling it to Irans as there’s no pipeline out there and. Or likely to be anytime soon.

Are people aware that we get just a small fraction of our gas from Russia, but scarceity in the markets is driving the price up overall.

All these businesses that will go under too ☹️

What is the Great Reset? Who wants it?

OP is looking for a form of protest. OP I am with you, back in poll tax demonstration and protest (and riot) days, there was no social media. I feel like people are more likely to let loose on social media with disgruntled comments these days than actually do something. But physically just getting out there and taking real action feels like it should be done. Not sure what form that should take though...

Daily Mail readers go on about the ' the great reset'.
The only clue I got by looking it up was everyone will lose everything and only the very rich will be buffered by higher costs and we will all have to learn to live with nothing
It's a conspiracy theory , but sometimes I can see where it's coming from tbh.

OP,

The 'now pay your bills' attitude of so many posters shows what a compliant nation we are.

I agree that the only way to tackle these obscene rises in costs for essentials is to revolt. And one option would be for everyone to say no, they won't pay. Clearly won't happen if the mindset shown here - that you are a spoilt middle class person who should shut up and comply - is indicative of how most people will react to the 300% increases.

New price Cap being announced within the next fifteen minutes give or take (according to Martin Lewis, over on Twitter)

I will be claiming this too, but it's tax relief on £6 of income per week which is actually £1.20 per week saved for a basic rate tax payer. So only £124ish for 2 of you wfh per year I think not £500.

And yes as someone else mentioned, it's only applicable now if you have to work from home not if you choose to but office is also available.

It’s a private company who’s services you are using willingly.

It’s not a government charge… a tax, like the poll take was. You can’t use a private resource knowing the price, argue worthy it it for being too high but still use it and refuse to pay.

It will end badly for you.

Should it be privatised? No! But it is, so non-payment will do nothing but end with you in hot water.

You get the difference between a tax and this
yes?