To not allow my DC to go cold when my energy company has announced sickening profits?

[WhatTheHeckToDo]

I’ve spent a week of sleepless nights worrying about how I’m going to afford my energy bill this winter. I’m disabled with a disabled child so I’m on a fixed income. There’s nowhere to find extra money.

I’ve come to the conclusion that there’s sod all I can do about the prices. I’ve set a maximum limit of what I can afford and I will pay that monthly; if I build up a debt, then so be it.

There are desperate threads on here asking how to survive in an 8 degree house. Disgusting in 2022. I will cut back on usage but not to the point we are freezing.

I have decided I will not allow my DC to go cold whilst these energy companies are making millions in profit . Enough really is enough.

Has anyone else come to this reasoning?

Yea I am in a similar situation and spoke to my energy company, they have allowed me to set up a direct debit and have said no further action will be taken, also check for grants as quite a few energy companies are doing this however I applied in March and still haven't had a reply from octopus yet about how much help I can get. I've just resigned myself to the fact I will have the debt hanging over my head for a while.

All well and good in theory, but what if they force you to go onto a credit meter because your debt is too large?

Does your energy provider know you are a vulnerable customer ?
I have a disabled child too ,my energy provider has us down as vulnerable customers, so in theory they should help us come to some sort of arrangement .

It's complete inhumane that in 2022 people won't be able to afford to heat their homes or eat, basic human rights. It's bloody abhorrent. Heating and food shouldn't be a luxury that people can't afford.

@Postapocalypticcowgirl it’s unlikely to happen whilst I’m making payments. I plan to keep the higher payments in place over the summer which should mitigate any debt.

YANBU.

OP, if you're struggling, can I suggest that you contact your energy supplier to talk to them about this. Some do have schemes available to support vulnerable households and it sounds like you might meet those criteria. It might also be worth seeking help from a local advice centre like CAB or similar. Many local authorities have some support in place for people who really need it.

I think most energy companies will insist you have an electricity meter installed if there is outstanding debt on your account. This means you will have to pre pay to obtain electricity. The meter will also be set to take a percentage of the money you put on your meter to repay your debt in instalments.

It's shit I know but otherwise most people would use your reasoning and refuse to pay.

@x2boys Yes they have us down as vulnerable but I wasn’t aware this offers extra support. I thought this was just a priority in the event of a power cut. Could you elaborate?

I’m nearly 2 months in credit at the moment, so hope that will go in my favour if I go into debt, then I can make it right next summer 🤞🏻

I don't see what the energy companies profits have to do with it. Would you allow the house to be freezing if they didn't have profits? If the implication is that there's lots of other peoples money elsewhere that could pay your bills for you, in your case I'd have some sympathy with you saying that, but you're looking in the wrong place. It's taxpayers who need to bail you out. The government supports the concept of social security and redistribution. Private companies exist purely to make a profit, it's not their responsibility to subsidise anyone. (Their profits will eventually become the income of individuals, who, if they are better-off than average, will likely subsidise other people via their personal tax bills.)

The government haven't yet announced what more they are going to do, so it's to soon too judge how big a debt you will be incurring if you use more than you can pay for.

@SmileyClare I’m not refusing to pay. The payments I have set should cover quite a lot of my usage but it’s inevitable I will end up with some debt. This should be mitigated over the summer when I keep the higher payments but my usage is nearly half .

Yep! I've said I won't allow my babies to go cold! If it puts me in debt so bloody be it.

If we get into debt with the energy suppliers then they have to come to a payment plan or pre payment meter before they cut me off.

DS is 3 and I'll have twin newborns at Christmas so no definitely not allowing them to be cold.

Atm we are about £340 in credit on both.

@Getoff I understand your point , but the profits do have a lot to do with the emotive anger people are feeling. People are very worried about how they are going to manage; then the companies announce their profits. It’s a service we need , it’s not a luxury , so it is sickening to hear.

I am not currently in debt to my supplier. I have a balance of £0 (not in credit either). I have increased my payments to the maximum I can afford (as well as allowing some buffer for any debit which may result).

Very valid point. If you are on a means tested benefit and disabled, have young children, are pregnant, or of pension age, you should be able to go on their Priority Register. This is available from Gas, Electric and Water suppliers for vulnerable people.

There is help available but you need to contact your suppliers to let them know you need help. Please don't suffer and make your children suffer without heating in winter. By all means, reduce usage where you can, but don't put lives at risk.

www.ofgem.gov.uk/information-consumers/energy-advice-households/getting-help-if-you-cant-afford-your-energy-bills

I think there will be so many people in the same situation that there won’t be nearly enough prepay meters to swap out for those who can’t pay. So it may be enough of a reprieve to keep people from freezing this winter. You also can’t get extra help until you are already in fuel debt.
How people who are already on prepay meters are going to manage I really don’t know - maybe energy companies will raise the emergency credit to a decent level. My Sister is on one, she has a 1 bed flat and was putting £20 a week on her gas last Winter so it will be double in October and triple come January, she is one of the ‘lucky’ ones who will get £1500, as she gets pension credit and PiP, help so I would hope it will cover her winter bills.

I used to work for a water company, so not the same as energy, but very similar in terms of the Priority Services Register. It isn’t something they advertise, for obvious reasons, but it’s much less likely that a utility/energy services provider will take any kind of financial or enforcement action against a customer who’s on their PSR i.e. the ‘known vulnerable’. Particularly as you will still be making regular payments. So it’s always worth registering yourself if you meet the criteria.

I'm around £660 in credit, but even being frugal and paying a £344 direct debit, I am sure I'll still end up in debt.

I cant afford to pay any more than that, and we earn quite well!!

I have never had a debt on utilities, and am panicking but what can I do? I cant magic extra money out of thin air. 🤷🏻‍♀️ and I wont be the only person in that situation.

Yes, I've had similar thoughts. We already pay 185 a month, they can have 200 and no more as that's all we can afford. We will have a newborn from the end of November so we will be reducing usage as much as we can but I refuse to have a freezing house.

We have been in debt with them before and they came up with reasonable payment plans for us,rather than installing pre payment meters .

But it isn’t your supplier who is making the massive profits. It is the producers and those who sell on the open market. So unless your supplier is also a producer they have to buy the energy on the open market to sell it to you and there is little to no profit in that.

Sorry, I should have said "refusing to pay the full amount" which is what you're essentially proposing to do when the inevitable happens and your company ask for a huge hike in the amount you pay by D/D?

If you're currently paying over your usage then yes that's a sensible way to ensure you have some credit on your account to cover the shortfall in the winter.

I'm sorry you're facing such an awful situation.
Our house has no heating upstairs and we have only used one storage heater downstairs to cut costs so there's not much I can do to reduce our usage further this year.

From experience; warm clothing is essential particularly containing wool, blankets, throws, duvets on the sofas, hot water bottles and draught excluders are useful. It's not great but consider heating one room in the house and shutting the doors to that room in winter.

If you think your direct debit is high enough you'll pay off any debt next summer, I don't understand why you wouldn't do this. Don't forget prices are predicted to rise in January and April, though- unless you've got a fix?

It is a bit mad that energy companies like to insist on us constantly being in credit.

However, if the debt gets large, I wouldn't assume they will just ignore it- so it may be a good idea to speak to them directly about options.

@Proudboomer I’m aware of that; the profits whilst are an emotive point, they are not the driver behind my reasoning. The driver is the fact that I and millions of others simply can not magic up an unlimited amount of money .