To be amazed at how many people are making excuses

[Sunshinesky1981]

Looking through these threads I'm feeling pretty horrified at the amount of people that either dont seem to be able to understand what self isolate actually means or are already making excuses as to why it can't possibly apply to them ?!?
Have read so many.. oh I'm not going to self isolate, I'm pretty sure it's just a cold. Can I still go for a walk. I need to go out for a run or else I'd go crazy, how am i going to walk the dog, I'd only pop to the shop really quickly

No wonder the schools aren't shutting, and we are not banning gatherings. I really can't understand how people are either not getting this or feel happy to just think sod the risk

I heard Italy have stopped bills and mortgage payments until lockdown is over, does anyone know if this is true? If so, well done to Italy!

I don't even believe that there is a Coronavirus.

And if there is , it is a mild flu. Justin Turdeau's wife has it, apparantly, and saks that she felt very mild symptoms.

Load of panic over nothing

Is that so...I work in the NHS and I can tell you otherwise. But then of course you know best as so all those peope taking their kids on holiday and going out with flu symptoms.
Unbelievable ignorance and stupidity right here.

It is hard, I really get it.

But I cannot he blamed for going out to buy food, to go to work etc for passing on coronavirus (which may I add I'm pretty sure I do not have!).

And I wish people would stop saying only £250 that's my council tax 😂 the council don't take to kindly to that not being paid!

It's not a free country is it? Bills have to be paid, work has to be done or the country will fall to its knees.

Maybe I wouldn't have to grace the shops so much if I could actually get what I wanted on my usual weekly visit but I can't as hysterical people have wiped the shelves of basics like pasta and paracetamol.

If your family are in a high risk group and you are scared for them, help them isolate.

@Unshriven

Yes you can string it out and wait to be evicted. That was my point. And if your tenancy is so insecure that might actually be the better thing to do long term in the case of getting on the list for social housing. You will not have made yourself intentionally homeless so you will be able to receive some help. Even in my borough in London that has happened to a friend of mine with children and she is in much more secure housing.

Also I don’t understand if you’re a good tenant it’s going to cost your landlord a lot more to get rid of you than to say ok. You can spread your payment ? If they just want to get rid of you. They’re going to find any excuse to do so, if it’s not this it will be the next thing.

@aroundtheworldyet it is incredibly frustrating and instead of the media providing honest and helpful information they have decided to focus on toilet rolls and pasta.

I honestly think the best thing any of us can do besides following advise is to spread helpful advise rather than shaming people who will just hide any illness. I have no clue how you would access a foodbank (through your GP, SS?), What are your legal rights if you cannot afford your rent this month? If your nursery closes do you still have to pay fees? I am sure their are plenty more issues worrying people. I went on Facebook this morning and saw none of this but plenty of utter drivel and whining.

You can’t just be given two months notice.

You absolutely can. Renters have little to no protection in England. There is more protection (I believe) if you are in Scotland.

@Unshriven
Yes you can actually! I’ve done it. I just didn’t pay it. I then had to pay a percentage of the month I missed back added on to the other bills. I called them. They accepted my offer of payments.

But you know! That’s too easy to do

It’s an extremely small amount of people who will struggle and for them there will be extra help

Sorry, but it really ISN'T an extremely small amount of people. It's quite a lot of people and I'd like to know what extra help you say there is going to be. Because while the Govt said there will be a hardship fund for local authorities and SSP for self employed, SSP of £94 isn't going to pay your rent.

Because it's not just 7 days or 14 days self isolation we're talking about. It may end up being longer than that. And there are plenty of industries where most staff are freelancers or contracts for one-off events. For example, when the theatres will be told to close, and they will, there will be thousands of bar staff, ushers, who are zero hours who will get nothing, same with actors, musicians, crew. If you're in that industry, you will know thousands who are worried as hell because they don't get paid much to begin with, most of them also have second casual jobs in bars and restaurants and call centres which they'll also lose.

It's a bigger picture than people at first think when you really get into it.

I'm not saying people shouldn't self isolate and in a couple of weeks, we will have a shut down and it will be at least 14 days, probably longer. But unless the Govt come up with a lot more financial support across the board, then I'm afraid people WILL flout the advice because they will feel they have no other choice. I can see why a previous poster said only the rich, the retired and those who can work from home can afford to self isolate. These things always hit hardest those who can least afford to be hit.

@aroundtheworldyet
Ah yes, I'm sure @Unshriven is just really excited to now have a chance of social housing!! I'm sure she will be fine to tip up to the council offices, that's presuming all the staff aren't at home with a cough and cold.

And social housing? Is that all the social housing mumsnet complain there isn't enough of?
Maybe they can build some more? Oh no, wait, all the builders are isolating for the foreseeable after reading this thread, as of course all self employed builders have £££'s saves up in case of health Pandemics going on previous posters.

@PerfectParrot
Yes they can give 2months notice. You don’t have to leave. They have to get a court order.
Which costs up to £2,000

So if your tenant came to you and said can I spread a weeks rent over 3 months - the only reason you would say no is because you 100% want them out in the first place and are happy to lose £2,000 to get rid of them. In which case this one week will make no difference, they’ll find away to get rid of you.

@ angell84 mild flu ?? Seriously ? Every time I cough ( most of the day ) I ache . I sound like I smoke 40 cigarettes a day . I have a permanent headache and my limbs ache . Domt forget there are now Corona trolls on some of these threads.

However, I wouldn't think twice about using my credit card in order to be able to cope with self isolation.

Plenty of people don't have a credit card, are not eligible to get one (can definitely be the case if you are unemployed or under employed or not in regular employment/gig/seasonal/temp employee) or even have an overdraft. Plenty of people have meters for electricity and gas (it is not a given you can get emergency credit and if and when you first apply for it, it's usually either £10 or £20 max, that doesn't go far because meters are more expensive).

I truly do NOT think people realise just how much the fabric of society for anyone but the middle and upper classes has been utterly decimated by 10 years of Tory government and much, much stability eroded. Instead it's easier to do the typical British thing of shaming, scolding and denigrating people who can't do what Da Master tells them to do.

guarantee that if I miss a rent payment, or even ask for a delay, the landlord will serve notice

The only need to give two months notice for any or no reason at all, and they will

SSP wouldn't cover the rent, council tax utilities, travel to school

No credit cards, or likelyhood of getting one

People in private rentals can't jeapordise their homes on the off chance that they might have CV

^^^
ALL OF THIS!

There is no fucking way my landlord will let us off payments. They barely do the fucking minimum as it is.

We will be fucking homeless...and that includes my Dad with COPD.

We already have the fucking bailiffs at the door and literally live month to month with ZERO savings and no access to credit.

Plus we have key meters....so what the fuck are we supposed to do?? (can't top up online)

2 weeks on measely ssp will leave us homeless and reliant on the state....have you all thought this through??!!

INSTEAD OF BLAMING THOSE OF US ON THE BONES OF OUR ARSES...'WITH PRIVATE RENT TO PAY AND ALREADY SKINT.....WHY THE ACTUAL FUCK ARE YOU NOT LOBBYING THE GOVERNMENT TO PAUSE RENTS??? ESPECIALLY IF THE MORTGAGE LENDERS ARE GIVING LEEWAY!!!...PLUS ENERGY COMPANIES TO HELP THOSE WITH KEY METERS!!

It's all very well and good sitting there going "It'll be a bit hard"

No....it will be catastrophic to possibly millions of families stuck in a rut of expensive private renting and no sick pay.

This is really exposing the fucking rot in our society......forcing millions of people to live hand to mouth on shit wages and no decent benefits....then being surprised when they have to go to work because they're going to literally lose their house.

Seriously some of you need to live in the real world.

@IfYoureNotIntoYoga

If I was in such a precarious and stressful situation as @Unshriven
Then yes I would do everything I could to get social housing. Regardless of corona virus

It’s an extremely small amount of people who will struggle and for them there will be extra help

Haahaa!! OMG, if you believe that, I've got a very ill 5th cousin removed in Timbuktu who needs an emergency operation, please PM me for my bank details .

Oh and is anyone here a landlord????

Hope you're putting your money where your fucking mouth is and planning on sorting out rent with your tenants.....otherwise what sort of hypocrite are you???

It certainly will set some precedents in terms of home working. Away from this current worry, say later in the year- if you have a mild cold or severe flu, or stomach bug will you be expected to ‘work at home’ because you’re self isolating? Where do the lines between qualifying for sick pay, choosing not coming into the office for the benefit of others and working at home whilst ill, start and stop?

@IfYoureNotIntoYoga

Vulnerable people cant always isolate. Chemo etc are still going on. They will potentially have carers that are interacting with others. For example if a kid woth a cough goes to school, the other kids in the class might get it even if they arent vulnerable or in direct contact with vulnerable people, their parents might be nurses, carers, or others in contact.

Thats why you cant just isolate the vulnerable

Because it's not just 7 days or 14 days self isolation we're talking about.

Actually, that is exactly what we are talking about here. Because if self isolation works properly, the likelihood and duration of the more extreme measures will be reduced. I have sympathy for those who will genuinely lose home or be unable to feed their children, and think more needs to be done to help them. But the majority of people can manage (with some discomfort) without leaving the house for one week. For the majority it certainly isn't a case of life or death - if it was they wouldn't be posting threads asking whether it would be okay to go for a run!

Plus we have key meters....so what the fuck are we supposed to do?? (can't top up online)

This! Some clients I work with, the way a lot of blocks of flats are set up in the UK, the gas meter is too far from the leccy meter (or outside) to install a smart meter. Of course, even if you can top up online, you need money to do this.

So many people are so bloody ignorant about how truly shit it is for poor and working poor, and they are the ones doing the many vital jobs that cannot be done from home.

But hey, you reap what you sow. The crows come home to roost.

Also the main point of my thread was people who seemed quite willing to do what they thought was self isolating, but nipping to the shop, going for a run and to take the dog to the park
I agree.
There does need to be better guidance and direction and support for those who would be severely affected by self isolating, but what's really bloody stupid and selfish are people who SAY they're self isolating (so totally fine to take the time off) but also want to do what they would want to on a typical day off.

What sort of logic is "I'm too much of a risk to be in work... But the shops/gym/park are totally fine because I'm probably not infected"?

Ah all this available social housing??!!

What the actual fuck???

There is none...literally none available in my area.....plus we don't fucking qualify.

"Just let your LL evict you...it'll be better??!!"

Yeah great....kids traumatised (I've been evicted with a kid btw) uprooted, stressed, living in one room...,being a bigger burden on the state THAN IF WE HAD JUST LEGISLATED FOR RENT BREAKS AND HELP WITH BILLS......WHY ARE YOU NOT BLAMING THE GOVERNMENT AND BENEFITS SYSTEM???!!

Fuck me people are living in la la land.

There is no fucking housing.....families are in B&Bs ffs.

The thing is, my original post was not to do with people who are genuinely in a position of losing their home or serious financial strain... I think we can all agree that more needs to be done to protect people in the situations so they are not having to make choices like this which could effect the health of their family or the public.

I was talking about people who seem to be perfectly happy to self isolate as long as they can still nip to tesco or to go to the park or take the dog out for a bit. These are the people who will put people at risk. These are the people who increase financial burden on everyone. Even if they just have a cold. It's a cold that passes to you which then throws you into a position of having to self isolate

Well op cares about her mum dying
And other people care about themselves.

The whole system for helping people needs to change. That much is true. It shouldn’t be the case that people in this country are one week away from being homeless and losing everything. That’s the shocking part.

I obviously wasn’t aiming my solutions are people who are already utterly fucked as I have said.

It is aimed at people who “don’t want to put money on an existing CC”
Who’s landlords will almost certainly accept a rent spread.
Who dogs don’t need a walk.
Who’s children don’t “need to go to the park”

If you are completely on the breadline already, then that is a much much wider issue.

all those people ignoring the 7 day isolation stuff because they can't afford it - how the hell are they going to manage when everything is completely shutdown & the economy is fucked for the next 10 years because everyone refused to stay at home for a week when they had a cough or fever? This is all about mitigating the inevitable - bad - effects for as long as possible.

And as far as the dog walkers go - fucking hell, humanity is doomed.