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

This "I'm alright Jack" attitude that's coming out of all this makes me sick

It makes me sick too. It's revealing a very ugly side to society, one where some people, through no fault of their own, are seen as 'disposable'.

@AnIdiotNeedsHelp

I'm a landlord...I rent out my house as I've moved in with my DP.

I'll absolutely ask my mortgage lender for a payment holiday so my tenants get the same if it comes to it.
And then in the future we can come to some sort of a payment plan

We're all in this together.

bubblesforlife

Yes, sadly.
He should speak to his doctor about his risk, and manage accordingly.

What's worse - some debt for you or other people's deaths?

EVERYONE needs to change their behaviour!!!!!!!! Not just those for whom it's a 'bit inconvenient' or who are at serious risk.

I think a lot of people are not seeing the bigger picture. It's not 1 or 2 weeks max. The virus has not reached the peak in the UK and is some weeks off from doing so.

People may need to take a week or two off, but will they have jobs to go back to? I am looking at making people redundant. I own a pub. Unless the government forces us to close I am not insured for business interruption. Think how many industries will be affected a population with a drop in wages. Leisure, retail, hairdressers, other non essentials will drop off dramatically.

There will be a lot of job losses.

Good on you, Dina

Wish I had a ll like you!

I think some people will be absolutely fucked during self isolation and the government aren't doing enough. I don't know how much can be done, but I'm sure its not nothing.

I feel lucky in that I'm on maternity leave so am at home anyway, but I also have very little money coming in and cannot afford to bulk buy or anything so feel very vulnerable

I feel really stressed for people who also have to pay rent from their wages and face being out of work for prolonged periods

Another thread where the attitude is if your high risk self isolate.

My DH can't as he is having daily radiotherapy and has to go to hospital. He is high risk as he has had 2/3rd of his lung removed and has breathing issues now he is having radio. He is in his 40s. So an attitude of well if your at risk stay in I would turn on a head and advise that if you have symptoms you stay indoors and follow the guidance....

Economies can recover from recessions, as harsh as that sounds, especially when the right fiscal steps are taken.

People refused care because the health system got overwhelmed when warnings about self-isolation were ignored tend not to.

@Jaxhog
Have you read any of the thread?
Not everyone has a CC or savings, have you been blind to the poverty in England?
Food banks? how will these operate?
Top up meters? the horrendously slow because fit system if you did need to make or update a claim?
I can see the Tory voters on this thread, completely oblivious to anything outside their bubble.
And @otterturk you’re a thoughtless greedy arse, don’t be a LL if you have no contingency plan to cover non payment of rent.

Yes, champagneandfromage50, it's not possible for most at-risk people to self-isolate for months on end. It's a facile suggestion, from people who do not understand the reality of what it is to be elderly, or unwell, or both.

I hope your husband's treatment is effective, and that he can stay as well as is possible. Your husband's value as a person, as a citizen, doesn't diminish just because he's ill, and he deserves just as much care and consideration as the (sorry to harp on it but it's stuck in my mind as so totally obscene) people worried about their dogs walkies.

I work in a Nursing Home. Goodness knows what would happen if staff cannot come in. We have 4 carers and one nurse on a 12 and ahalf hour shift fir 35 people. I don't know where we would get staff from! I don't get sick pay..only salaried staff do..ie manager etc. The nurses will get ssp as would carers....it is obviously not enough.

I know my LL would absolutely give me a rent break if I need to stop working for a period of time that would impact my ability to pay, because I’ve always paid my rent on time if not early. Made improvements to the property at my own cost and I’m a good tenant. But I fear many LL might use this as an excuse to “dig out the weeds”

@angell84

People are listening to experts, not to the media. See below on this not being like seasonal flu.

m.youtube.com/watch?v=dcJDpV-igjs

Also, let's take the flu, make it many times more fatal than it is, then expose to it to a remote society with no immunity anywhere in the community. Then let them all get it at the same time so that no health care is available. That is what we are facing here, and it is nothing like the situation we face when fighting annual seasonal flu (which is serious and deadly in itself)

You should self isolate, and not because of the virus.

@jkscot4 that is exactly my point. If those who can make sacrifices do so, then the impact on the poor and vulnerable is less. But EVERYONE has to do what they can. Too many people are still making excuses.

And this is also a lesson for the future. EVERYONE has a responsibility to make provisions for poor situations like this and not rely on everyone else to take up the slack. I completely get that some people are unable to fend for themselves well. But far too many just expect the rest of us to support them. (I'll get off my soap box now)

Ironically, the LLs whose tenants are covered by Housing Benefit/UC will do better than those who insisted on "No one on benefits because they don't pay reliably."

Meanwhile I'm making plans about how I can support my various self-employed assistants whom I pay with my disability benefits (they're genuinely self-employed with multiple clients – I don't have full-time help), since they will be hit by variable income whereas mine (DWP willing) will be steady.

And @otterturk you’re a thoughtless greedy arse, don’t be a LL if you have no contingency plan to cover non payment of rent.

And what responsibility does the tenant have to have a contingency plan?? The LL isn't a charity! While I'm sure some LL may be able to cope with a non-paying tenant, others will also be in dire straits. And at least a tenant can move. A LL is stuck with the running costs of a property. whether thay have a tenant or not.

I think the govt need to be much clearer on the advice and getting the message out, including what support is available. Hopefully this will be clarified very quickly.

If people can't comply, or possibly even if they do comply, this will escalate to the point of lockdown with troops patrolling the streets. You won't have any choice but to isolate, and people losing jobs, money or homes will not even register on the list of priorities. In a few weeks people may well look back and be amazed at what they themselves said they 'couldn't do'.

And what responsibility does the tenant have to have a contingency plan?? The LL isn't a charity! While I'm sure some LL may be able to cope with a non-paying tenant, others will also be in dire straits. And at least a tenant can move. A LL is stuck with the running costs of a property. whether thay have a tenant or not.

Well, yes...if they had a couple of months between tenants they need to be able to cover that with no rental income. I think if a landlord wants to rent out their property to be a person's only residence, they should be required to show that they maintain enough to cover a certain amount of unexpected emergencies. As a landlord you don't just get rent, you often get appreciation in value. I absolutely agree that landlords aren't charities but with so many people forced to rent legislation needs to offer more security.

If mortgage repayments can be suspended during all this, then the govt should also be announcing an equivalent protection for the tenant/landlord situation.

@jaxhog
So how do you suggest someone on minimum wage, private LL save and prepare when they live wage to wage?
Do you think it’s ok for LLs to get a mortgage break but demand ££ from the tenant? How kind and considerate.
The majority do not have £1000s in savings or jobs with good benefits.

I'm not well off but know that when (probably not just if) it comes to it we will probably be okay having to self isolate. But we have our own house and a small mortgage that is very flexible, however I feel I'd tested the limits before this outbreak and am getting letters from the bank concerned. I do need to start paying it off and was hoping to go back to work this term but am now thinking that it's just not viable. I have quite substantial savings and think I can hold everything off for a bit.

But I am very conscious that I live in an area of London where a lot of my neighbours are not so lucky. This isn't going to blow over within a week or two of self isolation, however many of us do it, it could be months. Many local schools including my kids' primary have reached a level of financial crisis that I'm worried how we'll get through all this. Lots of kids for whom food from school through a school meal or our own foodbank is quite important to them, risk of huge hunger things. Lots of families living in very overcrowded temporary accommodation. The government seems to be offering nothing to support services to get everyone through all this.

I can’t believe the I’m not going to self isolate because I refuse to put a few hundred £ on my CC For a week. I don’t believe in debt!!

So you’re happy to spread this around and potentially kill someone. But not get into a tiny bit of debt?

Honestly, yes. I'm always going to put what's best for my family's situation above the health of people I do not know.

And at least a tenant can move.

A tenant that can't afford to pay the rent is not likely to be moving house, they are likely to become homeless when the LL evicts them and have to go to the council. No self-isolating if they are ill in that situation. The landlord could always remortgage the property or, God forbid, sell it. Landlords always have more than the tenants due to the worth of their asset.

Tenants should have contingency plan!? The majority of people in this country have less than £500 in savings!

Because most people (clearly not you OP) don't have the funds to just simply take time off work.

I will be working, as will husband, unless we are literally at death's door as we have bills to pay and mouths to feed.

There's no way I'm taking a week off unpaid if I have a simple cough.