Don’t Pay ……….. Will you be signing up? I’m in!

I am seriously considering cancelling my DD and paying for usage only.

I can see this back-firing. There are over 27 million households in the UK. If a million households do stop paying some of those households will still be with smaller energy companies. They will go bust. The larger ones will carry on and hold out. Less choice of supplier More profit for the big boys. more people with pre payment meters paying more for their fuel

As a mother of umpteen children, we don't get additional help and we don't want help from the government. We want energy companies making enormous profits, which they don't even pass on to their own struggling employees, to stop taking the micky because we can't live without them.

OK I've signed up now

I think you have to be prepared to back a pledge if you sign it, Sago.

It's not for me. Although I think the government should be doing much more with the standing charge. You cannot avoid it even if the gas is turned off. It should carry a required minimum amount of fuel with it.

They should also be charging the cheapest price for the first x number of units, steadily making it more expensive.

They won't though will they

But the government HAS responded to this energy hike hasn’t it?
Every single household will get £400 and our age group get an additional £300 on top of the £100 each, winter fuel allowance we already get.
Pretty generous surely?
The poor will get additional help.

Of course some people, especially those who expect the government to subsidise their chosen lifestyle, (umpteen children etc) no additional help will ever be deemed enough.

Sorry sago

I will do that now

If you read the link, the first stage is to get people to pledge to stop direct debits if the government don’t address the issue by 1/10/22.
If enough people pledge hopefully it will make the government and energy companies listen and act.
There may not need to be any further action.

I don't have the balls for this, not paying a bill would give me so much anxiety.

Mostly because we are struggling and not paying the bill will put me in debt because we are going without things and I might think we can have them and not think to put the money aside for later.

My respect to those who do though.

No, I shan't sign up to this. I can't see that it would achieve anything except cause trouble for us, the consumers.
It's not good advice, imho.

FannyCornforth

Baggy but there will be people who literally cannot pay.
We have to stand together

Hi, anyone who cannot pay,and there will lots as there were before the increases were made, should contact their supplier immediately they know they are in difficulty and try to get some kind of financial arrangement in place.

There will be guidelines in place as to how long the suppliers have to process requests and if they do not adhere to these then they can be reported to their governing bodies and ultimately fined if they are found to be breaching the terms of their agreements. I hope they are recruiting for additional staff right now to deal with the increased volumes.

However the outcome could be that they will insist that a pre payment meter is installed, unless of course the arrears are repaid immediately. This might be of some assistance to some people despite some inconvenience. It's more convenient than having your fuel supply disconnected.

No, we will make sure we have warmth and enough to eat. Anything else other than utilities , if we cannot afford them tough.

I dont want my credit rating messed up or to pay more. Sorry wont be standing with anyone on this.

Oh I see. Thank you Chewbaccer.

maddyone the £400 that's being paid to every household is the Cost of Living Energy Payment. It will be paid directly to your energy provider in instalments of:

£66.00 in October
£66.00 in November
£67.00 in December
£67.00 in January 2023
£67.00 in February 2023
£67.00 in March 2023

This is in addition to the Winter Fuel Allowance that's paid to everyone in receipt of State Retirement Pension, as detailed in the above table.

No certainly not. I'm hoping the financial help will be enough.

It's my AC I'm more concerned about.

Chewbaccer is the one off payment only for certain pensioners? Those on pension credit? We normally get the usual £200 for our household, I don’t think (normally) we’d qualify for any more help. Quite rightly as we’re not on any benefits, other than the charmingly called old age pension.

I know it’s all one off payments, at this stage anyway.

Does that include the £400 payment to every household? I can’t see that it does as then it would decrease the winter fuel payment? Effectively.
I’m a bear of very little brain I’m afraid.

You’ll only get this extra amount in winter 2022 to 2023 Shinamae, it will, presumably, return to £200 next year. And don't forget that you can apply for the Warm Home Discount too. Last year that was £140 and is paid directly to your energy provider.

Goodness, the winter fuel payment is more than I thought.

Chewbacca

Shinamae this us from YouGov website:

Any money you get is tax-free and will not affect your other benefits.

Born between 26 September 1942 and 25 September 1956

You qualify and live alone (or none of the people you live with qualify)£500
You qualify and live with someone under 80 who also qualifies £250
You qualify and live with someone 80 or over who also qualifies£250
You qualify, live in a care home and do not get certain benefits£250

JBorn on or before 25 September 1942*

You qualify and live alone (or none of the people you live with qualify)£600
You qualify and live with someone under 80 who also qualifies£350
You qualify and live with someone 80 or over who also qualifies£300
^You qualify, live in a care home and do not get certain benefits£300^

So it is an extra £300 on top of the £200? Thank you very much for that ??

Sorry posted too soon
Should have said if you are over 80 you will get £600 for this year only.

www.gov.uk/winter-fuel-payment/how-much-youll-get

If you usually get £200 fuel payment you will get £500 for this year only, if you usually get £300 if you are over 809, you will get £600 for this y

Have you all forgotten the money you're being given? Most of us won’t be paying for it, just receiving it. Those younger than us will be paying for it through their taxes. I still pay tax so I will be paying, but others will pay much more. How much more do you want to load on to younger people to pay?

Shinamae this us from YouGov website:

Any money you get is tax-free and will not affect your other benefits.

Born between 26 September 1942 and 25 September 1956

You qualify and live alone (or none of the people you live with qualify)£500
You qualify and live with someone under 80 who also qualifies £250
You qualify and live with someone 80 or over who also qualifies£250
You qualify, live in a care home and do not get certain benefits£250

JBorn on or before 25 September 1942*

You qualify and live alone (or none of the people you live with qualify)£600
You qualify and live with someone under 80 who also qualifies£350
You qualify and live with someone 80 or over who also qualifies£300
You qualify, live in a care home and do not get certain benefits£300

Glorianny

If you cancel your DD and don't pay the energy company is entirely within its rights to insist you have a pay meter installed. Provision through one of these automatically costs more. The energy companies have been dealing with people who haven't paid their bills for a long time and they know what to do/

So basically we’re screwed if we do and we’re screwed if we don’t. ?‍♀️