Can't Pay , Won't PayUpdate 31/08/2022
- Allan Sharpe
- Aug 9, 2022
- 7 min read
Updated: Aug 31, 2022
Update 26/08/2022
Today 60% of your electricity is generated by Gas Turbines. Not Russian Gas. Gas Centrica sources include a sea tanker from Australia, the rest piped from Europe and drilled in the North Sea . BUT the price of gas is governed by World Price Markets and scarcity because of Russian sanctions and limiting supplies.
Ofgem say the energy companies have to offer you an affordable repayment plan.
Well an 80% hike, is difficult to afford, without cutting back on other items in the household budget, plus 10 to 15% inflation, plus interest rate rises, etc.
So cancel your direct debits to prevent money being taken out of your bank account. Contact the Energy Companies and say you cannot afford an 80% price rise , then follow the advice on the website. Remember most people are in your situation except the rich 1%. Remember also who got you into this crisis.
It is ridiculous generating most of the Electricity by Gas. It demonstrates a government that is not in control, has no foresight no investment, no strategy and just sold off the energy control to the highest foreign bidder. If your electricity was provided by renewable sources, you could go all electric because it would be cheaper. There are government payments but they do not add up to the £1,500 increase, with more to come in another 3 months and thereafter.
So far the government has promised a £15bn package of support for UK households. This includes two payments totalling £650 for eight million low-income households on benefits and a £400 grant for all homes. Many people have not received payments.
A typical annual bill is currently £1,971. New forecasts suggest that could peak at well over £6,000 a year next year, heaping pressure on a new prime minister to give urgent extra support for those struggling or unable to pay.
Prepayment meter customers, often among the most vulnerable consumers, will pay an extra £59 a year on their bill from October, taking the new typical bill on a prepayment meter to £3608. https://www.bbc.com/news/business-62674301
UK most expensive 4 energy 57% bills increase so far
https://news.sky.com/video/share-12670078?fbclid=IwAR3qZ4xsIpP0Ad6jiKHMX2Nn04Lb6XMcOitMn2iw6zRsiH9V1fShCY5HLMI
Many Families in Britain face fuel poverty already and the situation will get worse this autumn and winter. Here is some advice...............................
A1. Gas and electricity arrears If you're in arrears with your gas or electricity.
It's important to try and sort out the problem straight away. If you don't pay your gas and electricity (fuel) debts, you risk being cut off. Because you risk being cut off, you should deal with fuel arrears before other, less important debts like credit card or catalogue debts, overdrafts, loans or money borrowed from family and friends. If you have other debts as well as fuel arrears, you should try and sort out all of them. You should get advice to do this from an experienced debt adviser. Ways to pay off your arrears If you're having difficulty paying your electricity or gas, contact your fuel supplier straight away and come to an agreement about how to pay off the arrears. A fuel supplier must follow standard licence conditions, which set out how it deals with customers who have problems paying. This means that you should be offered an arrangement to pay off the arrears at a rate you can afford. The supplier must offer you the method of payment which is the most suitable for your personal and financial circumstances. They must take into account your ability to pay. If the fuel company insists that you pay back more than you can afford, it may be going against its licence conditions. Work out how much you can afford to pay. To do this, you'll need to draw up a budget, listing all the income and outgoings of your household. You can use the Budget sheet to help you do this (see below). Don't agree to pay an amount you can't afford. If you make an arrangement you can't keep to, you may be forced to accept a prepayment meter instead. Short term arrangements If you haven't had any problems paying your fuel bills before, or if your financial problems are likely to be temporary, you may be offered a short-term arrangement. This means that you'll be allowed to pay your bill in instalments as long as the outstanding bill is paid before the next one arrives. However, you shouldn't be expected to pay off your arrears in this way if you can't afford to. A2. Do not refuse to pay, you could be cut off. Instead be more savvy.
Can't Pay Won't Pay
Don't Pay will get you into trouble. This is NOT don't pay this is I am complaining about my bill. The end product is you won't pay at least until you have breathing space. DO NOT refuse to pay your energy bill in October. Below is how you can make a stand and hurt your energy supplier without getting into debt/damaging your credit rating:
1. Cancel your DD . Await the bill.
2. You then need to write a letter of complaint to your energy supplier. You query the bill. Once that complaint had been raised, your energy supplier can't take any debt collection work on your account, so they can't pass your details to the credit reference agencies etc. That bill gets put on hold whilst they try to resolve your complaint.
The energy company might offer you a small reduction - DON'T accept it. Keep the complaint open & hold strong. Do not let them close the complaint.
3. Eventually, they will send you a letter of 'Deadlock'. A letter of Deadlock is a letter that is sent to you from your energy company saying they gone as far as they can with your complaint & can't go any further, so your only option now is they refer it to the Energy Ombudsman.
For every complaint the Ombudsman receives, they charge your energy supplier £500 for every claim they have to investigate.
4. The energy companies also have limitations on how many complaints they're allowed open as well as a turnaround time of how fast they have to respond to a complaint & get a complaint closed. If they don't respond to them fast enough & don't resolve the complaints or they have too many complaints open, the energy firm will also get hit with a fine from the Ombudsman.
This is how your hurt an energy company. This will also put them in breach of their licensing conditions & put their ability to trade at risk.
So if you want to fight these extortionate price hikes
1. Raise complaint
2. Do NOT close it.
3. Get referred to the Ombudsman by the supplier
You can also submit a “subject access request” at the same time as the above. This means the energy company has a legal obligation to provide you with every piece of information they have on you; including telephone conversation transcripts, past bills, everything! This is time consuming for them to collect and is a huge hassle for them however they legally have only one month to comply. A3 People on Prepayment meters can ask for a credit meter instead, they are not so expensive. Can you remove a prepayment meter?
If you don't want to be on prepayment anymore, your supplier must remove your old-style prepayment meter and give you an old-style credit meter or smart meter instead. If you'd prefer to stay on prepayment, your supplier must reset your meter so you're not paying too much.
A4. Videos and articles, more advice:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NBT4LfJi0BY
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hcV0-RRthV8&t=142s
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rrN6AFOuDpY
Edit Addendum
OK everyone, Mr Duracell here once again at your service!!!
Some people have asked for a template letter of complaint. Remember I am not a fan of Don't Pay, because that will get you into trouble. My advice is more subtle and devious.
1st you have to cancel any direct debits asap. Then when you get the bill:
Dear Energy Provider Name of Company. Account Number.
I refer to the bill you sent me for gas / electricity dated ........
I wish to query the amount charged.
I am appalled at the amount you are now charging me , namely £....
I am prudent in my use of energy and I cannot understand why it is so much.
Is my meter defective, has one or more of my appliances gone wrong and consuming too much ?
Please check my bill and send someone to read my meter and check for defects.
It may be I need another cheaper option payment plan.
Thank You.
sent by post and email, copy retained
Remember this is a complaint, not a refusal, and you do not agree to anything, Eventually you will be referred to the Energy Ombudsman.
It is not a solution, does not pretend to be, it is a sticking plaster, stalling for time in the hope the Govt actually sees sense and does something. So Good Luck.
Some clever dicks say they will stop paying, not interested in writing letters. Up to them, credit ratings, cut off, bailiffs, up to them.
My advice is based on crashing the system the Govt created when they privatised energy and created OfGem and the Ombudsman to police the private companies. The Govt system has failed. By your complaints log jamming the system, the Govt will be forced to do something, even though they are Pontius Pilot at best.
At the last count 342,000 people saw my original advice, which has not changed. So to those that are negative terminals, I would suggest out of 342,000 there will be enough positive terminals to crash the system. I do know British Gas email server has already crashed, hence the advice to send letters as well as emails. And the Post Men are on strike soon, so keep a copy of your complaint.
Once Again Good Luck. Together you can make a stand, make a difference.
If you fight , you may not always win. If you don't fight, you cannot win.
Allan Sharpe
https://www.bbc.com/news/business-62483770 The situation with energy bills is "a national crisis" on the scale of the Covid pandemic, Martin Lewis has said.
The consumer expert told the BBC support needed to double to make up for the huge expected rise in bills.
The government said it had "continually taken action to help households".
It comes as a survey by comparison site Uswitch suggested many people are already behind on energy bill payments with total debt owed three times higher than in September last year.
Almost a quarter of households owe £206 on average, according to the survey of 2,000 people.
Uswitch advised people falling into debt to speak to their provider to work out a more affordable payment plan.
The figures come a day after consultancy Cornwall Insight warned energy bills could rise much higher than previously thought in October.
Cornwall also expects bills to increase much more sharply in January, with the average household paying £355 a month, instead of the current £164 a month.
Households are already lumbered with a record £1.3billion of energy debt
Research published today by the price comparison website Uswitch reveals the amount customers owe to energy suppliers is nearly three times higher than it was last September.
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