Energy Bills Going up to Pay for Bad Debts?
In the News
www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-67725424
Seems very unfair to me that this gets put on people that have kept their payments up to date and perhaps have minimised their heating to stay in budget.
You don't teach people to work to their budget by wiping out their debts at the expense of others. Now many people will start thinking why keep in budget if my debts will be written off at the expense of others.
These sort of actions can only increase the problem.
I don't trust energy companies one bit B
Any excuse to put up charges
It's the same with the water companies, going cap in hand to its customers as they need to charge more to update their network of pipes etc , all this while pumping untreated sewerage into rivers and seas
Sometimes it's not easy to budget when you have little to live on as it is I've got debt for my gas it will probably take me years to pay it off but I'm still paying it
We are all getting ripped off left right and centre. This country Is a joke. Everyone of us are suffering but the big corporations are not. Why should we pay for other peoples debts? We just shouldn't.
Emerge11 Maybe this extra amount is just to pay for the interest on the debts which customers are slow to repay but again getting an interest free loan at the expense of others is not fair either.
I'm of the generation that if you can't afford something you can't afford it. Most of the cars I've bought have been secondhand and the one car I bought new is coming up to 10 years of ownership. Really the only interest I pay is on my mortgage. If you can't afford to heat your home then you can't afford it its as simple as that.
Let's be honest we all know it's not because of debt there going up there's always some reason for them to go up they just needed another excuse to do it so let's blame the ones who are struggling again
Just another excuse to fleece us for more money, it will get to the point soon we're energy is unaffordable, we are are nearly getting to that point already
I study medieval history and as far as I am concerned nothing has changed. We may all have a better standard of living but the disparity between rich and poor is exactly the same even after centuries of struggle
This is the problem, the big companies shouldn’t be able to just pass on their losses to the customers but it seems that’s exactly what’s happening.
I have paid my bill but why should I pay someone else's without my permission?!? Should I want to help out with it I will but not be forced to do so, I think that is totally unacceptable.
I think everyone should pay the bill they are due but I think it should be the suppliers to set the cost to a respectable level first and not be obscenely priced so people can't actually afford to pay.
Should the suppliers not get paid enough to cover the bills then that should be on them to sort and not through everyone else.
So if I'm now forced to pay towards someone else's bill then it may well make it unaffordable for me to pay mine, who then is going to pay that?
You may have gathered it's something I think is ridiculous and should not happen, I do feel for those that can't genuinely afford it but forcing it on to others (again not blaming them) is not the right or fair way to do it. Energy firms should find a better way and set a reasonable cost.
And breathe.. sorry
ch7leach I guess the energy companies have stated that it will be very difficult to get money out of some people and all they can really do is cut off services. I think some people have been forced on to prepayment meters but still have huge outstanding debts. In that news report I think it stated that the people on prepayment meters wouldn't face this increase in energy costs. So those people who built up the outstanding debt don't have to pay towards them. I do understand that prepayment meters are typically a more expensive way of paying for gas and electricity because of the extra equipment and payments so they are still paying more but this will mean they are being slightly subsidised in relation to the real cost.
Perhaps more people need to request pre-payment meters if they are struggling. This helps give them a real understanding of costs for energy.
I'm suffering from the flu at the moment and its the first time I've put on any sort of heating on this year. Yes I am down in the south west and realise typically temperatures aren't as low as Scotland etc but I typically wear more clothes and perfectly comfortable without heating on. However I realise its January and February which are real low temperature months where my bills normally go up quite a bit.
Join for free to get genuine deals, money saving advice and help from our friendly community
Chief Bargain Hunter
