> The Rev Mo Budd, a Church of England curate, would not consider herself an activist or political campaigner.
> Yet last week, the 35-year-old became one of 75,000 people who have signed up to Don’t Pay UK, a civil disobedience movement that is encouraging people to cancel their energy bill direct debits.
> It hopes to recruit one million members by October, if the government and energy suppliers do not intervene to reduce costs.
> The movement started six weeks ago and 21,000 people have pledged to be organisers — campaigning and leafleting across the country.
> “Members of the Church of England are not traditionally known for taking a direct-action approach to political or social crises,” said Budd, who works in south London.
> “You’re more likely to find us in our local communities, volunteering at the food bank or the night shelter. However, the scale of the cost of living crisis demands a different response.”
> She will post packages of stickers and leaflets next week in support of a campaign the government has called “irresponsible”.
> Solicitors have warned that people could find themselves forced to install pre-payment meters by suppliers or with a county court judgement (CCJ) and a poor credit rating if they do not pay their bills.
> Many are undeterred.
> Budd said: “None of us want to break the law or get into trouble with our energy providers. But if we do nothing, vast numbers of people will have no choice but to default on their energy bills because they simply cannot pay them. As a person of faith, it is my duty to act in solidarity with the most vulnerable in my community.”
> The Bank of England warned last week that it expected energy bills to be capped at £3,500 a year by Ofgem from October, up from about £1,971.
> Customers then face a second price rise in January after Ofgem said that the price cap would be reviewed every three months rather than six months as previously.
> Citizens Advice said they were seeing “staggering numbers” of people already struggling to cope with their energy bills and parents forced to choose between giving their children a cooked meal or a hot bath.
> Don’t Pay UK was first mooted by a group of friends. It quickly caught on and now has local groups in 78 locations in the UK who are taking the campaign door to door.
> It aims to have several hundred groups — connected via WhatsApp — up and running by September to build the pledge to strike.
> People will be asked to cancel their direct debits only if it builds a “critical mass” of one million people, on the basis that there is safety in numbers, the group says.
> The founding members wish to remain anonymous, saying it should be a grassroots movement with no leader or hierarchy.
> This stance has inevitably prompted theories online that political, environmental or socialist campaigners are behind the movement. Don’t Pay UK insists they are not.
> Asked about concerns from supporters that they may damage their credit rating and be disconnected, a spokesman said: “The reality of the situation is that millions of people will face these [consequences] anyway if we don’t take this action and they’ll have to face them on their own.
> “We hope that before we get to a stage of mass non-payment, real action is taken to scrap the hike.”
> Solicitors warn that it would be relatively easy for energy firms to pursue unpaid debts, however.
> Lauren Day, a partner at Ellis Day Solicitors, said: “If you don’t pay your utility bills, then energy suppliers can issue a claim at court for a CCJ and, realistically, they would be successful.
> “A CCJ goes on your credit record, and causes havoc with your ability to raise future finance.”
> Suppliers are also allowed to move indebted customers on to a pre-payment meter. They can even get a warrant to enter homes to install it, although Ofgem says that should be a last resort after a repayment plan has been offered.
> Energy companies have remained quiet over what action they will take if people default en masse.
> Energy UK, a trade association which represents energy suppliers, admitted the Don’t Pay UK movement reflects the fact that people are “really, really worried”. It said estimates of how many people will be unable to pay their bills in October were “genuinely quite scary”.
> National Energy Action predicts that 8.4 million UK households will be in fuel poverty from October, meaning one in three households will not be able to afford to live in a warm, dry, safe house.
> Citizens Advice said that in the first half of this year 116,000 people sought support over energy bills, more than during the whole of 2019 or 2020.
> Dhara Vyas, a director at Energy UK, said: “With the Don’t Pay campaign, while I might disagree with the method they’re choosing, we can’t disagree with the premise that bills are obviously incredibly high.”
> Energy suppliers are keen to distance themselves from oil companies who have posted bumper profits in recent weeks.
> “Suppliers have been investing hundreds of millions of pounds in additional [hardship] funding. But there is a limit to what they can do in the face of big price rises,” she said.
> “If you are struggling, contact your energy supplier, as there is a lot they can do to help support you including working out the most appropriate repayment plan.“
> The Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy (BEIS) said Don’t Pay was “irresponsible” but that customer debt was a matter for suppliers.
> “While no government can control global gas prices, we are providing £37 billion of help for households including the £400 discount on energy bills, and £1,200 of direct support for the most vulnerable households to help with the cost of living,” a spokesman for BEIS said.
>“While no government can control global gas prices”
Sure, but governments can control local prices and ensure that any locally produced gas or oil for the UK is supplied at a base cost without profit.
Can someone please explain to these morons that some of those in most need don’t have the option to not pay their energy bill. As this vicar will soon find out when she has a pre-pay meter put in.
They are also targeting the wrong companies as the businesses they are paying are not in control of the charges because of the price cap. It’s why so many went tits up.
I’ve worked around all these energy companies, up stream to customer and understand it’s not necessarily the energy providers fault who are selling to the customer. But WHAT OTHER OPTIONS ARE THERE? Vote? That doesn’t work. Protest, not allowed to do that anymore. Not buy it, that’s not an option. So someone, instead of rubbishing this idea constantly and saying.. ‘ohh you’ll get a meter put in the second you don’t ‘, also rubbish by the way. Offer another solution? Do it.. offer another solution right now. If you can’t.. then your part of the problem. Also yes I have poor spelling and grammar, thank you for noticing. I do it just for you.. yes you!
I’m all for effective action but the positive slant this is getting from right wing press is very sinister indeed.
And yet you have charities warning people against it, because they know how much damage this could do to you and your families if you refuse to pay.
If the energy companies wanted to control the narrative in winter they may well be inclined to start this ‘movement’ so they can claim they’re victims of an orchestrated attack on their businesses, rather than just vendors of an unaffordable supply. This would also work well for a government who has no interest in helping its citizens.
None of those people will be on the hook when you get taken to court for not paying your bills.
Are any of them qualified to offer financial or legal advice?
9 comments
[Paywall bypass version of this article at archive.ph](https://archive.ph/oCu2o)
Article text follows:
> The Rev Mo Budd, a Church of England curate, would not consider herself an activist or political campaigner.
> Yet last week, the 35-year-old became one of 75,000 people who have signed up to Don’t Pay UK, a civil disobedience movement that is encouraging people to cancel their energy bill direct debits.
> It hopes to recruit one million members by October, if the government and energy suppliers do not intervene to reduce costs.
> The movement started six weeks ago and 21,000 people have pledged to be organisers — campaigning and leafleting across the country.
> “Members of the Church of England are not traditionally known for taking a direct-action approach to political or social crises,” said Budd, who works in south London.
> “You’re more likely to find us in our local communities, volunteering at the food bank or the night shelter. However, the scale of the cost of living crisis demands a different response.”
> She will post packages of stickers and leaflets next week in support of a campaign the government has called “irresponsible”.
> Solicitors have warned that people could find themselves forced to install pre-payment meters by suppliers or with a county court judgement (CCJ) and a poor credit rating if they do not pay their bills.
> Many are undeterred.
> Budd said: “None of us want to break the law or get into trouble with our energy providers. But if we do nothing, vast numbers of people will have no choice but to default on their energy bills because they simply cannot pay them. As a person of faith, it is my duty to act in solidarity with the most vulnerable in my community.”
> The Bank of England warned last week that it expected energy bills to be capped at £3,500 a year by Ofgem from October, up from about £1,971.
> Customers then face a second price rise in January after Ofgem said that the price cap would be reviewed every three months rather than six months as previously.
> Citizens Advice said they were seeing “staggering numbers” of people already struggling to cope with their energy bills and parents forced to choose between giving their children a cooked meal or a hot bath.
> Don’t Pay UK was first mooted by a group of friends. It quickly caught on and now has local groups in 78 locations in the UK who are taking the campaign door to door.
> It aims to have several hundred groups — connected via WhatsApp — up and running by September to build the pledge to strike.
> People will be asked to cancel their direct debits only if it builds a “critical mass” of one million people, on the basis that there is safety in numbers, the group says.
> The founding members wish to remain anonymous, saying it should be a grassroots movement with no leader or hierarchy.
> This stance has inevitably prompted theories online that political, environmental or socialist campaigners are behind the movement. Don’t Pay UK insists they are not.
> Asked about concerns from supporters that they may damage their credit rating and be disconnected, a spokesman said: “The reality of the situation is that millions of people will face these [consequences] anyway if we don’t take this action and they’ll have to face them on their own.
> “We hope that before we get to a stage of mass non-payment, real action is taken to scrap the hike.”
> Solicitors warn that it would be relatively easy for energy firms to pursue unpaid debts, however.
> Lauren Day, a partner at Ellis Day Solicitors, said: “If you don’t pay your utility bills, then energy suppliers can issue a claim at court for a CCJ and, realistically, they would be successful.
> “A CCJ goes on your credit record, and causes havoc with your ability to raise future finance.”
> Suppliers are also allowed to move indebted customers on to a pre-payment meter. They can even get a warrant to enter homes to install it, although Ofgem says that should be a last resort after a repayment plan has been offered.
> Energy companies have remained quiet over what action they will take if people default en masse.
> Energy UK, a trade association which represents energy suppliers, admitted the Don’t Pay UK movement reflects the fact that people are “really, really worried”. It said estimates of how many people will be unable to pay their bills in October were “genuinely quite scary”.
> National Energy Action predicts that 8.4 million UK households will be in fuel poverty from October, meaning one in three households will not be able to afford to live in a warm, dry, safe house.
> Citizens Advice said that in the first half of this year 116,000 people sought support over energy bills, more than during the whole of 2019 or 2020.
> Dhara Vyas, a director at Energy UK, said: “With the Don’t Pay campaign, while I might disagree with the method they’re choosing, we can’t disagree with the premise that bills are obviously incredibly high.”
> Energy suppliers are keen to distance themselves from oil companies who have posted bumper profits in recent weeks.
> “Suppliers have been investing hundreds of millions of pounds in additional [hardship] funding. But there is a limit to what they can do in the face of big price rises,” she said.
> “If you are struggling, contact your energy supplier, as there is a lot they can do to help support you including working out the most appropriate repayment plan.“
> The Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy (BEIS) said Don’t Pay was “irresponsible” but that customer debt was a matter for suppliers.
> “While no government can control global gas prices, we are providing £37 billion of help for households including the £400 discount on energy bills, and £1,200 of direct support for the most vulnerable households to help with the cost of living,” a spokesman for BEIS said.
>“While no government can control global gas prices”
Sure, but governments can control local prices and ensure that any locally produced gas or oil for the UK is supplied at a base cost without profit.
Can someone please explain to these morons that some of those in most need don’t have the option to not pay their energy bill. As this vicar will soon find out when she has a pre-pay meter put in.
They are also targeting the wrong companies as the businesses they are paying are not in control of the charges because of the price cap. It’s why so many went tits up.
I’ve worked around all these energy companies, up stream to customer and understand it’s not necessarily the energy providers fault who are selling to the customer. But WHAT OTHER OPTIONS ARE THERE? Vote? That doesn’t work. Protest, not allowed to do that anymore. Not buy it, that’s not an option. So someone, instead of rubbishing this idea constantly and saying.. ‘ohh you’ll get a meter put in the second you don’t ‘, also rubbish by the way. Offer another solution? Do it.. offer another solution right now. If you can’t.. then your part of the problem. Also yes I have poor spelling and grammar, thank you for noticing. I do it just for you.. yes you!
I’m all for effective action but the positive slant this is getting from right wing press is very sinister indeed.
And yet you have charities warning people against it, because they know how much damage this could do to you and your families if you refuse to pay.
If the energy companies wanted to control the narrative in winter they may well be inclined to start this ‘movement’ so they can claim they’re victims of an orchestrated attack on their businesses, rather than just vendors of an unaffordable supply. This would also work well for a government who has no interest in helping its citizens.
None of those people will be on the hook when you get taken to court for not paying your bills.
Are any of them qualified to offer financial or legal advice?