Energy bills campaigners have dubbed Chancellor Jeremy Hunt's autumn statement as a “death sentence”, criticising the lack of support for millions of families who are struggling to pay their bills.
Don't Pay UK, which is calling on people to stop paying their energy bills on December 1, hit out at the measures announced last Thursday, including a hike in average fuel costs to £3,000 a year from £2,500 and the withdrawal of the across-the-board £400 rebate next winter.
But the grassroots campaign criticised the absence of support for the millions struggling to pay their energy bills today, and noted a further energy price rise in April will only add fuel to the fire of its mass non-payment strike, which nearly 257,000 people have already pledged to join.
Read more: What is Don't Pay UK campaign and what will happen if you cancel your direct debit?
Don't Pay organiser Naomi Smith said: “It’s a death sentence this winter. Jeremy Hunt just confirmed he’ll ignore the millions already who can’t pay and thousands who’ll freeze in cold homes.
"Latest Ofgem data revealed that two million households were already behind on energy bills as of the end of June 2022 – before prices rose again in October 2022. Citizens Advice project that almost half a million will be forced onto prepayment by the end of the year – while also reporting record numbers of people ‘self-disconnecting’ – meaning they can’t top-up their pay-as-you-go meters and heating and electricity cut off. Another price hike on energy bills in April is impossible, because it’s impossible now. Millions of people are already not paying."
Don't Pay UK started in June, and said it would only take action if one million people signed up to the mass non-payment of energy bills by October 1 and the Government failed to “adequately address the crisis". According to Don't Pay UK's Twitter account, "It's a simple idea: We demand the Government scrap the energy price rises and deliver affordable energy for all. We will build a million pledges and by October 1 if the Government and energy companies fail to act we will cancel our direct debits." Its website goes into more detail, saying: "Even if a fraction of those of us who are paying by direct debit stop our payments, it will be enough to put energy companies in serious trouble, and they know this. We want to bring them to the table and force them to end this crisis."
Despite the momentum building for the movement, it did not receive the required amount of pledges for an October 1 'bills strike' and has now called for a mass non-payment of energy bills commencing on 1 December, saying "millions are expected to participate in a coordinated mass non-payment of energy bills in protest against extortionate prices and rampant energy company profiteering."
The campaign is demanding an immediate reversal of energy price to its pre-April 2021 price cap level; an end to all enforcement of pre-payment meters; and a social energy tariff to ensure everyone has access to energy – and that no one goes cold this winter.
One man who signed up for the Don't Pay UK October 1 strike plan was Matthew Taylor, of High Heaton, Newcastle. Matthew, 39, who lives with his partner and two young children, said: "I'm not interested in complaining about me and my struggles, but speaking up for others in need. I volunteer in local community groups, and decided to get involved with Don't Pay UK after getting to know other people in our community and hearing their stories and struggles.
"I know of a single mum who is having to skip meals after spending all her money on gas and electric and children's uniforms. She's had to rehome her beloved family dog because they can no longer afford to keep her. We have people living on our street surviving on pay slip to pay slip on zero hour contracts, who, if they are sick and can't work, don't get paid. I have worked in India and Ghana and these are similar cases of poverty I saw there. If things don't change, more children will go hungry this winter. I've noticed that school meals are smaller portions than they were a year ago and some children go without food in the evenings. I know of others I have worked with who feel exactly the same and are also planning to cancel their direct debits."
But charities have warned that not paying energy bills could lead to serious consequences. Newcastle Citizen's Advice advised families to get advice if they are struggling to pay energy bills, but warned that "the Government must be ready to act again due to huge financial pressures that will come into play this winter".
"The Government’s £400 energy rebate is hugely welcome and will put money back in people’s accounts, but we have to ask if it’s going to match up to the scale of the hikes people are going to see. In particular, we’re worried about people falling into debt and being moved to a prepayment meter, or seeing more people on prepayment meters who simply can’t afford to top up, the spokesperson said.
"We hear from people every single day facing desperate choices because they’re struggling to pay their bills," she said. "We’d always encourage people as a first port of call to contact their energy supplier because they have to help you come to a solution.
"If you cancel your direct debit, you might be charged a fee. Check your supplier’s website to find out what this might be. It’s also likely that if you move from direct debit to a different payment method you will end up paying more, as direct debit is often the cheapest option. When you build up arrears to your energy supplier they can take action like moving you onto a prepayment meter or, in rare cases, they could disconnect you. Fuel debts are priority debts. Priority debts are those that carry the most serious consequences if you don’t pay them."
But a Don't Pay UK spokesperson said: "We’ve had enough of unelected politicians and profiteering energy companies failing to act in our interests, so we’re fighting back. December 1, we strike together. Don’t Pay is calling for people across the country to fight back against the profiteering fuelling both the cost of living crisis and the climate crisis and to strike for a transformed energy sector and better future."
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