Cost of living increases

[southendkid]

it is very frightening and I suspect something will be done by the government although it is the people who fall just over the threshold for any support that I fear may struggle more than they think.

Liz Truss is almost certainly going to be PM and her current plan is woefully insufficient. Her plan is to cut income tax by a couple of percent (which isn't going to do much to help people on low incomes), remove green levies (only responsible for about 7% of the energy cost, so whilst a slight help won't be anywhere near enough) and to increase fracking in "communities that want it" (unlikely to do much in the short term). She's also said she will not be doing any "hand outs" (i.e. she won't be subsidising people's bills).

Maybe the pressure will force her into doing something more drastic but if you're going to struggle to pay your bills this winter I wouldn't assume the government will be there to save you. I know most people in that position don't have any way to save money but if you are low on funds I'd start thinking if there's any way to cut back on spending now rather than later.

 

[blueblueblue]

Liz Truss is almost certainly going to be PM and her current plan is woefully insufficient. Her plan is to cut income tax by a couple of percent (which isn't going to do much to help people on low incomes), remove green levies (only responsible for about 7% of the energy cost, so whilst a slight help won't be anywhere near enough) and to increase fracking in "communities that want it" (unlikely to do much in the short term). She's also said she will not be doing any "hand outs" (i.e. she won't be subsidising people's bills).

Maybe the pressure will force her into doing something more drastic but if you're going to struggle to pay your bills this winter I wouldn't assume the government will be there to save you. I know most people in that position don't have any way to save money but if you are low on funds I'd start thinking if there's any way to cut back on spending now rather than later.

On her head be it, come the winter this Country will be in termoil. Hand outs are exactly what people need.

People will just not pay, it's that simple. You hear the phrase "heat or eat", the logic is to eat and heat (and not pay for the heat).

 

[Massimo Giovanni]

Truss plans are akin to manifesto wish lists, she will rapidly change course when elected.

 

[Yorkshire Blue]

You can almost expect civil unrest. I understand that a lot of action groups have been set up encouraging people not to pay.

As for that £400 off your bill payment, with the 75% increase in September, that's gone straight away, you won't even notice it..

A lot more needs to be done.

Whilst energy companies will struggle to enforce if tens of thousands of people won’t/can’t pay I’m not sure these we’ll meaning action groups are necessarily doing the best thing for those it’s hitting hard. Refusing to pay will wreck people’s credit scores which will have a knock on impact for years to come if people try to remortgage or take out loans.

I expect we’ll end up seeing Poll Tax style riots unless something drastic is done.

 

[Napster]

Truss plans are akin to manifesto wish lists, she will rapidly change course when elected.

Boris might not even be the worst PM this year at this rate

 

[The Big Dady]

I have just cleaned and serviced an old Valor Paraffin Heater I have had in the loft for about 40 years. Still works fine so I will be toasty this winter.

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[blueblueblue]

Whilst energy companies will struggle to enforce if tens of thousands of people won’t/can’t pay I’m not sure these we’ll meaning action groups are necessarily doing the best thing for those it’s hitting hard. Refusing to pay will wreck people’s credit scores which will have a knock on impact for years to come if people try to remortgage or take out loans.

I expect we’ll end up seeing Poll Tax style riots unless something drastic is done.

I thought about that one and you're right, though if people are paying these sort of energy bills, I'm sure other bills won't be paid because they won't be able to afford both. It's a bit of a no win situation and they'll end up with bad credit scores anyway.

I think you're right, expect some serious unrest this winter..

 

[blueblueblue]

I have just cleaned and serviced an old Valor Paraffin Heater I have had in the loft for about 40 years. Still works fine so I will be toasty this winter.

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Do they give off Carbon Monoxide fumes?

 

[Cricko]

Do they give off Carbon Monoxide fumes?

I wouldn't worry about that to much Mrs Big Dady tells me his arse gives off enough gas to heat the country.

 

[Tangled up in Blue]

It's been hovering between £1 - $1.15-19 for several months, crap rate for anyone going out there.
Hopefully it will rise very soon.

Ha! When Grumpy Blue and I went there for 3 months (summer driving job+travel) in 1973 the exchange rate was one pound to 2.40 dollars.As an American colleague said to me back in the 90's , it'll never hit those rates again.He was quite right.

 

[The Big Dady]

Do they give off Carbon Monoxide fumes?

A bit, but I just keep all the windows open.

 

[blueblueblue]

A bit, but I just keep the windows open.

Good shout and maybe disconect your Alarm if you have one. A lot of people will be looking at different ways to heat their homes this winter. Opening up old fire places is another, though that comes with risks if the stack hasn't been cleaned.

 

[The Big Dady]

I have an old open fire back boiler in the Breakfast Room (Chimney swept last year), and we always light that at Christmas and burn logs and smokeless coal on it, it even heats all our hot water.

 

[Billy Bests boot laces]

Ha! When Grumpy Blue and I went there for 3 months (summer driving job+travel) in 1973 the exchange rate was one pound to 2.40 dollars.As an American collegeaue said to me back in the 90's , it'll never hit those rates again.He was quite right.

Best i ever got was $1.80 in 82!. We went 9 years on the trot between 2010-18 & it hovered between $1.60 & $1.68 during those years.
I'm off to NY next week, & fortunately (!) ordered loads of $ before Covid, when i got $1.34 to the £, & i thought that was bad enough then!.

 

[southendkid]

Truss plans are akin to manifesto wish lists, she will rapidly change course when elected.

Whilst that's true usually Manifesto wish lists are "look at all these things we'll do to make your life better" and then those things don't happen, the end result being that the government is a lot worse than they sounded on paper during the campaign.

Truss' campaign on the other hand is "I'm not going to save you, sort it out yourself", she'd have to be  better than she sounds during her campaign, which is a pretty rare thing. I think the only way she changes track is if there's mass unrest (which there may well be come winter).

 

[kaymac]

Petrol price check:
BP Toomeys 158.9p
Jet Rochford 159.7p

 

[hlane17]

Remember it's okay to not pay. But you have to do it the right way via the Energy Ombudsman and file a complaint. https://www.ombudsman-services.org/sectors/energy

 

[hlane17]

On her head be it, come the winter this Country will be in termoil. Hand outs are exactly what people need.

People will just not pay, it's that simple. You hear the phrase "heat or eat", the logic is to eat and heat (and not pay for the heat).

Handouts pour fuel on the fire unfortunately, can't fix inflation with more money especially if the contributing factors lie outside our area of economic influence.

Directly subsidised energy would be a better idea, reducing the cost for the average person heating their home in winter.

It would also reduce the amount of money placed directly in the hand of the consumer where it could push up prices elsewhere once again.

It would be a lot easier to do if we had say... a national energy company? We should never have nationalised a public good, same goes for water etc. France have been able to ride this out somewhat thanks to their national energy company and government taking the hit.

 

[Massimo Giovanni]

Warning! If you are thinking about a wood burner or coal/wood fire then unless you have your chimney swept and adjudged fit for use, annually, by a qualified sweep most house insurance policies will not cover any fire damage.

 

[blueblueblue]

Handouts pour fuel on the fire unfortunately, can't fix inflation with more money especially if the contributing factors lie outside our area of economic influence.

Directly subsidised energy would be a better idea, reducing the cost for the average person heating their home in winter.

It would also reduce the amount of money placed directly in the hand of the consumer where it could push up prices elsewhere once again.

It would be a lot easier to do if we had say... a national energy company? We should never have nationalised a public good, same goes for water etc. France have been able to ride this out somewhat thanks to their national energy company and government taking the hit.

My point really wasn't hand out money left right and centre (though a lot of people need it),. My point was we need more help than what we're getting now. A beast has been created and it's been allowed to go on for too long and is geeting out of control.

I get all your points though, I'm no expert on how the Gov can do more, but £60 a month off your enegy bill won't even touch the sides.