The poor will freeze to death in the UK.

a reply to: AaarghZombies

Any private let i have ever had has come with a direct debit meter or where you can pay monthly/quarterly AaarghZombies.

On about my 8th private let now.

Pre-paid meters/smart meters are more the domain of council/housing association properties which is predominantly where the poor reside.

Also, your landlord is not responsible for any electric bills their tenants' run-up, when you move out, your debt is supposed to move with you.

Hence the reason when you sign a lease for a new property you also phone up the power company to let them know you have moved in and provide them with a meter reading.

This has everything to do with power companies because they are the ones charging people an arm and a leg for their supply.

They are raking in cash whilst poor sods are living off beans on toast, that's if they can afford to turn the toaster on ffs.

It's a horrendous situation and one that our pensioners should never be forced to endure never mind anybody else.

a reply to: AaarghZombies

I lived under communism.

Where?

We literally had free heating,.....

So it wasn't all bad?

..... and in the UK the reason that the poorest pay the most is that they typically live in rented accommodation with pre-paid meters.

And why do they live in rented accomodation?

Which are more expensive than direct debit meters.

Which is a scam, a legal way of charging the most poor and vulnerable in our society more for exactly the same product as those who are more affluent.

This is due to the landlords not wanting to take the risk of people running out on their bills,.....

This is just another money making exercise, another way of seperating and alienating poorer people from the rest of society and increasing their already heightened sense of worthlessness and guilt.
Its is in effect a tax on the poor.

..... and has nothing to do with utility companies making profit or government policy.

Yet the reasons so many people are in rented accomodation is a direct result of government policies.
The reasons so many people are unemployed or on obscenely low incomes is largely due to government policies.
The reasons for the very existence of the utility companies and the prices they charge are a direct result of government policies.

originally posted by: turretless

originally posted by: JAGStorm
a reply to: turretless

The individual can freeze to death, or not. Sometimes it’s about survival even if it goes against your “beliefs.”

I just wanted to draw everyone's attention to the fact that individualism in society can only be practiced where there are no big problems yet.

There is a difference between true collectivism and pooling your resources voluntarily. Collectivism isn't chosen and you're trapped into it whether or not it's what you want. The resources in the pool are yours and you can take them at any time. You decide how long they stay.

Otherwise I take it you never go in with your friends on a pizza because pooling your money and sharing the result is collectivism.

a reply to: ketsuko

It looks like if you are a home owner, or a renter you're a sitting target where you are stuffed by third-party risk. If you have dependents they can turn up the pressure. A Gypsy caravan down a lane to a field seems the better bet now. It should never have come to this. They don't like caravans parked up either. The stress must be debilitating.

a reply to: anonentity

Do you have any experience of "Travellers" sites?

Parked up on someone else's land?

I do. It ain't pretty.

a reply to: anonentity

A Gypsy caravan down a lane to a field seems the better bet now.

The romantacised notion of wandering, itinerant and impoverished Gypsies is a fallacy that is far from the truth I can 100% assure you.
I've never met a truly poor Chore in all my life.

a reply to: Oldcarpy2


I cruised around Australia for a year in a Kombi with a big awning, i could have done it forever. The sites outside the cities are free. Just water and a loo. Aussie and NZ are good I would say you have to pick your country. But I take your point camping in In East Cheam might not be viable. The thing with Australia was you could get work picking fruit but Mabey thats changed. I met many retirees who headed south in the summer and north in the winter and met up with the same group. they had solar panels and gas, and most said they could save money. the fridges were usually gas, and most said a couple of gas cylinders kept them going for six months before a refill was needed. They call them grey surfers. In Nz, the Caravan association owns the land and you can stay in idyllic spots for as long as you like if you are a member. The Government sites are free to them That is the DOC department of conservation sites. Most clubs allow overnight parking, so you can have a few beers and a meal and sleep it off onsite.
There is a large community of people just traveling around in converted school buses. A mate has one with all the bells and whistles. A shower bedroom freezer it costs a fraction of what a house does and does the same function.

a reply to: anonentity

If you want to work in Australia as a British citizen these days, you do indeed need a work visa.

"Work and Holiday visa (subclass 462): Lets UK citizens aged 18 to 30 years old live and work in Australia for up to three years."

Dont know how it works, if at all, should you be over the age of 30.

Sounds like you had fun all the same.

a reply to: AaarghZombies

so you're agreeing with me that it's unsustainable, though will you agree as unsustainable as it is that it's created a similar zombie economy to the late stage victorian economy that didn't work then and doesn't work now, sadly it looks like we've exported that model of faux competition too as China places itself as the Americans did to the Victorians to swoop in and take over.

You only have to see Russia's semi imaginary control of the EU's O&G to see the damage done chasing cheap fossil fuels, not sure the year but it's within the last 15 that vast the majority of EU gas came from the North sea.

maybe zombie is a bit harsh, an addict might be a better expression one hunting the next imaginary hit of cheap fuel, food, homes, labour & energy.. though it all doesn't feel cheap now and is certainly not sensible as our own resources languish in favour of vacuous gov promises to find that next hit..

a reply to: anonentity

Aye shocking that the UK government is allowing energy companies to literally charge some people to death
but this is what to expect when the gov has been cosy in bed with corporate powers for a while
this is the same government that totally care about us as we learned during the pandemic.

No doubt some politicians are making big money from these increased energy bills
as they will likely have lots of shares in the company that operates the UK's energy grid.

so it's within their best interest to keep this going to milk us for as much of our money as possible.
not that they didn't already get enough from the pandemic with all their shares in pharma

originally posted by: Itisnowagain
a reply to: anonentity
All households that pay for their energy, regardless of their income (around 29 million households in England, Scotland and Wales) will benefit from a £400 energy grant.

Didn't know about that! So an automatic £66 discount per month between October-March. Sweet!

Got to ring up about the £150 council tax rebate, the online form ain't accepting my account number.

I've already received half of the £650 cost-of-living payment, and I get the second dollop next month.

Happy days, more booze and fags and white lightning!!!

a reply to: Freeborn

not only is what you mention an effective tax on the poor when they cant pay they get referred to debt management and their wages docked etc , and on and on it goes , negative credit ratings , bankruptcy , increasing interest on unpaid debts.
Every corporation wants their piece for you being poor and they keep kicking you when you are down.
the sad thing is this is what the majority of people have voted for repeatedly generation after generation
so I guess the majority of the UK appear to be brainwashed

a reply to: sapien82

You will know when things get serious will be when people start getting organized with regard to food cooperatives. The Government will be useless and counterproductive.

a reply to: anonentity

Oh there are food banks and cooperatives all over the place handing out products and food stuffs to the poor and needy.

Austerity did not just up and vanish coz Sajid Javid said so and the effects of such continue to be felt with no real end in sight.

Don't know if any of you have seen this already, everything Truss is planning to do is to target the poor and turn the nation into a tax haven for the wealthy, there is no compassion, no empathy and certainly very little or in fact no humanity in this woman.

God help Britain if this piece of work becomes it's unelected prime minister.

In 2008 she wanted to scrap winter fuel allowance for pensioners something she called a gimmick and to introduce charges for patients to see there GP as well as cut doctors salaries by ten percent.
www.msn.com... d&ocid=winp2sv1plustaskbarhover

It's a long url so if it does not show just use the quote function to see the whole script and copy and paste it into your browser address bar

a reply to: andy06shake

If a tenant skips out on a bill, do you really think that the utility companies are going to track them down?

No, they're going to go after the landlord because they're an easy target.

Why do you think landlords put in pre-paid meters, they power companies certainly aren't forcing them to do it.

a reply to: LABTECH767
No-knickers Truss as she is known in her own constituency.
Truss/Sunak, does it matter which will become the fall guy for 15 years of Tory mismanagement?

a reply to: teapot

Do tell - I'm all ears!

a reply to: AaarghZombies

If a tenant skips out on a bill, do you really think that the utility companies are going to track them down?

They just sell it to a debt collection agency AaarghZombies and they track them down.

No, they're going to go after the landlord because they're an easy target.

You can't go after someone else, for debt that is not their own, well not where unpaid utility bills are concerned.

It doesn't matter who lived at the address in the past, you cannot be held to account for financial misgivings or debt others have incurred.

Why do you think landlords put in pre-paid meters, they power companies certainly aren't forcing them to do it.

Landlords dont put in meters, that's the electrical and gas company's contractor and whoever owns the supply connected to the flat/house.

Point of fact, if i went to view a private let, and it had a smart meter/prepayment meter, it would put me off renting the property.

Because it is an indicator of the state of the area and accommodations.

Plus even if it did have a pre-payment meter, all that would be required is to phone up the supplier and have it removed.

You cannot force people into a prepayment situation unless the have debt.

Again that's why when you leave a property you are required to take a meter reading and provide it to the supplier and your landlord.

And why you take a meter reading when you move into new accommodations.

Else you are apt not to get your deposit back for a start from the estate agent or landlord who also perform rigorous credit checks where new tenants are concerned to establish if they are good tenants and with a decent credit history.

Chances are if you know landlords with prepayment metered properties they are in very poor areas and they are slum landlords.

originally posted by: baggy7981

Didn't know about that! So an automatic £66 discount per month between October-March. Sweet!

Or as i see it, the energy companies will continue to increase their prices as they know every consumer has an extra £400 for bills during that period

Its the same as when they took 5p per litre off petrol duty the oil companies just increased the price on their end


Is it because MPs and these energy/oil companies are in bed together, it used to be called racketering and done by criminals, apparently this way is legal and doing the public a favour....lol.....lol.....lol, sure we cant see what you are doing, using taxpayer money and giving it back to us (how generous) .......wait a moment ,I now have to pay it to a company which has just raised its prices, sounds more like a reverse tax windfall for these energy/oil companies.

I am sure when there profits are released for this period they will just be breaking even.....wait a moment (again), they have been making record profits, say it aint so

ALL politicians are thiefs, frauds and cheats swilling around in the cesspit of corporate money laundering, turning our tax money into dividends for shareholders




see that 1 pig at the back, that pig says they will be different from all the other pigs and not eat from the trough, history tells us they are lying and yet some people believe them...