📨 Have you signed up to the Forum's new Email Digest yet? Get a selection of trending threads sent straight to your inbox daily, weekly or monthly!

MSE News: Energy firms ordered to do more to help those in debt

MSE_Andrew
MSE_Andrew Posts: 174 MSE Staff
Eighth Anniversary 10 Posts Photogenic I've been Money Tipped!
in Energy
Energy regulator Ofgem has called on suppliers to do more to help those who fall behind on payments...
Read the full story:
'Energy firms ordered to do more to help those in debt'
OfficialStamp.gif
Click reply below to discuss. If you haven’t already, join the forum to reply.

Comments

  • joe134
    joe134 Posts: 3,336 Forumite
    MSE_Andrew wrote: »
    Energy regulator Ofgem has called on suppliers to do more to help those who fall behind on payments...
    Read the full story:
    'Energy firms ordered to do more to help those in debt'
    OfficialStamp.gif
    Click reply below to discuss. If you haven’t already, join the forum to reply.
    That will mean higher prices for those that don,t.
  • Ectophile
    Ectophile Posts: 8,023 Forumite
    Part of the Furniture 1,000 Posts Photogenic Name Dropper
    joe134 wrote: »
    That will mean higher prices for those that don,t.

    In what way?

    How can spotting problem debts early and putting measures into place to repay them drive up prices for anyone else?
    If it sticks, force it.
    If it breaks, well it wasn't working right anyway.
  • matelodave
    matelodave Posts: 9,101 Forumite
    Part of the Furniture 1,000 Posts Name Dropper Photogenic
    Ectophile wrote: »
    In what way?

    How can spotting problem debts early and putting measures into place to repay them drive up prices for anyone else?

    As energy firms will not be allowed to disconnect them, who pays for their energy if they wont and they are still allowed to keep using it which just increases the debt.

    Pre-pay or smart meters have to be the answer - once a debt is accrued then the smart meter gets switched to pre-pay until the debt is paid off.
    Never under estimate the power of stupid people in large numbers
  • welshmoneylover
    welshmoneylover Posts: 3,324 Forumite
    Part of the Furniture 1,000 Posts Combo Breaker
    People get into debt as they don't prioritise essentials bills and would rather spend their income on things they can't afford like Sky, etc
    Be happy, it's the greatest wealth :)
  • fatbelly
    fatbelly Posts: 23,073 Forumite
    Part of the Furniture 10,000 Posts Name Dropper Cashback Cashier
    Ofgem said five suppliers - Ecotricity, First Utility, iSupplyEnergy, Npower and Utility Warehouse - let customers build up significantly more debt before putting them on a repayment plan, compared to the rest of the market.

    For the first three, this is probably just incompetence due to underfunding of customer service.

    Npower should not be in this list -they have a charitable trust

    http://www.npowerenergyfund.com/

    so they should really take a look at themselves.

    As for UW this is no surprise and I hope they get fined
  • fatbelly
    fatbelly Posts: 23,073 Forumite
    Part of the Furniture 10,000 Posts Name Dropper Cashback Cashier
    welshmoneylover wrote: »
    People get into debt as they don't prioritise essentials bills and would rather spend their income on things they can't afford like Sky, etc

    People get into debt because their income is too low. Sky etc has long gone before there is no money even for electricity.
  • joe134
    joe134 Posts: 3,336 Forumite
    Ectophile wrote: »
    In what way?

    How can spotting problem debts early and putting measures into place to repay them drive up prices for anyone else?
    It,s the people in debt, that want to spot it early, and deal with it, not just put the letters in thr drawer!
    Seen it all too often.
    There are genuine cases, but most are just !!!!less.
  • brewerdave
    brewerdave Posts: 8,754 Forumite
    Part of the Furniture 1,000 Posts Name Dropper
    fatbelly wrote: »
    People get into debt because their income is too low. Sky etc has long gone before there is no money even for electricity.

    .....not so; I know of a case recently, of a person being taken to Court for non payment of Council tax, who openly boasted of upgrading to Sky Q:mad::mad:
  • Caddyman
    Caddyman Posts: 342 Forumite
    Tenth Anniversary 100 Posts Combo Breaker
    In the last 12 months, I've first hand witnessed two households in my own street where the energy company has forced entry with a warrant to change meters to pre-payment meters because the householders clearly were unable or unwilling to pay their energy bills. Therefore some energy companies are taking suitable action to protect themselves and other customers from having to pay for those who are seemingly unable or unwilling to prioritise their finances.
This discussion has been closed.
★ ★ ★ Meet your Ambassadors

🚀 Getting Started

Hi new member!

Our Getting Started Guide will help you get the most out of the Forum

Categories

  • All Categories
  • 351.4K Banking & Borrowing
  • 253.3K Reduce Debt & Boost Income
  • 453.8K Spending & Discounts
  • 244.4K Work, Benefits & Business
  • 599.7K Mortgages, Homes & Bills
  • 177.2K Life & Family
  • 258K Travel & Transport
  • 1.5M Hobbies & Leisure
  • 16.2K Discuss & Feedback
  • 37.6K Read-Only Boards

Is this how you want to be seen?

We see you are using a default avatar. It takes only a few seconds to pick a picture.
Update Your Picture