But is it right to pay other peoples bills
Comments
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Only for the ones who never paid in the first place to do it again passing more costs to the ones who do already seems very fair not
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1 million families not paying their gas and electricity seems to indicate that there is a mayor issue going on here.
There has been an increased on people using food banks too:
https://commonslibrary.parliament.uk/research-briefings/cbp-9209/#:~:text=The%20DWP%20published%20statistics%20on,be%20increasing%20household%20food%20insecurity.In the UK,
2.8 million people were in households that used a food bank in 2023/24, representing 4% of the population, with rates of 8% for children and 4% for working-age adults
.
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This is a complex issue.
If people are genuinely struggling for food and energy despite working or getting the benefits they're entitled to, then I'm perfectly content with paying a bit extra on my bills to cover theirs.
But if people are choosing not to pay because of the weak excuse that 'others don't have to' then obviously I'm not happy paying for them.
As with most things in life, some people are in genuine difficulty, others are taking advantage for their own gain.
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I have to wonder how many of these people could save money on there tv packages mobile phone subscriptions for there kids the list of savings that people take for granted is endless food banks should be for the needy not the greedy
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I want all in need to receive support, but there does seem to be a sense of entitlement nowadays.
My bills get paid, then I see about living on the remainder.
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I guess more people in the last few years are currently choosing to keep their mobile contracts and tv plans at all costs.
- Rough sleeping in England rose by 20% in a year to 4,667 people in Autumn 2024. This figure is up 164% since 2010.
- Temporary accommodation is at a record high:The number of households in temporary accommodation in England reached a record 131,140 in March 2025, up 12% from a year ago.
- Child homelessness is rising:The number of children living in temporary accommodation has reached a record 169,050, and 11,540 households with children faced homelessness between January and March 2025 alone.
- Youth homelessness is a growing concern:An estimated 118,134 young people were homeless or at risk of homelessness in the UK in 2023-2024.
- "Hidden homelessness" is significant:A substantial number of people are "hidden homeless," living in squats, or "sofa surfing," and do not appear in official statistics. One London report estimated the hidden homeless population could be up to 13 times higher than official figures
Maybe and just maybe we have a poverty issue that no one wants to tackle and that’s inequality.
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Seems a bit extreme getting into debt just to keep up appearances to appreciate what you have you must first learn to live without sadly lacking nowadays
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Just to clarify, this new energy debt scheme isn’t a free for all, and it’s not ongoing bill support. It’s a one off plan to help certain households on means tested benefits who built up energy debt during the crisis (April 2022 to March 2024).
You won’t need to apply. Suppliers will contact eligible customers directly. But it’s not automatic. You’ll need to be making some effort to pay, or be willing to work with a debt advice charity. It’s aimed at those who’ve tried to engage and pay, not those who’ve ignored bills completely.
And yes, it’s funded by all customers, added to bills the same way the Warm Home Discount is. So if you’ve benefited from Warm Front or similar schemes, you’ve already seen how shared funding works. This is no different. It’s about stabilising the system and protecting the most vulnerable.
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So when these debts have been paid with help from all the payers not in debt will our energy bills go down I think the answer would be a big no
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Paying off the current debt won’t lower bills. If the £4.4 billion in unpaid energy debt isn’t sorted, suppliers will raise prices even more just to stay afloat, and that means higher bills for everyone.
When energy companies collapsed during the crisis, the government stepped in, but the cost didn’t vanish. It was quietly passed on to all of us through standing charges and hidden fees.
And that’s not all. Every bill includes green levies, charges for wind and solar projects, insulation grants for homes, and Warm Home Discount support for vulnerable households. These extras are built into every bill before you’ve even used a single unit of energy.
Now add carbon capture to the mix. The government is committing hundreds of billions to build carbon capture infrastructure, and much of that cost is being passed on to consumers. It’s meant to trap emissions from gas and biomass plants, but it’s expensive, unproven at scale, and already driving up electricity prices.
So unless all these extras are stripped out, and the system itself rebalanced, our bills aren’t coming down. Debt relief might stop things getting worse, but it won’t undo the layers of cost already locked in.
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It will be an ongoing situation. The £52 now, will carry on and it's not the bill payers problem for who don't or wont pay. We are all struggling with energy bills and if other people are, then they should get in touch with their energy company, it's their problem not ours.
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Whilst I appreciate your point the fact remains the uk has one of the highest electric prices in the world and to wipe off some peoples debt by making others pay it through there bills will only drive up the bills even more when the next crop run up debt just so the electric companies can add to there profits
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