Like millions of people across Britain, Josina, a teacher from Sheffield, is being pushed into poverty by rising energy prices. This October, when bills are set to rise again, she will have to cut back on food and other essentials if she has any hope of keeping up with the payments.
“It’s terrifying, especially with three teenagers in the house. They aren’t old enough to be out working yet. They’re relying on us, and it’s a really scary thought that you potentially can’t provide for your children in that way,” she said.
So Josina, 35, has made a decision: she is not going to pay her energy bill. She is one of thousands of activists joining a civil disobedience movement protesting at the soaring cost of energy.
From 1 October, the energy price cap – the maximum amount suppliers can charge in England, Scotland and Wales – will go up, leading to further bill rises for millions of customers. The typical gas and electricity bill is expected to reach £3,358 in October, according to consultancy Cornwall Insight. In October 2021, the average annual bill was £1,400.
Protesters are expected to take to the streets. But as well as more traditional campaigning methods, they also plan to pile pressure on energy suppliers and the government by ignoring their bills and cancelling their direct debits.
Don’t Pay UK, the anonymous group organising the campaign, says it hopes enough people will follow suit to put energy companies in “serious trouble”. “We want to bring them to the table and force them to end this crisis,” its website says.
The movement has been condemned by the government. “This is highly irresponsible messaging, which ultimately will only push up prices for everyone else and affect personal credit ratings,” a spokesperson said. “While no government can control global gas prices, we are providing £37bn of help for households, including the £400 discount on energy bills, and £1,200 of direct support for the most vulnerable households to help with the cost of living.”
Debt and financial experts, meanwhile, are telling people to ensure they are fully informed of the potential risks of not paying, such as increased debt, and the chance of being put on a prepayment meter, or charged extra. In extreme cases, suppliers could cut the energy off, although this is rare.
Josina is aware of the risks, and says not paying is the only option for her and millions of others. In recent days, she has taken to the streets to hand out hundreds of flyers, and says the response has been “really positive”.
“People are angry and scared,” she said. “We aren’t doing this out of choice. Millions of people across this country are going to be plunged into poverty this winter. And the strike is the only way we can push back. It’s not a choice that anyone’s taking lightly. I would much rather not have to do this. But it’s the only choice we have.” Don’t Pay UK, which launched in June, said more than 75,000 people had so far signed up to join the strike if radical action is not taken by the government.
More than 21,000 people “from all walks of life” are “organising” in their local communities, it added, with activists in cities including Bristol, Brighton, Manchester and London using the messaging app Telegram to coordinate leafleting campaigns to raise awareness – more than 1.6 million of which have been distributed so far.
Its organisers are remaining anonymous, fearful of a potential backlash, but say they are a group of friends who came up with the idea “after being convinced of the need to do something about the spiralling cost of living crisis”.
“From snooker halls to pubs, at work or at the school gates, everyone is talking about how much they’re already struggling and their fear of when bills go up again in October,” a spokesman for the group said.
He added that the protest was a “solid approach” and something “that will actually work”. “Don’t Pay wouldn’t have caught so much attention if it were a simple gimmick,” he said. “It will work, and everyone, including the energy industry and government, know it.”
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