'I can't afford it': Caller admits he hasn't been paying electric and gas bills
12 October 2022, 15:32 | Updated: 13 October 2022, 07:27
LBC caller: 'I've not paid my electric bill for the last six months'
Shelagh Fogarty caller admits he hasn't paid his electric and gas bills and is just waiting for his energy company to "cut" him off.
It came after the caller phoned in to say he thinks higher interest rates are fair.
Shelagh Fogarty told the caller: "Interest rates were one thing, we were bracing for that anyway but we weren't expecting them to go up by six percent overnight...that's what happened after the mini-budget."
"I'm not agreeing with that," the caller protested "I mean a couple of percent, [would be] alright".
Going on he referenced the government's intervention to help the public pay their bills amid the energy crisis:
"If they are giving people on Universal Credit, two hundred pounds, three hundred pounds in October, most people will just spend it on other things."
Shelagh pressed: "What about you this winter?"
"I'm not paying my bills, I am not paying my bills. I've not paid my electric bill in the last six months, and gas bill - I can't afford it.
"...I'm just waiting for them to cut me off or whatever they're going to do, I don't know. I've got no idea how I am going to pay off all the debt," the caller confessed.
Shelagh asked whether the companies he has outstanding bills for have tried to contact him, he revealed they did once and he didn't respond.
"No I've been burying my head under the sand to be honest with you," he admitted.
Concluding their call Shelagh asked him to not let it "drown" him saying, it's "better to address it than ignore it".
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