AN EXERCISE IN RELUCTANCE....

Well, it`s that time of the year again when most of the bills arrive on my doormat.   I suppose if I was better organised they might be spread more evenly across the year but I`m not, so an influx of demands for payment has descended on me, which leads to a difficult time for us elderly pensioners struggling to survive on fixed incomes.  The situation is compounded by the fact that I am the wrong side of the line when it comes to things like income support and effective financial counselling.

So, here we go with my response to this crescendo of demands.   Now, some of them are of course the regularly monthly standing order type things - insurances, Council tax, stuff like that;  I don`t like them and I have more than a tinge of annoyance at having to pay them but I do anyway.   But there are some bills which have arrived to which I might take a more reluctant approach about paying them.  A couple of examples...

First I have received a demand from TV Licensing to renew my TV licence, which is all about funding the BBC of course.  I was intrigued to see that the heading on their letter says, "Renew your license and enjoy another year of great TV."   Really?   Maybe I`ll offer them a deal  - I`ll think about paying it when they stop paying the likes of the boy Linacre £millions a year; stop putting Naga Munchetty on Breakfast TV;  stop wasting money on so many regional and international outlets;  stop assuming that Mrs. Brown`s Boys is even mildly amusing when it`s not; and stop being the left leaning, metrocentric, self righteous outfit that is never wrong and immune to criticism.   OK, I`m still miffed about the broken promise to allow over 75s to have the license free of charge but I think I`m entitled to be.

Next I`ve had yet another bill from Southern Water which amounts to the thick end of £1,000 a year to supply water and then take it away again.  Now this is the company that has recently been fined £91million for serial offences like flushing raw sewage into local rivers and the sea.  And just last week they were at it again when yet more local beaches had to be closed  - all of which makes me sceptical about their announcement that the fines will be paid from their profits and dividends when I suspect their charges will miraculously be increased, purely coincidentally of course. 

Now the thing that really gets me is that both of these organisations give various `pain free` methods to pay their demands, one of which is to pay by post.  But neither of them have the gumption to provide a stamped addressed envelope.  The envelopes they provide are addressed but bear the message `YOU NEED TO USE A STAMP` in nice big letters.   Now given the enormity of their demands you would think that they might encourage payment by at least  doing away with the need to buy a stamp.  OK, there are other ways of paying but I`m going to test their resolve and demonstrate my reluctance by opting to pay by cheque, putting it the envelopes they supply but not putting a stamp on either of them.

Could be interesting.