– It is a protest action, says Sascha Høvring. This week, the electricity company Fjordkraft had to meet Sascha Høvring in the courthouse in Bergen. They want him to pay for the electricity they have delivered to him. He has denied this for over a year. The sum Fjordkraft wants him to pay is now up to NOK 17,500. Høvring is one of many thousands who are inspired by the “Don’t Pay” movement, which wants a fair electricity price for everyone. On the same day, the verdict was clear: the court did not agree with Høvring’s claims, reports Bergensavisen. Believes Fjordkraft is illegally demanding a lot of money Høvring believes Fjordkraft has broken several laws by demanding too much money for electricity, including the Price Measures Act. Høvring therefore believes that the electricity price is unreasonable. The court has now refuted this. Fjordkraft believes that Høvring must pay in line with the agreement he entered into with the company. That was said by deputy attorney general Emile Schjønsby-Nolet, who represented them in court. The court now stands behind this. – Do you agree that the agreement has been broken? – Agree and agree. I want to pay, I’ve said that all along. No one disagrees with that, says Høvring and adds that it is the price he does not agree with them on. The matter has already been discussed in the Conciliation Council. Høvring lost there. Sascha Høvring. Photo: Aleksander N. Brevig / news In addition to the sum of approximately NOK 17,500, Fjordkraft is demanding default interest and court costs. This means that Høvring is out with NOK 36,011, BA reports. Høvring will appeal the court’s decision. Inspired by international campaign Sascha Høvring is the administrator of a Facebook group called “I don’t pay”. Through the Facebook group, he has collected over NOK 90,000 to cover the expenses he has in connection with his case being in court. The group is inspired by the British campaign “Don’t Pay”. The protest action was started in June 2022 with the aim of what they themselves refer to as a fair price for electricity for everyone. In October, The Guardian wrote that more than 193,000 people had pledged to refrain from paying their electricity bills, if one million Britons pledged not to pay. The British campaign Don’t Pay is the source of inspiration for the group in Høvring. Photo: AFP This is how the campaign was supposed to pressure the British authorities to lower the electricity price to the same level as before April 2021. The Norwegian Facebook group has just over 5,000 members. The aim of the group is to pay no more than a maximum of 50 øre/kWh and a fixed low net rent. In addition to this, they will withhold payment. Receive electricity due to delivery obligation If you do not pay the bill for the electricity you use, your power supplier can terminate the agreement with you. They will then stop supplying you with electricity, but you will not lose the electricity in the sockets. You will then be transferred to the grid owner, who must give you power that is subject to delivery. According to the Consumer Council, this can be considerably more expensive than the power you can buy through ordinary agreements. Today, Høvring receives electricity subject to delivery directly from the company BKK. The Consumer Council writes that the network owner can shut off the electricity supply in certain situations, for example when you do not pay the network rent you owe. In the event of closure, you are entitled in advance to receive written notice and to be notified in person. The notice can come in the same letter as a reminder or a debt collection notice. What is debt collection? A collection of overdue monetary claims, such as unpaid bills. If you don’t pay the bill, it is sold to a debt collection company, but this is by no means the general rule. There are far more bills and loans that are collected on behalf of a third party (bank/other creditor) than there is a direct sale of the entire claim to the debt collection company. A debt collection case and a payment notice are not the same A debt collection case means that an unpaid bill has not been paid 30 days after the payment request has been sent A payment notice requires a court order, and it often takes between 6-9 months from the due date of the original bill to the payment notice is registered. The debt collection company sends a debt collection notice, with an additional one-off fee. This is called a fee. Normally, it takes 6-9 months from when the bill is due until the payment notice is registered. This makes it difficult to get loans, mobile subscriptions, and certain jobs, such as the police and defence. The payment notice is deleted after 4 years, regardless of whether the claim is repaid or not. Debt collection companies do not have the opportunity to set their own interest rates. The late payment interest is set by the state, and is currently 8.5 per cent. If you do not pay, the debt collection company can forward the claim to the Bailiff. They can initiate measures to collect the money, such as wage deductions or liens on assets. If you disagree with the requirement for which you receive a debt collection notice, the Consumer Council’s website has a guide to what you can do. The Debt Victims’ Alliance also has a helpline where you can talk about serious debt problems. Norwegians owe a total of NOK 33.8 billion in consumer debt. Sources: Linda Tofteng Eliassen, Snl, Consumer Council, Finanstilsynet What happens if you don’t pay? Sparebanken Vest says that an unpaid bill will be sent to debt collection, and you will receive a payment notice that will remain until the matter is settled. At the same time, the sum will increase due to fees, interest on late payment and collection agency fees. CHIEF: Jan-Tore Smith is bank manager at Sparebanken Vest. He explains what can happen if you don’t pay the bill. Photo: Oddgeir Øystese / news – If you still don’t pay what you owe, the debt collection agency will try to secure its claim by taking a lien on assets such as a car and home. This is done through the bailiff and is called a mortgage, explains bank manager at Sparebanken Vest, Jan-Tore Smith. The mortgage will be written down, and will be visible to everyone you apply for a loan from, he says. The debt collection agency can also use payroll deductions. The employer must then deduct the amount from the salary. “In the extreme, you run the risk of the home being forcibly sold so that the company can get its money,” he says. The notice received will be visible to the banks. – As a general rule, customers with payment notices will not get new loans/credits, or refinanced current loans/credits, in ordinary banks, he says. In addition, you may have problems buying services from someone who carries out credit checks before the agreement is concluded – such as insurance companies, TV companies and the internet. – And then you have to pay in advance, he says.
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Sascha refuses to pay the electricity bill – the company had to appear in court – news Vestland
