The Office for National Statistics (ONS) today announced Consumer Price Inflation (CPI) accelerated to annual rate of 5.2% last month from August’s rate of 4.5%. The rate represented the highest since September 2008 and it has never exceeded this rate since the CPI measure was first calculated in 1997. Higher inflation continues to be led [...]
According to Spencer Dale, the Bank of England’s chief economist, UK inflation is set to accelerate due to soaring energy bills. The latest figures from the Office for National Statistics (ONS) revealed UK Consumer Price Inflation (CPI) rose to annual rate of 4.5% in August from July’s rate of 4.4% – more than double the [...]
Energy tariffs are so complicated that even an accountant could not calculate how much they should be paying, according to latest research from Which?. The consumer group asked 36 people including a solicitor, an engineer and an accountant, to work out their domestic energy bill using only the information from the supplier’s website, and a [...]
Respected think tank, Ernst & Young ITEM Club, has today said UK retailers are in for a tough time as household incomes become even further squeezed amid rising inflation and soaring energy bills. The think tank is forecasting consumer spending to rise by just 2% a year in the next decade as family finances are [...]
Statistics from the Department of Energy and Climate Change have revealed that fuel poverty has more than doubled in the last five years amid rising energy prices. Anyone spending over 10% of their household income on heating their homes are said to be in fuel poverty. The figures show that an increasing amount of people [...]
Operating profits at British Gas soared by 58% last year to £595 million, compared with £379 million in 2008. Its parent company Centrica said the figures beat the previous high of £573 million in 2007. While British Gas announced earlier this month it was reducing its gas prices by 7%, the results will no doubt [...]
Leeds Building Society has launched a new savings account to help older people pay for their winter heating bill. The Winter Fuel Saver account is available only to customers aged over 60 and pays interest at 5.12% through the winter months. When winter is over on 28 February the account’s interest rate drops to 0.25%. [...]
Householders have been advised that paying for energy bills by direct debit is the cheapest option. Price comparison site uSwitch.com issued the advice after it discovered a 7.3% drop in the number of people choosing to pay by direct debit. The number of customers signing up for fixed monthly direct debit payments when changing their [...]
The cost of running a home in the UK has plummeted to a three year low, according to new research from Halifax. A study by the bank found that the cost of owning and running a household has fallen by nearly a fifth during the past twelve months to the lowest level since 2006. Household [...]
M&S Money launches 3% cash ISA
M&S Money has launched an Advantage Cash ISA paying 3 per cent, and which allows transfers in from other ISAs. It can be opened with a minimum deposit of £100 lump sum followed by minimum monthly deposits of £25. The 3% rate is variable, but there is no short-term bonus so the return won’t plummet [...]
Google suspends UK Compare Mortgages site
Google has closed its UK mortgage comparison site which it launched in July last year, after it proved to be less popular than expected. Mortgage comparison sites are designed to allow visitors to compare mortgages quickly and easily without having to visit each lender’s individual site. Google was competing with several well-established comparison sites, including [...]
AA launches ‘black-box’ policy for young drivers
The AA is launching an innovative car insurance policy called Drivesafe which could help younger drivers save up to £850 a year. Younger drivers already pay substantially higher premiums than other motorists and these costs are increasing. A new study by Confused.com suggests insurance costs for younger driver have gone up by 5.7 per cent [...]
ATOL scheme updated to protect online bookers
ATOL, a financial protection scheme managed by the Civil Aviation Authority, is being extended to protect up to six million more holidays a year. The scheme ensures that holiday makers do not lose out financially if a travel company collapses, and that they are not stranded abroad. An increase in the number of holidays booked [...]
Home repossessions lowest for four years
The number of UK homes repossessed fell to 36,200 in 2011, significantly below the Council of Mortgage Lenders’ forecast of 40,000, and lower than 2010 when 37,100 homes were repossessed. With interest rates remaining low and lenders adopting a sympathetic attitude to customers in financial difficulty, repossessions fell to their lowest level since 2007. However, [...]
Monthly pay lasting just 17 days
Workers are running out of money just 17 days after receiving their monthly pay, according to new research by the Halifax bank. This means that the average UK worker spends half the month worrying about money. The study, based on the responses of more than 2,000 adults, found that 10 per cent of workers start [...]
Women disadvantaged by auto-enrolment changes
Government proposals to increase the auto-enrolment threshold to £10,000 could put 1.8 million women at risk of missing out on a pension, the TUC has warned. Under the auto-enrolment scheme, which will be phased in from October, private sector employers will automatically enrol workers between the age of 22 years and the state pension age, [...]
Emergency household repairs company Homeserve is taking longer than expected to get back on track after its operations were suspended last October. The company expected customer numbers to fall by 5% this year but it has increased this estimate to 8% and announced the loss of 200 jobs. It estimates that renewal revenue in 2013 [...]
Sale rumoured for Yorkshire and Clydesdale banks
There is growing speculation that National Australia Bank (NAB) may sell Yorkshire Bank and Clydesdale Bank after the Australian parent company announced a strategic review of the two banks’ operations. The Australian economy is performing well and NAB reported strong profits for the final quarter of 2011 but with the UK economy at a virtual [...]
More women experiencing debt difficulties
Women in Debt, which offers female-focused debt advice, has warned that the number of UK women facing serious debt has grown significantly over recent years. The organisation believes that more women will need advice on solving debt problems in the future because they are building up an unsustainable level of indebtedness. Women in Debt’s director, [...]
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