Energy bills to rise by an extra £16 next year to cover unpaid customer debt

Energy bills to rise by an extra £16 next year to cover unpaid customer debt

Energy regulator Ofgem has plans to put gas and electricity bills up even further  The planned rise would pay suppliers for the cost of all unpaid energy bills  By Sam Barker Updated: 12:11 GMT, 15 December 2023 Households face paying higher energy bills next year to help protect energy firms against soaring consumer debt. Energy … Read more

Pensioners suffer more woes over BT digital landline switchover: No phone access for days, lifesaving alarms made redundant and ‘confusing’ new area codes

Pensioners suffer more woes over BT digital landline switchover: No phone access for days, lifesaving alarms made redundant and ‘confusing’ new area codes

Scores of pensioners have been left with no way of contacting the outside world as BT’s digital landline switchover continues to be besieged with problems. Customers have been left with no phone access for days, lifesaving alarms have been made redundant and numbers and area codes have been changed without permission – leaving many vulnerable … Read more

Households using log burners for heating buy less wood to combat high cost of living

Households using log burners for heating buy less wood to combat high cost of living

Many households are buying smaller amounts of logs and smokeless fuel  Homefire says the move could be an attempt to manage tight budgets By Sam Barker Updated: 06:00 GMT, 9 December 2023 Households that heat their homes with log burners are tackling the high cost of living by buying less fuel and making it stretch … Read more

I’m a postman – morale is at an all-time low: What posties REALLY think of Royal Mail… and why you’re waiting weeks for post

I’m a postman – morale is at an all-time low: What posties REALLY think of Royal Mail… and why you’re waiting weeks for post

Last winter, the postal system ground to a halt following a bitter dispute between Royal Mail and the unions over jobs, pay and working conditions. Earlier this year, the Communication Workers Union (CWU) agreed to a three-year pay deal. However, postal workers have told This is Money that conditions have not improved – and it … Read more

Warning highest energy bills ever will ‘cost lives’ this winter – as Ofgem reveals 5% rise in price cap

Warning highest energy bills ever will ‘cost lives’ this winter – as Ofgem reveals 5% rise in price cap

British Gas reported profits of £969 million for the first six months of 2023  By Sean Poulter Consumer Affairs Editor Updated: 08:21 GMT, 24 November 2023 Millions face the highest energy bills on record this winter, triggering warnings that it will ‘cost lives’. Industry watchdog Ofgem announced a 5 per cent rise in the energy … Read more

Grandma left my children a fortune – but how do I stop them blowing it all before they’re 25?

Grandma left my children a fortune – but how do I stop them blowing it all before they’re 25?

My grandmother died two months ago at the age of 93. Always organised and determined to do things properly, she had sat down with a solicitor more than a decade ago – shortly after her husband’s death – and written a will. Her money was hard-earned, so it was important to her that she had … Read more

Some probate detectives fail to play fair as HEIR HUNTERS industry grows unchecked

Some probate detectives fail to play fair as HEIR HUNTERS industry grows unchecked

Fair game: Probate detectives track down next-of-kin to unclaimed estates When Jadwiga Berger was confronted by a man she had never met on her doorstep in October 2019, the 82-year-old was faced with a shocking revelation. The frail and vulnerable pensioner was told that her estranged daughter, 49-year-old Michelle Berger had died, had left an … Read more

Dignity boss steps up with FREE funerals for 800 victims of Safe Hands fiasco

Dignity boss steps up with FREE funerals for 800 victims of Safe Hands fiasco

Costly: Sir Peter Wood says bills are mounting as Dignity helps those left high and dry When my elderly Aunt Fay, my mother’s sister, was in her final illness, she had one abiding concern.  The savings she had put aside after many years of working modestly as a sales assistant in the women’s department at … Read more

Worried about soaring costs of Christmas? You can have a happy one for free!

Worried about soaring costs of Christmas? You can have a happy one for free!

By Adele Cooke Updated: 22:16 GMT, 4 November 2023 Britons are predicted to spend an average of £569 on Christmas gifts and festivities this year, according to wealth platform Hargreaves Lansdown, with one in 20 expected to fork out £1,500. Couples will spend approximately £1,138, while households with children will spend an extra £320. But … Read more