Category Archives: Consumer affairs

Disabled woman wins legal challenge against DWP over automatic benefit deduction

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High court rules DWP scheme to deduct money without consent is illegal and breaches ‘obligation of fairness’

A disabled former police officer has won a legal challenge against the Department for Work and Pensions over its policy of allowing utility companies to automatically deduct hundreds of pounds a year from individuals’ benefits without their consent.

Helen Timson, 51, of Leicester, argued it was unlawful and immoral that the DWP enabled water and energy firms to draw down up to 25% of a claimant’s monthly benefit income at source without undertaking any form of check with the claimant. Hundreds of thousands of claimants are understood to be subject to the deductions.

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Sunday roasting dwindles as cost of cooking crisis hits home

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Annual Good Food Nation survey finds a fifth of Britons no longer turn on their oven to save money

Families have crossed Sunday roasts, stews and home baking off the menu and in drastic cases no longer use their oven, as soaring energy costs force big changes in the kitchen.

One in four home cooks said they were less likely to prepare a roast dinner, while a fifth were not baking as many cakes or biscuits, according to the annual Good Food Nation report.

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One in seven buy now, pay later customers had more than 20 loans last year, Choice survey shows

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Use of BNPL services to cover essential bills raises concerns as Albanese government prepares to consult on regulating the sector

One in seven users of credit from buy-now-pay-later providers such as Afterpay or Zip had more than 20 loans last year, according to new data from consumer group Choice.

The Choice survey also found that consumers were using BNPL services to cover essential bills, with one in six using the short-term loans to cover supermarket purchases and 14% to pay for power.

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EU calls for money to be clawed back from energy firms, saying profits must go ‘to those who need it most’ – politics live

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Liz Truss has stated her opposition to windfall taxes but the European Commission says energy profits must be shared

Sharon Graham, the Unite general secretary, says the UK is facing a “crisis of income”. She says workers should get a better share of corporate profits.

This has parallels with the point Ursula von der Leyen was making about profits in her speech this morning (see 9.35am), although von der Leyen, a German Christian Democrat who has little in common with Graham, was just talking about the energy sector.

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More ‘banking hubs’ to open across UK to tackle branch and ATM closures

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Additional 13 hubs will bring total to 25, where customers of almost any bank can carry out transactions

More shared “banking hubs” are to be rolled out across the UK to help communities hit by branch and ATM closures to get continued access to cash.

A banking hub is a shared service that operates in a similar way to a standard branch, with a counter service run by Post Office staff where customers of almost any bank can withdraw and deposit cash, make bill payments and carry out regular transactions.

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Bus fares in England to be capped at £2 for three months, says DfT

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Plan costing £60m is intended to help passengers during cost of living crisis and will come into effect in January

Bus journeys in England will be capped at £2 for three months amid concerns about the cost of living crisis.

The Department for Transport said the £60m plan could save passengers more than £3 for a single ticket.

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Public idea of dignified living is miles from what some can afford this winter

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Wifi, Netflix, a laptop, presents for family and the odd night out with friends are in this year’s Minimum Income Standard

What constitutes a no-fripperies minimum standard of living in the UK in 2022? It’s not just sufficient money for three meals a day, suitable clothes, heating and a roof over one’s head, according to the public, but enough for a Netflix subscription, a smart speaker, the odd night out with friends and a supply of Covid masks.

It’s about being able to afford things such as a smartphone, a laptop, wifi, a cooker, a TV, the odd alcoholic drink and also enough to take an unostentatious week’s holiday away in the UK once a year, treat yourself to an occasional takeaway, buy presents for the children and family, and make charitable donations.

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Energy price inflation: how the UK and EU could fight it

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What can be done about rising prices – and would nationalising gas and electricity firms help?

Governments across Europe have been funding relief measures to help people with energy and petrol bills. The UK announced a £15bn package in May, largely in the form of cash payments to households, while EU member states are estimated to have spent €280bn (£243m) over the past year on everything from subsidies and price caps to one-off payments. But bills for households and businesses are reaching unsustainable levels, with further increases expected next year, sharpening the debate over whether ministers should be intervening directly in energy markets to help bring prices down.

As Russia threatens to further reduce gas supplies, politicians in Italy, Spain, Greece and the Czech Republic are among those pushing for coordinated action. The European Commission president, Ursula von der Leyen, said on Monday Brussels was considering measures to be adopted by the 27 member states. What are the options?

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UK food price inflation hits highest level since global financial crash

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Prices in shops rose by 5.1% in August, British Retail Consortium finds, as the war in Ukraine pushes up prices up for farmers

The rapidly rising price of food including milk, margarine and crisps pushed August shop price inflation to the highest levels since 2008 as the war in Ukraine raised costs for farmers.

Prices in shops rose by 5.1%, a big increase from 4.4% in July, as food producers passed on increases in the cost of fertiliser, wheat and vegetable oils, large amounts of which are produced in Ukraine and Russia, according to data from the British Retail Consortium (BRC) and market research firm NielsenIQ.

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Gypsies and Travellers fear missing out on energy bills support

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Government urged to ensure thousands living in park homes in Great Britain receive £400 payments

Gypsy and Traveller groups are calling on the government to ensure thousands of households living in park homes are not excluded from its energy bills support scheme this winter as bills soar.

The scheme will pay out a total of £400 to all households in Great Britain with a domestic electricity connection between October and March, with monthly payments administered by their energy supplier.

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Rising energy bills put millions of UK households at risk of winter catastrophe

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Experts say 80% price cap increase will plunge people into destitution and cause avoidable deaths

Millions of households are bracing for a winter catastrophe of rising energy bills that experts say will plunge people into destitution and cause an increase in avoidable deaths without urgent government support.

After Britain’s energy industry regulator confirmed an 80% rise in the consumer price cap from October that will take a typical household’s gas and electricity bill to £3,549 a year, there were stark warnings about its potentially devastating effects.

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Truss and Sunak clash on energy costs at penultimate Tory hustings

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Truss remained loath to ‘bung money’ at those struggling to afford spiralling bills, Sunak said millions may be forced into destitution

Liz Truss has doubled down on her reluctance to “bung more money” at those who will struggle to afford spiralling energy costs this winter while Rishi Sunak said millions may be forced into destitution without extra support, as the pair clashed at the penultimate hustings of the Conservative leadership race.

With energy regulator Ofgem expected to raise the price cap to £3,500 a year from October for the average dual-fuel tariff, Truss warned the issue of spiralling fuel costs was not a short-term one. “If people think this problem is going to be over in six months they are not right. This is a long term problem,” she told the audience in Norfolk.

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British Gas to donate 10% of profits to struggling customers

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Company’s owner, Centrica, says extra support will begin in autumn and last for the ‘duration of the energy crisis’

British Gas has announced it will donate 10% of its profits to help its poorer customers manage rising gas and electricity bills for the “duration of the energy crisis”.

Ahead of an expected rise in the price cap on energy on Friday, the company’s owner, Centrica, said it would donate £12m this autumn into an existing support fund. Grants of £250 to £750 would be given to poorer customers, and the pledge to donate 10% of profits every six months would last for the duration of the energy crisis “backdated to the start of 2022”, it added.

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Economists demand urgent action on energy bills to avert ‘catastrophe’

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Millions of vulnerable people will be harmed without radical policies to ease cost of living crisis, say experts

Physical and financial harm will be caused to millions of vulnerable families unless the government takes action to avert a winter catastrophe by cutting energy bills, leading economists have warned.

In the run-up to the announcement of the new energy price cap tomorrow the Resolution Foundation thinktank said radical policies such as price freezes, solidarity taxes or lower social tariffs were needed to prevent the cost of living crisis worsening.

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Next PM could face £23bn autumn spend to cover £900 rise in energy bills

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Energy prices have soared above prediction and subsidies will require significant further spending

Ministers could face an additional £23bn price tag for covering extra household energy costs of £900 this autumn, rising to £90bn next year, a new paper by the Institute for Government has found.

The paper, looking at the options for Liz Truss or Rishi Sunak in No 10, also warned the government should plan for prolonged rises in energy bills by going a lot further in making public appeals to use less gas – for example by informing consumers about the cost savings from turning down thermostats – and in committing to building more energy efficient homes to help protect consumers.

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Cost of living crisis: some low-paid workers miss out on £326 help

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People on universal credit have payments reduced to zero because of a quirk in the system

Some low-paid workers on universal credit have missed out on the government’s first cost of living payment because of payroll quirks that removed their benefit entitlement during the key window set by the government.

“I was going to use it to load up my gas meter, get ahead on my electricity and fill up the freezer,” said David Evans, a 55-year-old IT apprentice, of his plans for the £326 payment that in recent weeks has been landing in the bank accounts of struggling Britons.

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Tory leadership: Sunak frustrated government attempts to realise benefits of Brexit, Truss allies claim – UK politics live

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Latest updates: foreign secretary’s supporters accuse former chancellor of resisting changes to EU regulation as sixth hustings looms

Gordon Brown, the former Labour prime minister, has used an article in today’s Guardian to propose that the government should halt the increases in the energy price cap planned for later this year and next year and, if necessary, take energy companies into public ownership to ensure that they keep prices down.

Alongside the Lib Dem plan, with which it has some similarities (they also want a price cap freeze, and more money raised through a windfall tax), it is the most radical and ambitious proposal on the table to tackle the energy bills crisis.

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UK energy bills – six ways to reduce the impact of soaring prices

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Be it a loft insulation drive or a lower price cap, there are many ways to help – but action must be swift and extensive

The UK government has been urged to take further action to alleviate the impact of soaring energy prices, and there are a number of measures it could take.

Any rescue package would need to be swift and extensive to prevent households being plunged into poverty this winter as home energy prices surge. Ministers will also need to dig deep to prevent more businesses hit by rising energy costs from defaulting on loans and declaring themselves bankrupt.

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UK braces for even higher bills as Norway threatens electricity export cut

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Water levels in southern Norway so low domestic consumers may be prioritised over international customers

British consumers could face even higher bills and potential energy shortages this winter after Norway threatened to ration electricity exports.

The UK receives hydroelectric power from Norway through a subsea interconnector cable running beneath the North Sea.

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Gordon Brown: ‘Set emergency budget or risk a winter of dire poverty’

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Former PM has warned of a financial timebomb awaiting families as Labour plans a major intervention to address crisis

Boris Johnson and the Tory leadership candidates should agree an immediate emergency budget tackling the spiralling cost of living, Gordon Brown has said, or risk “condemning millions of vulnerable and blameless children and pensioners to a winter of dire poverty”.

The intervention by the former prime minister comes as new figures seen by the Observer show that more than 4 million households are on course to spend a quarter of their net income on energy.

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