Category Archives: Consumer affairs

Energy bills: standing charges are not standing still

Posted on by

Despite a 12.3% cut in April’s energy price cap, there is an important fixed element in your bill that is rising again

“Great news! Your unit rates are going down.” E.ON’s letter to customers starts with glad tidings – but, as it soon admits, there is an element of their bills that is set to go up in most parts of the country.

Despite a headline cut of 12.3% in April’s energy price cap, yet again standing charges are rising. In E.ON’s case, on its Next Flex tariff, electricity charges are due to rise from 62.205p to 67.9041p – an increase of just over 9% – while for gas, charges go up from 29.595p to 31.894p (up almost 8%).

Continue reading...

British Gas owner doubles boss’s pay to £8m – despite qualms over previous rise

Posted on by

Details of Chris O’Shea’s ballooning package emerge in Centrica’s annual report after company reports bumper profits

The boss of the British Gas owner, Centrica, has seen his earnings nearly double to £8.2m, despite having admitted that his smaller pay packet the previous year was “impossible to justify”.

Chris O’Shea earned a basic salary of £903,000, which was topped up by cash and share bonuses worth an extra £7.3m.

Continue reading...

Millions more in cash needed to fund UK’s open-banking watchdog

Posted on by

Exclusive: £10m needed for regulator charged with developing tools to thwart financial crime and protect consumers

Banks are under pressure to stump up millions of pounds in interim funding for the organisation that polices open banking, with regulators saying the new money is needed to prevent financial crime and protect consumers if things “go wrong”.

Large banks including NatWest, HSBC, Lloyds and Santander UK were among more than 40 City firms summoned by the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) last week to discuss a cash injection into Open Banking Limited (OPL), the body that oversees innovation in this area.

Continue reading...

Vegan products not always safe for people with dairy allergy, watchdog says

Posted on by

Food Standards Agency advises consumers with dairy and fish allergies to check labels carefully

People with dairy and fish allergies are being advised not to buy vegan products without checking the label carefully as they may contain animal products due to cross-contamination.

The Food Standards Agency (FSA) has launched a campaign to make consumers aware of the dangers after research released by the regulatory body showed 62% of people in England, Wales and Northern Ireland who have allergic reactions to animal-based products, or who buy for others who do, are confident that vegan products are always safe to eat.

Continue reading...

Rail fares to rise by 4.9% in England and Wales on Sunday

Posted on by

In London, Tube and bus fares are being frozen and prices reduced during rush hour and on Fridays

Rail fares in England and Wales will rise by 4.9% on Sunday, adding hundreds of pounds to annual travel costs for many commuters.

Campaigners said passengers would be “rightly angry” at the latest increase, above the current inflation rate of 4%, despite the government arguing that it had made a significant intervention to keep the fare rise down.

Continue reading...

Lloyds sets aside £450m for car loan fines and payouts

Posted on by

Bank’s profits rise 57% but it says there is ‘significant uncertainty’ over liability amid FCA investigation

Lloyds Banking Group has been forced to put aside £450m for potential fines and compensation for motor finance customers, after the UK regulator opened an investigation into whether consumers had been charged inflated prices for car loans.

The lender, which also owns the Bank of Scotland and Halifax brands, said there was “significant uncertainty” over the extent of any misconduct or loss to customers that could result in penalties or payouts.

Continue reading...

UK petrol and diesel prices jump following Houthi attacks

Posted on by

Petrol is up 3.2p a litre and diesel 4p a litre as fuel tankers are forced to avoid the Suez canal

The cost of filling up a family car in the UK increased by about £2 this month as the jump in the oil price caused by the Red Sea attacks is felt at the pumps.

In the three weeks to 18 February petrol increased by 3.2p to 143.4p a litre, while diesel rose by 4p to 152p, according to the RAC, which said this was “worrying” for motorists.

Continue reading...

Amount of fraud in UK more than doubled to £2.3bn in 2023, report finds

Posted on by

Accounting firm BDO also warns of future impact of fraudsters using artificial intelligence to rip off customers

The amount of fraud committed in the UK more than doubled to £2.3bn in 2023, marking the second-biggest year for scams in the last two decades, according to a report that also warns of the future impact of fraudsters using artificial intelligence to rip off consumers.

The accounting firm BDO’s latest FraudTrack report found that the number of reported cases rose by 18% to a three-year high, and the number of high-value cases over £50m increased by 60% year-on-year in 2023. Half of the high-value frauds were over £200m.

Continue reading...

British Gas launches fixed-rate energy deal offering 12% saving on price cap

Posted on by

Price Promise tariff gives discount on current cap and guarantees to be at least £1 per fuel under April one

British Gas has launched a fixed-rate gas and electricity deal that offers a 12% saving over most existing price-capped tariffs, adding a new choice to the hard-to-navigate home energy market.

For the past two winters, consumers have largely been spared having to seek out the cheapest deal, because, in almost all cases, it was their supplier’s price cap-protected standard tariff.

Continue reading...

UK savers should pick accounts beating rising cost of living while they can

Posted on by

Many best rates are easy access and notice options rather than ones that lock money away

This week’s news that inflation stayed steady at 4% in January means it is still possible to put your money in a savings account with an interest rate that beats the rising cost of living.

Returns on fixed-rate savings accounts have been falling, but, so far, variable rate deals have remained unchanged.

Continue reading...

Bank of England governor dampens hopes of interest rate cut

Posted on by

Andrew Bailey says cost of living had been higher than expected in December despite ‘encouraging’ inflation news

The Bank of England governor has doused hopes that better-than-expected inflation news last month will accelerate cuts in interest rates, stressing the need for further evidence of wage moderation before Threadneedle Street moves.

Appearing before the House of Lords economics committee on Wednesday, Andrew Bailey said it was “encouraging” that inflation had remained unchanged at 4% in January but the previous month’s figure for the cost of living had been higher than predicted.

Continue reading...

Savings passbooks popular as Britain turns to cash amid cost of living crisis

Posted on by

While some banks and building societies scrap system, others report increase in usage by customers

While some banks are scrapping passbook savings accounts amid suggestions they are past their sell-by date, other providers have reported an increase in their usage as people turn to cash to help them manage the cost of living.

Newcastle building society said that in 2023 it issued about three times as many passbooks as it did in 2021, and that it is getting new customers on the back of decisions by rivals to axe them.

Continue reading...

Private rents in Great Britain hit record high, data shows

Posted on by

Rightmove says average advertised price outside London is up 9.2% on a year ago despite fall in some regions

Average private rents in Great Britain have climbed to new record highs, though in some regions there has been a small fall in the amount new tenants are being asked to pay, data shows.

The typical advertised private rent outside London for new properties coming on to the market rose to a record £1,280 a calendar month in the final quarter of 2023, according to the property website Rightmove. That is £2 higher than the £1,278 figure recorded in the third quarter – a sign that rental growth is slowing.

Continue reading...

Ofcom to set out possible Royal Mail reforms – and Saturday deliveries could end

Posted on by

Regulator’s review will look at evidence and options on how universal postal service ‘might need to evolve’

Royal Mail could be allowed to end Saturday postal deliveries as part of Ofcom’s review into how the service may need to be reformed.

Next week, Ofcom will publish a document outlining “potential options for the future of the universal postal service”.

Continue reading...

Retired teacher’s pension stopped as provider refuses to believe she is not dead

Posted on by

Payments halted four times and left Eileen McGrath without income over Christmas

A retired teacher has had her pension payments stopped four times because her pension provider repeatedly refuses to accept that she is not dead.

Eileen McGrath, 85, was left without income over Christmas when Teachers’ Pensions, which administers payments on behalf of the UK government, wrongly matched her with a deceased stranger.

Continue reading...

‘We’ve got to break them up’: farming groups say supermarkets use market power to distort prices

Posted on by

Claim comes amid state and federal inquiries into Australian grocery sector and what producers say is a widening gap between wholesale and shelf prices

Farming groups have accused the major supermarkets of using their power to distort the market, leading to elevated prices for shoppers and low prices for producers.

The claim comes amid falling global prices for agricultural goods that have failed to dent grocery bills, and growing scrutiny of supermarket pricing practices through newly announced federal and state parliamentary inquiries.

Sign up for Guardian Australia’s free morning and afternoon email newsletters for your daily news roundup

Continue reading...

Queensland launches inquiry into grocery price gouging following premier’s meeting with major supermarkets

Posted on by

Executives of Woolworths, Coles and Aldi have agreed to appear at hearings, Steven Miles said, amid concerns from farmers and consumers

Queensland’s state government will launch an inquiry into alleged grocery price gouging – despite the jurisdiction having few powers to combat the issue, the premier said.

The premier, Steven Miles, said terms of reference are being drafted and the committee will be formed in the first sitting week of parliament for the year, next month.

Sign up for Guardian Australia’s free morning and afternoon email newsletters for your daily news roundup

Continue reading...

‘Greedy and dishonest’ touts sold tickets worth £6.5m, court hears

Posted on by

Ed Sheeran and Little Mix fans among those targeted by firm that resold on Viagogo and StubHub

Ticket touts acting out of “greed and dishonesty” sold tickets worth £6.5m to music fans, a court has heard, as a woman known as the “Ticket Queen” pleaded guilty to fraudulent trading nearly seven years after being named in an Observer investigation.

TQ Tickets Ltd, owned by Maria Chenery-Woods of Norfolk, used fake identities to hoover up large numbers of tickets for acts such as Ed Sheeran and Little Mix, prosecutors for National Trading Standards said.

Continue reading...

BT scraps above-inflation price rises for mobile and broadband customers

Posted on by

UK’s mobile and broadband firms were accused of ‘greedflation’ last year by the Guardian

BT has become the first major telecoms company to scrap controversial above-inflation price rises for mobile and broadband customers – but not before pushing through a final increase this year.

The owner of mobile operator EE has moved to address the pressure on consumers from rising household costs during the cost of living crisis, after telecoms companies were criticised for increasing bills.

Continue reading...

French post office opens changing room for online shoppers

Posted on by

Customers can collect their parcels and try on items in one trip during trial at La Poste branches

It is an increasingly common irritant of modern life. You order an item of clothing online; you wait with anticipation for it to arrive, and five minutes after it has arrived you’re packaging it up because it doesn’t fit.

For shoppers in France, however, the national post office may have the answer – or at least a way of making the process less logistically challenging. It is experimenting with in-store changing rooms to cater to people who want to quickly return purchases they do not want.

Continue reading...