Consumer group Which? said many packages were thrown in ponds, arrived late or were left in the rain
Parcels chucked over fences into ponds, packages hidden in bins and laptops left out in the pouring rain – these are just some of the Christmas parcel delivery failures reported by consumers.
A delivery of pet tarantulas delayed overnight in transit was one of the strangest parcel problems reported to consumer group Which? in a survey of festive delivery difficulties.
Continue reading...John Lewis said sales are up sixfold on last year as people look to save on their heating bills
Hot water bottles are selling out around the UK amid the cold snap and efforts to save on soaring energy bills.
John Lewis said sales were up sixfold on last year with several popular models currently out of stock online including the department store’s own-label version with a fake fur protective cover.
Continue reading...Severely cold weather has come with low wind speeds, creating perfect storm to drive wholesale costs up
UK power prices have hit record levels as an icy cold snap and a fall in supplies of electricity generated by wind power have combined to push up wholesale costs.
The day-ahead price for power for delivery on Monday reached a record £675 a megawatt-hour on the Epex Spot SE exchange. The price for power at 5-6pm, typically around the time of peak power demand each day, passed an all-time high of £2,586 a megawatt-hour.
Continue reading...As temperatures plunge, fears grow for households struggling to pay for heating, food and warm clothing
More than 3 million low-income UK households cannot afford to heat their homes, according to research, as a “dangerously cold” weather front arrived from the Arctic.
The UK Health Security Agency has issued a cold weather alert recommending vulnerable people warm their homes to at least 18C, wear extra layers and eat hot food to protect themselves from plummeting temperatures.
Continue reading...Comparisons with 1979 are misleading – strikes over pay now are smaller in scale and focus, and stoked by inflation
Britain is facing a winter of strikes, as industrial action on the railways spreads to the health service and other key sectors of the economy. Such is the wave of discontent that more than 1m working days could be lost to disputes in December, the most since 1989, during Margaret Thatcher’s final years in power.
With inflation at the highest rate in 41 years amid the cost of living crisis, it’s not difficult to see why workers are pushing for better pay. Coming after the worst decade for average wage growth since the Napoleonic wars, including deep real-terms pay cuts for many in the public sector, it’s even less surprising still.
Continue reading...‘It was quite amusing, until it actually happened,’ says customer, after being left £75,000 overdrawn
A family of four were told they owed nearly £1m to EDF for a year’s electricity and had £80,000 taken by direct debit, despite telling the company it was clearly incorrect.
The payment, which put Richard Baron and his family more than £75,000 over their overdraft limit, was refunded by their bank’s fraud team before any serious damage was done. However, after cancelling their direct debit, they were put on a higher tariff with the energy provider.
Continue reading...Survey finds nearly a fifth of respondents have had suicidal ideation about financial problems
The shocking impact that soaring bills are having on mental health has been laid bare by a report that highlights how money worries are driving many people to thoughts of suicide.
The Money and Mental Health policy institute, a charity founded and chaired by the consumer champion Martin Lewis, reported that 17% of respondents to a survey said they had experienced suicidal ideation over the past nine months owing to the rising cost of living.
Continue reading...Nationwide warns inflation and rising interest rates will weigh down housing market
UK house prices have fallen at their fastest rate for two and a half years as the fallout from Liz Truss’s disastrous mini-budget put buyers off according to Nationwide, which warned inflation and rising interest rates would weigh on the market in the coming months.
The price of an average home dropped 1.4% to £263,788 in November, according to the lender’s house price index, accelerating a slowdown that saw prices fall 0.9% in October. It was the third monthly fall in a row, and the biggest drop since June 2020.
Continue reading...New electricity price controls from 2023 to 2028 will keep costs to customers at about £100 a year
The operators of Great Britain’s local energy networks will be forced to spend more of their profits on investing to future-proof the country’s electricity grid, after the regulator, Ofgem, said it would not allow any rises in household bills.
In a new set of price controls that will run from 2023 to 2028, the energy watchdog said it would keep costs to customers unchanged at about £100 a year.
Continue reading...End Fuel Poverty Coalition fears energy suppliers are using warrants to disconnect poorest ‘by the back door’
Campaigners have called for an immediate ban on pre-payment meter (PPM) installations made under court warrants because of fears that energy suppliers are using them to disconnect the poorest, most indebted customers “by the back door”.
Energy firms’ licence conditions protect many vulnerable people from formal disconnection over the winter, but the End Fuel Poverty Coalition said transferring households on to PPMs, which require regular top-ups and charge for energy at a higher rate, often prompted people in debt to “self-disconnect”.
Continue reading...E.ON reports up to 15% drop as Grant Shapps writes to firms customers cutting back on energy use should not face direct debit rise
Britons have cut their gas and electricity use by more than 10% since October in the first evidence of the impact of the energy crisis on household habits, according to two of Britain’s biggest suppliers.
E.ON, Britain’s second-largest supplier, and the owner of Utility Warehouse have reported “double-digit” declines in recent weeks.
Continue reading...Kingfisher says sales of loft insulation roll more than double while smart thermostats rose by nearly a third
The B&Q owner, Kingfisher, has reported higher sales as fears over higher gas and electricity costs boosted demand for energy-efficient products including insulation roll and smart thermostats.
The retail group, which also owns the hardware trade supplier Screwfix, said customers who invested in a raft of energy-saving DIY products helped increase group sales by 0.6% to £3.3bn in the three months to October. When stripping out the impact of the weaker pound, sales were up 1.7%.
Continue reading...Regulator raises cap for start of 2023 by £730 but government limits typical bill to £3,000 from April
The energy regulator Ofgem has said its price cap will reach £4,279 from January – but households will be shielded by the government’s emergency intervention to keep a lid on bills.
Ofgem said the cap, which is adjusted every quarter, will increase by £730 for the three months from the start of next year. However, the government’s energy price guarantee (EPG) will limit typical household bills to £2,500. Analysts had expected the cap to sit at about £4,200.
Continue reading...Airline launches campaign targeting ‘empty nesters’ or people looking for challenge later in life
The airline easyJet has launched a recruitment drive urging people over the age of 45 to join its cabin crews, as firms devise new strategies for hiring staff in the UK amid a shortage of workers.
The airline said it has seen a 27% increase in crew aged 45 and over in the past four years, including a 30% increase in over-60s in the past year.
Continue reading...Rich kids of Insta use strong dollar to fuel sales of high-end brands such as Burberry, Louis Vuitton and Gucci
They’re young, rich and mortgage-free, and the scions of the 1% are having a roaring twenties.
Despite the economic gloom currently shrouding the UK and many other western countries, sales of luxury brands have been booming and growing numbers of buyers are young adults.
Continue reading...Analysis of ONS figures suggests average woman’s salary has fallen from £30,250 in 2010 to £29,680 today
Women are £570 a year worse off than they were before the Conservatives came into power 12 years ago and the autumn statement will leave them even worse off, Labour has claimed.
Citing analysis of ONS figures, Labour said that in real terms, the median full-time female worker’s salary has fallen from the equivalent of £30,250 in April 2010 to £29,680.
Continue reading...Charity warns of ‘significant risk’ that those on old prepayment meters will be unable to redeem vouchers offering £400 discount
The poorest and most vulnerable people in the UK risk missing out on the energy bill support and cost of living payments they are entitled to, because of a lack of clarity over what is available from the government and how to get it, charities have warned.
Under the energy bills support scheme announced by Rishi Sunak when he was chancellor, all households are eligible for a £400 energy bill discount, paid across six instalments starting last month.
Continue reading...Jeremy Hunt expected to use autumn statement to announce rise in household energy price cap to as much as £3,100
Millions of UK households will pay more for their energy from next April under plans to cut the generosity of the government’s gas and electricity support scheme expected to be announced by Jeremy Hunt on Thursday.
The chancellor is likely to use his autumn statement to say the need to save money and reduce state borrowing will require the household energy price cap to rise from £2,500 to an expected £3,000 to £3,100.
Continue reading...Charities and transport groups say hundreds more routes face axe without targeted help and long-term funding
Bus services will not survive without sustained Treasury funding, campaigners and industry groups have warned the chancellor after the cutting of hundreds of routes in recent months.
Transport charities and trade bodies have written to Jeremy Hunt asking for support before this week’s autumn statement urging him to guarantee short-term funding, give targeted help to local authorities, and bring in better long-term financial settlements.
Continue reading...Hike in mortgage costs after mini-budget cuts 20% off buyer demand in October
First-time buyers pulled back most from purchasing a home after the increase in mortgage costs following the mini-budget, according to a report showing a widespread slowdown in the property market.
Figures from the property platform Rightmove show buyer demand fell 20% in October compared with a year ago, as house-hunters put their property searches on hold in response to soaring borrowing costs and rising economic uncertainty.
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