Water regulator, Ofwat is calling on water companies to trial creative and targeted ways in calculating customers’ charges to help make sure those who need support can get it. In the midst of cost of living concerns, the regulator is pushing companies to think differently about how they work with customers and develop models of…
Read moreScottish Power and Utilita have been issued a provisional order by Ofgem compelling the energy suppliers to improve how it treats customers in debt. A review conducted by Ofgem into suppliers’ practices found a number of apparent failings around the way it sets debt repayment plans and deals with customers struggling with bills. Provisional Orders…
Read moreThe Bank of England has raised interest rates from 1.75% to 2.25% and indicated that Britain’s economy is now in recession. A majority of the Bank’s nine-member monetary policy committee voted to increase the key base rate by 0.5 percentage points, judging that the risks of inflationary pressures becoming entrenched outweighed the short-term dangers to…
Read moreThe Joseph Rowntree Foundation (JRF) is urging the Chancellor to go beyond tax cuts in Friday’s (23rd September) fiscal statement with more targeted support for households that will desperately need it. New analysis from JRF looked at the cost rises facing low-income working-age households on means-tested benefits this tax year compared to last tax year…
Read moreAlmost two in five households (38%) wrongly believe that the Government’s energy price guarantee means their bills cannot go above £2,500, according to new research from Uswitch.com, the comparison and switching service. The measures announced by Prime Minister Liz Truss will support people with their energy bills, and avoid the nightmare scenario of Ofgem’s price…
Read moreOne-fifth of UK adults are already behind on one or more household bill, and one in nine have gone without food as a result of rising costs, according to new research from the Money Advice Trust. While the government’s Energy Price Guarantee removes the risk of energy bills climbing even further, the charity, which runs…
Read moreRecord high inflation combined with low wages is hitting Britain’s 4.8m low paid workers harder than anything they have faced before, including the Covid-19 pandemic, new research by the Living Wage Foundation has revealed. Polling of over 2,000 workers earning less than the real Living Wage, by the Living Wage Foundation and Survation, found 78% of…
Read moreLatest monthly figures from the Insolvency Service for England & Wales have indicated that personal insolvencies increased by 4.1% to 9,572 in August 2022 compared to 9,198 in July, and were 5% higher than August 2021’s figure of 9,117. Personal insolvencies also increased 7.4% from August 2019’s total of 8,910. The figurse showed that there…
Read moreRecord high inflation combined with low wages is hitting Britain’s 4.8m low paid workers harder than anything they have faced before, including the Covid-19 pandemic according to new research by the Living Wage Foundation. Polling of over 2,000 workers earning less than the real Living Wage, by the Living Wage Foundation and Survation, found 78%…
Read moreEconomists believe the energy price cap announced by new Prime Minister Liz Truss as part of a rescue package significantly cuts the chances of Britain going into recession according to EY Item Club analysis. The EY ITEM Club now expects CPI inflation to peak below 11% in October, rather than the 15% peak which might…
Read moreThe decision by Liz Truss’s government to support energy spending could make blackouts more likely, according to analysis by the Resolution Foundation The Foundation says Liz Truss’s first major act as Prime Minister has been to set out an energy support package to hugely reduce the scale of the living standards catastrophe this winter by covering…
Read moreNew Prime Minister Liz Truss has announced plans that will limit energy bill rises for all households for two years. The measures will mean that a typical household energy bill will be capped at £2,500 annually until 2024, saving households £1,000 a year on the energy price cap announced for October. Commenting on the announcement…
Read moreUK workers are facing a £2000 hit to their real wages by the end of the year as the UK economy confronts a highly volatile and uncertain inflationary outlook, according to the latest PwC Economic Outlook. Although the UK economy will continue to grow at a rate of between 3.1% and 3.6% in 2022 (compared to…
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