Credit, Collections & Insolvency News
New research by the Personal Finance Research Centre at the University of Bristol, in partnership with Ofgem and StepChange Debt Charity has highlighted the critical role that effective referrals from energy suppliers to free debt advice can play in supporting households with energy debt, and where the energy sector can do more to protect vulnerable…
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More than seven million households need to read their meter by the end of the month to make sure they avoid higher energy rates from 1st October, according to research by Uswitch. Homes on a standard tariff with average usage are expected to spend £140 on energy in October, compared with £63 in September. The…
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The Government has issued a reminder to eligible households encouraged to check they are named on their electricity bill to automatically benefit from the Warm Home Discount this winter. Millions could save £150 on their electricity bills this winter. Every household where the billpayer receives an eligible means-tested benefit will now be in line for…
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Ofgem has ordered Octopus Energy to pay £1.5 million in refunds and compensation, after an investigation found thousands of errors on prepayment meter bills. An investigation by the energy regulator, has found that ver 34,000 prepayment meter customer accounts with Octopus between 2016 and October 2023 did not receive final bills within six weeks, as…
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Moving away from the Ofgem fixed price cap and towards a flexible system of energy pricing – where costs vary according to region and time of day – could reduce the price of electricity by 4p/kWh by 2040, offering households savings of £200 a year, on average according to Resolution Foundation research. The research notes…
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The Government has announced that the Warm Home Discount will be expanded, meaning 6 million households will receive £150 off their energy bills this winter. The Government says that this major expansion of support for working families is the latest in a raft of cost of living support made possible because the government has stabilised…
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Energy company Utilita will pay around £277,000 in compensation after failing to pay its Warm Home Discount payments on time, following a review by Ofgem. The regulator found that, in the scheme year covering 2023-2024, Utilita – which supplies 800,000 customers – failed to pass on the mandatory discount to more than 4,000 customers within…
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The Government has announced that more than three-quarters of pensioners will receive the winter fuel payment this year. The change wil mean that around nine million pensioners with an income of, or below, £35,000 a year receiving the benefit. The threshold is well above the income level of pensioners in poverty and is broadly in…
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Energy regulator Ofgem has announced a 7% reduction of the energy price cap for the period covering July to September 2025. A recent fall in wholesale prices is the main driver of the overall reduction, accounting for around 90% of the fall. The remainder is primarily due to changes to the operating cost allowances energy…
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Ten energy suppliers will pay £7 million in compensation and refunds after overcharging more than 34,000 customers, following a review by the energy regulator Ofgem Ofgem said the suppliers had agreed to pay more than 34,000 customers compensation and refunds because of erroneously billing them more for standing charges than is allowed under the regulator’s price cap.…
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Good Energy has paid over £150,000 in compensation and redress after failing to provide final bills and refund credit balances to prepayment meter customers. An investigation by the energy regulator, Ofgem, found that 2,284 prepayment meter customer accounts were affected between 2014 and October 2023 due to an error within its billing system. As a…
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New forecasts from Cornwall Insight predict a typical dual fuel consumer’s energy bill will fall to £1,683 from July, this would represent a drop of almost 9% on April’s £1,849 cap, with an average customer paying £166 less. a mix of geopolitical and market developments, including the United States’ decision to introduce tariffs, and the…
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Nine million households need to read their meter by 1st April to avoid the risk of overpaying on their energy bills by a collective £34 million, according to research by Uswitch.com, the comparison and switching service. To avoid the higher price cap, which comes into effect on 1st April, households on standard variable tariffs (SVTs)…
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