With energy bills on their way up again from April, homeowners are looking skywards to try and ease the pressure on their budgets – by installing solar panels. The latest change to the regulator’s cap on default tariffs means, from spring, that the average annual dual-fuel bill will go up to £1,971, an increase of 54% on current levels. And with homeowners increasingly working from home, and...
High fuel prices and shortages at the pumps continue to affect motorists, with those in rural areas with poor transport links hit particularly hard. They come amid a wave of protests by environmental activists blockading fuel distribution terminals. A spokesperson for the UK Petroleum Industry Association sought to minimise the impact of the protests, describing the disruptions as “localised and...
Thousands of people have taken to the streets in the UK in protest against the sharp rise in energy prices, as a cabinet minister said the government could not “completely nullify” the increases. Demonstrations took place on Saturday, including one near Downing Street in central London where crowds gathered to hear speeches, including from former Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn. Other protests took...
Citigroup, one of the world’s biggest banks, is planning to hire a further 400 people in Northern Ireland. That’s according to the firm’s country manager James Bardrick who, in an interview with Bloomberg, said he is keen to continue growing the business’s base in the province in the coming years. It currently has more than 3,200 people, building out the business significantly since first...
Wendy and Steve Knight installed an air source heat pump (ASHP) heating system in their Grade II-listed, 18th century home in Hunton, North Yorkshire, and say they could not be happier with it. Prior to its installation in the summer of 2020, they were relying on an oil-fired boiler and spending about £1,000 a year on two oil tanker deliveries. On top of that they were spending about £900 a year...
Householders are being encouraged to ditch their old gas and oil-fired boilers and replace them with new clean, green heat pumps. In the run-up to the Cop26 climate summit, the UK government has set out plans to offer grants to help households install air source heat pumps and other low-carbon heating systems over the next three years. Central and hot water heating accounts for about 20% of the...
A “world first” green savings bond from National Savings and Investments (NS&I) goes on sale today, giving people the chance to back the government’s environmental projects and join the fight against climate breakdown. But at 0.65% fixed for three years, the interest rate prompted widespread disappointment, with the MoneySavingExpert.com founder Martin Lewis labelling it “pants” and “paltry”...
People in the UK using contactless cards can now spend up to £100 a time after the limit on payments more than doubled on Friday. At the start of the pandemic the cap was increased to £45 to reduce the need for customers to handle cards and cash because of concerns about the virus being transmitted via surfaces. The latest increase, announced in March’s budget, will not be available everywhere...
Millions of savers with NS&I have been dealt a blow after it announced it would slash interest rates in November and cut the Premium Bonds prize fund a month later. Savers with NS&I’s popular direct saver account will receive a cut in rates from 1% to just 0.15%, while the return on income bonds – which had been best buys – will plummet from 1.15% to 0.01%. The government-backed...
Shoppers are being sold short when expensive electrical goods break down. If a TV or fridge packs up just one day after an initial one-year guarantee, customers are told they have to pay for the repair – but the truth is that retailers may be liable for up to six years. Consumer experts say retailers are exploiting ambiguous legislation to wriggle out of their responsibilities. Ministers...