Don’t put up with the energy price increases

Many households have received something of a financial shock over recent weeks, with notifications from their energy suppliers that the cost of energy usage is set to increase. For those who have not yet been notified it is pretty much certain that they will soon be receiving their notifications, with gas and electricity prices being hiked up by a significant level for some customers.

However, officials are urging consumers not to simply accept the energy price increases, and instead to shop around for a better deal and leave their current supplier. More and more consumers are now said to be doing this, as they refuse to pay out more and more money each month in the current difficult climate. For many the effort of looking for another supplier is well worth it, as they can save a significant amount of money compared to what they would be paying if they went along with the price increases that their existing supplier is imposing.

Officials have said that if customers are now happy about the level by which their energy prices have increased they can contact their supplier and advise them that they do not wish to remain with them. Consumers will have to contact their suppliers within twenty days of the notification to advise them that they want to leave. The consumer then has fifteen days to find a new supplier, and during this time will remain with the existing provider and on the existing tariff.

Using a price comparison website you can browse and compare different suppliers in your area at a glance, so if you are informed by your existing supplier that your prices are going up, and you feel that you can get a better deal, it is well worth taking the time to compare different providers and deals to see whether you can get a better price on the cost of your energy usage.

If you are able to get a more affordable deal with a different provider you can then contact your existing provider, advise that you wish to leave, and you can then sign up to the cheaper provider, which means that your finances will not be hit so hard by energy price increases.

Many consumers are surprised by the amount that they are able to save on their gas and electricity bills each year by switching to another provider or deal, and this can sometimes amount to several hundred pounds a year.

Tags: happy, cheaper provider, Smart grid, Dot-com, Scottish Power, GBP, bills, different suppliers

Now may be the time for British Gas customers to make the switch

British Gas has recently announced that around half a million of its customers are set to receive higher bills as a result of a special scheme coming to an end. The customers are those that signed a deal in 2005 by taking up the Price Freeze 2010 plan, which effectively froze their payments for a five year period up until this year.

The customers that did take up the deal managed to avoid the price hikes that were seen in 2006 and 2008, and on average saved several hundred pounds a year compared to those that were not on the plan. However, the scheme is now coming to an end, and this could see the bills of these customers increase sharply.

British Gas is writing to some customers and putting them automatically on a new price freeze plan up until 2012, although the cost per unit on this plan will be higher than it was on the plans that were signed back in 2005. Those that do not want to automatically switch to the plan are being advised to contact British Gas to let the company know, and they will then be moved to the energy supplier’s standard tariff.

Form those that are not going to switch to another scheme with British Gas it may be worth looking at the charges of other suppliers in the area to see if they can get a better deal on the cost of their gas and electricity usage than they would be being moved to the standard tariff from British Gas.

Talking of the customers that fixed their prices in 2005 one industry official said: ‘Everything fell into place for these customers. They fixed at the right time, for the right price and for the right length of time.’

Tags: energy supplier, switch, bills, price, british gas

Water bills to soar over the next two decades

One of the UK’s biggest water suppliers, Severn Trent, has said that water bills are likely to soar over the next two decades. The water supplier predicts that over the next twenty years the cost of water bills will soar around 27 percent above inflation.

The supplier has put the increase down to rising operating costs and EU regulations, both of which it claims will cost the industry billions of pounds. The water industry was privatised in 1989, and since that time has made huge profits from increasing bills. However, despite the price increases water companies are said to have failed to carry out repairs and offered a poor level of customer service.

Severn Trent said that rules that have now been brought in by regulators will results in billions of pounds having to be spent over the coming years, and these operating costs are going to prove hard to handle by the water suppliers. The company said that the rising costs that would be incurred by the water industry would have to be passed on to customers, who would see their water bills rocket as a result.

An official from Severn Trent stated: ‘It is not clear such a continued high level of investment is sustainable in terms of whether it can be financed, whether customers are willing to pay for it and the detrimental impact on carbon emissions.’

The water regulator Ofwat has also ordered water suppliers to place a cap on bills over the next five year, with Severn Trent being told to cut its bills by 4 percent, which will also hit the supplier hard. The rising cost of borrowing, which is a problem for all businesses, is also going to play a part in the higher costs that customers will face.

Tags: business, year, water, costs, Severn Trent, water bills, bills

Is fixing your bills a good idea in light of interest rate rises?

The recent interest rate rises enforced by the Bank of England have hit many homeowners really hard, leaving them with very little in the way of finances due to rising repayments. In light of these rises, many people are now wondering whether it might be a good idea to fix not only their mortgage but also other payments as well in order to benefit from increased financial stability.

Interest rates have gone up five times in the past year, with rises of 0.25% each time, and each of these rate rises has added a significant amount to the repayments of many homeowners, pushing many into the red. With these increased repayments along with the threat of further interest rate rises some experts feel that fixing as many payment as possible, including a mortgage, could prove beneficial in terms of financial management, although others feel that this could prove costly in the long run, particularly when interest rates start to fall again.

One industry expert stated: ‘Having certainty of monthly outgoings is worth its weight in gold, especially for people who are stretching themselves to take out the loan. People have been buying two year fixes, but with arrangement fees and other costs so high, we are now seeing more three and five-year fixes being taken out to avoid paying these fees so regularly.’

Another stated: ‘Fixed rates are going up as lenders factor in possible future base rate rises. Trackers are cheaper, but you have to accept that the rates are likely to go up before coming down, so you have to make sure you can afford higher monthly payments. The rates for three and five-year fixes are quite similar, so the key is to do your homework to get the best deal and make sure you are clear how long you want the fix to last for.’

Tom Smith
1st August 2007

Tags: increase, debt, pay, interest, bills, rate

Happy birthday debit card

This beginning of June marks the twentieth anniversary of the debit card in the UK.

It is difficult to imagine how the nation managed without the debit card, but until 1987 this is exactly what we did. At the beginning of June 1987 Barclays launched its Connect Card, revolutionizing the way that consumers accessed their cash. Soon bank customers everywhere were able to access their money instantly and easily, as well as being able to make purchases quickly and conveniently.

Within a year of the launch of the Barclays Connect Card, a million debit cards had been circulated in the UK, and this has steadily grown over the years with nearly seventy million debit cards now in circulation, two decades after the initial launch. According to APACS around 143 purchases per second are now made through the use of a debit card in the UK, with people paying for everything from holidays and electrical to petrol and groceries with their plastic.

Debit cards are more popular than credit cards in the UK, and 85 percent of consumers in the UK have a debit card compared to 66 percent of consumers that own a credit card. Nearly seven billion transactions each year are carried out on debit cards.

A spokesman from Barclays stated: “The massive change when debit cards were introduced was that people were able to leave their chequebooks at home. It gave people the convenience to access their current accounts anywhere in the world. It was a massive convenience for the retailer as well.”

He added: “Without payments moving to an electronic platform, internet retailing could not have taken off. The ability to make a payment accurately without having to send off a cheque has created this online channel for retailers.”

Tom Smith
12th June 200

Tags: shopping, switch, payments, bills, pay

Online banking is booming

Ten years ago the Nationwide Building Society started the huge phenomenon that has become online banking.

And as we reach a decade of banking via the Internet it seems that this method of dealing with finances and applying for banking services has become more popular than ever. There have been some concerns over the ease of banking fraud via the Internet, but with increasingly stringent safety measures in place and customers becoming savvier than ever when it comes to security, online banking continues to thrive.

One of the UK’s leading banks, HSBC, as reported an increase of fifty five percent in terms of its online business. According to recent figures around eighteen million people in the UK now use the Internet to deal with their finances and manage their bank accounts, and HSBC alone has received nearly two billion visits.

At a recent Annual General Meeting the chief executive of HSBC stated: “More and more of our personal and commercial customers are seeing the benefits of buying online. Our websites handled 1.8 billion visits last year and online sales increased by 55 per cent.”

He also stated that the bank was starting to move more towards interaction with customers through the Internet rather than through the branch.

A number of banks that are trying to encourage customers to deal with them online have offered various incentives and rewards such as increased interest rates on savings and bonuses – this is because it is easier, faster, and more time effective for banks to deal with customers in this way rather than through a branch.

When banking online customers can make bill payments, transfer cash, check balances, apply for services such as credit cards and loans, set up and cancel direct debits and standing order, and more.

Tom Smith
11th June 2007

Tags: payments, bank, transfers, online, accounts, services