Massive fine for insurance broker over cancelled policies

A well known insurance company has been accused of treating customers unfairly, and as a result has been fined £735,000 by the Financial Services Authority, the UK’s financial regulatory body. The insurance firm, Hastings Insurance Services Ltd, was found to have cancelled the policies of customers after finding that the cover had been sold to the customers too cheaply due to a computer error. Read more

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Homeowners ‘can’t afford to be passive’ about energy deal

As energy prices rise homeowners “can’t afford to be passive” about the tariffs they are charged by their electricity suppliers, according to an industry watchdog.

Energywatch said that despite the rising prices, consumers should certainly shop around for the best tariffs, particularly those who are still with their existing provider as new customers receive more competitive deals.

Georgina Walsh, spokesperson for energywatch, said: “It’s well worth switching because you can probably save at least £100, even if you change to another supplier on the same tariff.”

If increasing numbers of consumers switched it would encourage providers to become more competitive, she added.

With combined household bills for electricity and gas reaching an estimated £1,000 per year, Ms Walsh called for more consumers to be more proactive.

Last week E.ON became the fifth of the ‘big six’ energy suppliers to raise its prices in response to reported price rises on wholesale gas and electricity.

Npower, British Gas, EDF Energy and Scottish Power have all raised their prices by over ten per cent this year.

Tags: gas, consumers, energy, power, energywatch, Npower, industry watchdog, Ms Walsh