Gas bills could soar higher

The icy cold weather and snow has already struck in the UK, leaving many households having to turn up the heat in order to get warm. However, the cold snap has also caused gas prices in the country to rocket to their highest levels in eighteen months, causing concern amongst many households with regards to how they will cope with their increased bills.

With many still struggling in the continued difficult financial climate the prospect of even higher bills is one that will create concern and stress. The freezing temperatures has meant that households have had no option but to increase their heating, and on 5^th December demand for gas was 25 percent higher than it was on the same day last year, and the third highest daily amount on record.

The temperatures have hit unprecedented lows for this time of the year in many parts of the country, and this has seen demand for gas amongst households and businesses rocket.          The National Grid reported a huge increase in demand for power, and the surge in demand created concern in wholesale markets, sending the price of gas surging to its highest level in eighteen months at sixty two pence per therm, which reflected an increase of eleven pence.

With more and more people staying in the home to avoid the cold, turning up the heating, and trying to keep warm, energy bills are likely to rocket, and officials have warned that households need to brace themselves for a sharp increase in costs.

An official from Consumer Focus said: “We’ve been expecting it any day. If this cold weather continues causing high demand, the question is how much more will they need to go out and buy on the spot market. Our fear in these situations is that gas companies are able to talk up price rises on the back of unusual weather. We really wouldn’t want to see further rises because of this cold snap.”

Tags: rocket, eleven pence, freezing, energy bills, Heating, Snow

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The government watchdog, the Office of Fair Trading, has been calling for a review of the bank account system in the UK, claiming that consumers are often getting a raw deal because arrangement that are currently in existence when it comes to the eight billion pound bank account market were simply not adequate. The OFT went on to state that banks were not clear enough about the charges that were applied to customers’ accounts, which makes things confusing for accountholders. Read more

Tags: bank accounts, year, rocket, bank fees, trading, number