Money Blog: Money Matters

By Nic Cicutti
20 hours ago

For millions of people, the rate they earn on their savings matters a great deal. Many elderly people have taken decades to save small lumps sums worth a few tens of thousands of pounds, which they hope will provide them with an additional income throughout their retirement. Savings rates are falling sharply – and some of the interest cuts we are seeing to savings accounts owe less to Bank of England base rate falls and more to the banks’ own profiteering…

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By Annie Shaw
14 days ago

The £1.8m fine levied this week on energy supplier nPower – the third-biggest fine ever imposed by consumer watchdog Ofgem – hasn’t come a moment too soon. And the episode highlights the whole unsavoury business of ‘doorstep’ selling of energy contracts.

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By Annie Shaw
28 days ago

The excuses used by Britain’s energy giants to justify high prices are beginning to wear a bit thin now that the economy is slowing, industrial demand is falling and the price of oil is falling through the floor. Yet the Government – so eager to push around mortgage lenders – has barely intervened to right this particular state of affairs.

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By Nic Cicutti
36 days ago

When does a VAT cut on fuel turn into a tax con instead? The minute Gordon Brown and Alistair Darling unveiled yet another grubby scheme to set their mitts on our money, that’s when.

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By Nic Cicutti
46 days ago

The news today that UK rail fares are set to rise by an average of 6% may not – at face value – be particularly grave news for consumers. Yet the effects of the mooted price rises could be potentially catastrophic – and the thinking behind them is, frankly, totally mad. Let me explain…

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