Financial news

• Ofgem’s voluntary code on prepayment meters seems a bit of a mess | Nils Pratley

  18-04-2023 19:38
  
  Can energy suppliers really assess people’s medical conditions? And why has the age bar been set as high as 85?A voluntary code on involuntary installations sounds like a muddle. That impression is reinforced when reading the detail of Ofgem’s attempt to put a stop to some energy suppliers’ thuggish approach to fitting prepayment meters.You have to be aged 85 or over and living alone, or be extremely incapacitated or severely or terminally ill, to be in the “high risk&rdq
  
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• PPT, LVT, IHT – which is fairer than council tax? | Letters

  18-04-2023 18:39
  
  Carol Wilcox, Jeremy Scroxton and Linda Buckingham respond to proposals to replace local government funding arrangementsRe Larry Elliott’s article (A property tax based on annually uprated values would be a gamechanger, 9 April), a proportional property tax (PPT) is indeed fairer than council tax. In particular, it reverses the bizarre taxing of occupants rather than owners. But it wastes an opportunity to improve the whole UK property tax system. According to the Office for National Stati
  
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• Visitor tax will make it harder to afford a holiday | Letter

  18-04-2023 18:38
  
  Such a tax is regressive and will hit those on low incomes, say Jill Hughes and Neil Martinson, who run a hostel in SnowdoniaYour support for a “visitor tax” (Editorial, 10 April) glosses over the realities of the cost of living crisis and the continuing impact of the pandemic. It fails to recognise that not all visitors are equal. There is a vast difference in disposable income between a family holidaying in a caravan, a single person in well-paid work heading off for a weekend, or
  
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• Right to buy has cost London’s communities dearly | Letter

  18-04-2023 18:38
  
  Liz du Parcq responds to an article by Aditya Chakrabortty on how the heart of the city has been hollowed out and no longer serves familiesAditya Chakrabortty makes many valid points, but does not mention right to buy, a policy introduced by Margaret Thatcher in 1980 to break up council estates (Disappearing schools, families forced out – and we call this progress, 13 April).Since 1850, philanthropic organisations and councils have built decent housing close to the centre of London for peo
  
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• Exam marking boycott by UK university staff could delay graduations this summer

  18-04-2023 17:50
  
  University and College Union to go ahead with industrial action after members reject offer on pay and working conditionsStudents face potential delays in their degree results and graduations this summer after the University and College Union said it would go ahead with industrial action over pay that could result in exams and essays being left unmarked.While UCU members called a halt to the union’s long-running dispute over pensions, after 85% voted to accept a deal to improve retirement b
  
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• ‘It’s scandalous’: UK shoppers on how inflation has hit their favourite products

  18-04-2023 17:00
  
  Inflation may drop below 10% on Wednesday, but many items have risen even higher than the headline rateThe UK inflation rate could drop out of double digits for the first time since last summer when the Office for National Statistics releases figures for March on Wednesday, with the headline rate expected to fall back to 9.8% from 10.4% in February.Despite the predicted fall, the headline rate of inflation has been stuck at 40-year highs for months and is well above the Bank of England’s o
  
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• Game of Thrones stars challenge big banks over fossil fuel links

  18-04-2023 11:37
  
  Kit Harington and Rose Leslie attend ‘couples therapy’ in Richard Curtis film for Make My Money MatterThe Game of Thrones stars and real-life couple Kit Harington and Rose Leslie are co-starring in a Richard Curtis short film highlighting the “toxic relationship” between UK high street banks and the fossil fuel industry.The Couples Therapy film is part of Curtis’s Make My Money Matter campaign to raise awareness of how consumers’ cash may be financing industri
  
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• Great news for savers as bank hikes interest rates on range of accounts - ‘high returns!'

  18-04-2023 11:33 via express.co.uk
  
  Savers are likely to be delighted by one bank increasing interest rates across the majority of its accounts.
  
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• PIP claimants call for £650 payment and energy bill help for utilities and food

  18-04-2023 11:32 via express.co.uk
  
  Two petitions calling for additional cost of living support for vulnerable Britons have together had more than 40,000 signatures.
  
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• Over a quarter of Brits feel they are wasting money on social media inspired impulse buys

  18-04-2023 11:30 via express.co.uk
  
  Consumers could save up to £136 per person if they switch their social media shopping to second-hand items, rather than buying new.
  
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• Inheritance tax: Seven-year rule can cut your bill to zero - but how does it work?

  18-04-2023 10:45 via express.co.uk
  
  Britons could be left with a hefty inheritance tax bill just because they are not aware of gifting the gifting rules, so what are they?
  
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• Why state pension payments may not increase until May as sum rises by 10.1%

  18-04-2023 10:29 via express.co.uk
  
  State pension payments have increased - but Britons may not feel this in their pocket until next month.
  
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• Council housing at risk of disappearing altogether — map shows areas dwindling quickest

  18-04-2023 10:28 via express.co.uk
  
  The number of social housing properties owned by local authorities in England has halved from just over three million in 2000 to 1.5 million today.
  
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• 'State pension shouldn't be taxed': Fury as HMRC stealth raid eats up 10.1% pension hike

  18-04-2023 09:42 via express.co.uk
  
  Express readers have reacted with anger and frustration as rocketing tax bills and prices eat up this year's state pension increase.
  
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• State pension warning as age change may leave over 60s waiting longer for free bus pass

  18-04-2023 09:36 via express.co.uk
  
  Millions of older Britons will be forced to wait longer for a free bus pass if state pension changes go ahead.
  
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• Grant Shapps predicts Britons will soon ‘shop around’ for energy as bills continue to fall

  18-04-2023 09:18 via express.co.uk
  
  Energy Secretary Grant Shapps said he wants prices to fall to a "competitive" level where Britons no longer have to worry about them.
  
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• Barclays branch closures slammed - ‘I’ll have to make a 60 minute trip with charges!’

  18-04-2023 09:01 via express.co.uk
  
  EXCLUSIVE: A business director has communicated her worry concerning the closure of a Barclays branch, saying it will impact her and others in her community.
  
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• New prepayment meter rules must be properly enforced, says Grant Shapps

  18-04-2023 08:58
  
  Suppliers in Great Britain have agreed code banning them from installations in homes of over-85sThe energy secretary, Grant Shapps, has urged Ofgem to turn words “into action” to ensure new industry rules designed to protect vulnerable people from being forced on to prepayment meters are properly enforced.The Guardian revealed on Monday that all energy suppliers in Great Britain had signed up to a code of conduct banning them from putting the meters in the homes of people aged 85 and
  
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• Cost of British food basics increases by up to 80% in a year

  18-04-2023 01:01
  
  Cheddar and budget sausages sold by Asda were highest risers, with supermarkets’ prices for oats and skimmed milk also soaringThe price of staple foods such as cheddar cheese, white bread and pork sausages has soared by up to 80% in some shops over the past year, in further evidence of how inflation is hitting those on the tightest budgets the hardest.Porridge oats topped the price increase ranking among a basket of British basics measured by the consumer group Which?, with prices up by an
  
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