Financial news

• Britain should warm to heat pumps like Sweden | Letter

  01-10-2024 17:47
  
  Tim Bradley says heat pumps are used extensively where he lives and wonders why they are so expensive in the UKRe your article on heat pumps in the UK (Are heat pumps the future or just a lot of hot air? 28 September), I live in the middle of Sweden, about the same latitude as the north of Scotland. Nearly all the houses in my area have air source heat pumps.When the air temperature is about 7C, these pumps give energy efficiency of between 400% and 600%. A seasonal coefficient of performance of
  
  Read more

• Monitoring UK bank accounts for benefits fraud would be ‘huge blow to privacy’

  01-10-2024 17:14
  Exclusive: privacy and rights groups fear government may resurrect Tory plan for mass algorithmic surveillanceMinisters have been urged not to resurrect Conservative plans to tackle welfare fraud by launching mass algorithmic surveillance of bank accounts.Disability rights, poverty, pensioner and privacy groups fear the government is poised to deliver a “snooper’s charter” by using automation and possibly artificial intelligence to crack down on benefit cheats and mistakes whic
  
  Read more

• Small firms face near-30% rise in water bills, Ofwat letter reveals

  01-10-2024 16:18 via theguardian.com
  
  Businesses in England and Wales say they are paying for ‘historic errors’ by water suppliersBusiness live – latest updatesSmall businesses have accused water suppliers of saddling them with the cost of “historic errors” made by bosses in the scandal-hit industry, as it emerged their prices could rise nearly 30% by 2030.The water industry regulator, Ofwat, has told businesses that it expects average wholesale charges for non-household customers – which include
  
  Read more

• Martin Lewis says energy price cap is a ‘pants cap’

  01-10-2024 14:30
  
  Consumer champion urges people to head to a price comparison website to find a cheaper dealStarmer urged to help households as energy bills rise by £149 a yearBusiness live – latest updatesThe consumer champion Martin Lewis has said that the energy price cap should be called the energy “pants cap” because there are much cheaper energy deals available.The cap is adjusted every quarter by Ofgem, the energy regulator for Great Britain, and imposes a maximum on how much suppl
  
  Read more

• Advertisement

• Avocado bathrooms are back in UK as younger homeowners go green

  01-10-2024 12:33
  
  Suppliers say gen Z and millennials are driving trend for 1970s-style fixtures as well as other bright coloursWild sage, lemon, peach, sorbet, mint, and avocado: not the makings of a bizarre fruit salad, but some of the forgotten shades of Britain’s bathrooms that were popular in the mid-20th century.The colourful suites disappeared from homes as whites and minimalist, neutral designs took over in the 1990s. But avocado-coloured bathrooms are back, and it is gen Z and millennials driving t
  
  Read more

• A death certificate isn’t enough ‘proof’ for travel insurance to meet my claim

  01-10-2024 08:00
  I had to cut my holiday short when my mother died, but now it is asking me questions I cannot answerThis summer I set off on what I had hoped would be the holiday of a lifetime to Greenland. Sadly, just two days into the trip, my mother died.I cut short the holiday and went on to make a claim on my Big Cat Travel Insurance ­policy for £6,000 and supplied the death certificate, as well as the other evidence it asked for. Continue reading...
  
  Read more

• Online retailer eBay scraps fees for private sellers in UK

  01-10-2024 07:00
  
  In latest response to rivals such as Depop and Vinted, users now only pay transaction fees on sales of vehiclesOnline retailer eBay has scrapped fees for private sellers across almost all of its categories as it attempts to keep fast-growing rivals such as Depop and Vinted at arm’s length.The move means eBay’s UK sellers no longer have to pay transaction fees, except for cars, motorcycles and other vehicles. Continue reading...
  
  Read more

• UK unions fear not all staff will get fair share as tip-sharing law comes into force

  01-10-2024 06:00
  
  New rules mean 100% of gratuities are passed on, but Unite says some staff could still be left out of pocketUnions fear some restaurants and other businesses may slip through the net of new legislation over the fair distribution of tips and service charges that comes into force in Great Britain on Tuesday.The government said the long-planned changes would mean workers would be in line for about £200m that may otherwise have been retained by employers. Continue reading...
  
  Read more

• Advertisement

Follow @financialnwsUK on Twitter!