- Tuesday, January 24, 2012, 12:59
- Energy
A growing number of UK pensioners are falling into fuel poverty as a result of high gas and electricity prices, according to a new study from Age UK.
An ICM survey conducted on behalf of the charity found that nearly half of the 1,000 pensioners polled said they turned their heating down when not warm ...
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- Monday, January 16, 2012, 15:01
- Energy, Featured
More than four out of ten people are worried they will not be able to afford to pay their next fuel bill, according to Citizens Advice (CA).
The charity released the results of new research carried out to coincide with the launch of Big Energy Week which runs from today until January 21. ...
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- Wednesday, January 11, 2012, 11:56
- Consumer rights, Energy
Britain’s “big six” energy suppliers received over four million complaints from customers over the past year, according to new research from Which?.
The consumer champion found that 90% of grievances against power firms were not taken to the energy ombudsman and that tens of thousands of complaints remained unresolved after eight weeks. Which? estimates that homeowners ...
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- Friday, January 6, 2012, 15:34
- Energy
Ovo Energy has announced a 5% cut in the price of its dual-fuel fixed-tariff in response to falling wholesale prices.
The tiny independent power firm – which has a customer base of around 70,000 – said the price reduction would save the average customer around £55 a year. The reduction, which is effective from today, ...
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- Monday, December 19, 2011, 15:59
- Consumer rights, Energy
Hundreds of thousands of older people could be missing out on the government’s new fuel poverty scheme, according to a pensioners’ campaign group.
The National Pensioners' Convention (NPC) said the government and the big six energy firms are failing to properly advertise the new Warm Home Discount (WHD) program that was introduced this year.
Under the ...
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- Monday, December 12, 2011, 12:51
- Consumer rights, Energy, Featured
Complaints about the “big six” energy suppliers rocketed by 26% in the three months to the end of September, according to figures published by Consumer Focus.
Every company except Scottish Power recorded a rise in the number of complaints received, with French-owned EDF Energy posting a 91% year-on-year increase in the number of disgruntled customers it ...
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- Friday, December 2, 2011, 12:48
- Consumer rights, Energy, Featured
Fraudsters are attempting to sell rogue energy saving devices that could cause fire or electrocution to elderly home owners.
The Trading Standards Institute (TSI) has urged consumers to be on the lookout for bogus telephone cold callers trying to offload plug-in devices they claim can reduce electricity costs by as much as 40%.
The TUI issued ...
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- Wednesday, November 23, 2011, 12:53
- Energy
Fuel poverty campaigners staged a number of demonstrations in and around parliament yesterday as MPs were warned pensioners face a “catastrophic” winter.
Protesters from the Fuel Poverty Action Group carried a coffin from Parliament Square to the head offices of EDF Energy in a mock funeral procession, while activists from both Greenpeace and ...
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Comfortably off pensioners have been urged to donate their winter fuel allowance payments to elderly people on low incomes.
The ‘Surviving Winter’ campaign, which was launched this morning by the Community Foundation Network with the support of Saga, calls on wealthier over-60s to hand an amount equivalent to their allowance to a charity that ...
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- Wednesday, November 2, 2011, 13:25
- Consumer rights, Energy, Featured
It seems the only way is up for gas and electricity prices. The “big six” energy suppliers – all of which introduced double-digit price rises over the past few months – are adopting a different tact when announcing their hefty tariff hikes. Instead of blaming “rising wholesale prices”, which remain well below their 2008 peak, ...
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- Monday, October 31, 2011, 10:48
- Consumer rights, Energy
Ofgem has fined npower £2 million for failing to handle customer complaints properly.
The regulator found the energy firm was in breach of regulations that set standards for the way complaints from consumers are dealt with.
Research conducted by Ofgem found npower failed to record all the required details of the complaints it received, did not ...
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- Thursday, October 20, 2011, 12:15
- Energy, Featured
Fuel poverty will kill nearly 3,000 people in England and Wales this year as soaring energy prices prevent vulnerable people from heating their homes, according to a government-commissioned report.
The Hills Fuel Poverty Review found that if fuel poverty accounts for 10% of all winter deaths – a conservative estimate ...
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- Friday, October 14, 2011, 11:18
- Consumer rights, Energy, Featured
The net annual profit big energy firms make on each customer rose to £125 in October, says Ofgem.
The regulator announced that the average amount energy suppliers make per customer rose by 733% from £15 in June after a raft of price hikes across the industry.
Ofgem said the average dual-fuel bill has increased by ...
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Consumers are less likely to be disturbed in their homes after both British Gas and Scottish & Southern Energy announced that they had permanently ended the use of unsolicited doorstep sales techniques.
The move comes after consumer groups and an all-party Commons Energy and Climate Change Select Committee raised concerns about the tactics employed by door-to-door ...
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- Thursday, September 15, 2011, 11:52
- Economy, Energy, Household Finances
EDF Energy announced today that it will raise its gas and electricity prices by 15.4% and 4.5% respectably from 10 November.
The move makes the firm the last of the “big six” energy suppliers to introduce double-digit price hikes that have already helped push the consumer prices index to a near three-year high of 4.5%.
The company ...
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- Friday, September 2, 2011, 11:46
- Energy, Household Finances
Bone idle Brits are wasting £1 billion a year because they are too lazy to have their homes properly insulated, according to research from E.ON.
The energy giant said 10% of households are missing out on savings of up to £390 a year because they “can't be bothered” to have cavity wall ...
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- Friday, August 19, 2011, 11:27
- Energy
Energy firms have been asked to clearly explain how they calculate bills after concerns were raised that customers may have been overcharged after price rises.
The energy regulator Ofgem has written to the big six utility companies after being passed a number of customer complaints by The Times newspaper which allege suppliers billed for ...
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- Thursday, August 18, 2011, 9:31
- Energy
Energy giant npower yesterday became the fifth of the big six power firms to announce price rises.
The company, which recently reported a doubling of its profits in the first half of the year, said it will increase gas prices by an average of 15.7% and electricity by 7.2% from ...
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- Monday, August 15, 2011, 11:18
- Energy
British Gas has announced it will stop its door-to-door sales operation for a trial period of three months.
The company, Britain’s largest supplier of gas and electricity, said the 400 staff affected by the trial stoppage would be redeployed in advisory roles.
The move comes after Scottish and Southern Energy (SSE) ended its ...
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- Monday, August 8, 2011, 16:19
- Energy, Featured
Wholesale gas and electricity prices fell to their lowest level of the year last week as E.ON became the fourth of the big six energy firms to announce double-digit price rises.
The German utility company said last Friday that its gas and electricity prices would rise by 18.1% and 11.4% respectively from 13 September ...
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