Following last week’s announcement that EDF Energy is raising its prices next month, customers are being urged to switch to EDF’s online deal before their bills go up. “If I offered you the exact same product at the same price, but with a better service and more accurate bills, most people would bite your hand off in the current economic climate. However, not only do online deals such as EDF Energy’s ‘Online Saver 8’ offer this, they also cost up to £213 a year less than standard deals. Despite this, the vast majority of customers continue to pay over the odds for their energy,” says Scott Byrom from Moneysupermarket.com in The Daily Telegraph. Not all EDF customers will be able to switch, but if you can, what’s stopping you?
• Utility firms in general have come under fire this week after a survey revealed that more than 60% of customers say they haven’t received an annual usage statement. This is despite the paperwork becoming compulsory under rules from regulator Ofgem. All households were meant to receive such a statement by 1 December 2010 at the latest. This should outline your current energy plan, yearly consumption and predicted bill, any discounts that are available and advice on how to change supplier. Those who have received the statements have found them difficult to understand, according to the survey by uSwitch.com.
• Nationwide has launched a credit card that allows holders to build a commission-free buying allowance to use abroad whenever they make a purchase in sterling. The allowance will be a fifth of what the holder spends in Britain. So if a cardholder spends £1,000 in Britain over a year, then they will earn a £200 allowance so they can spend that much abroad on the card without paying commission. Overseas purchases above the allowance will be charged a 2% commission. The card has a headline rate of 15.9% APR.
• The Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors (Rics) wants the government to reform property taxes in the next Budget in order to encourage people to buy and repair their own houses. In its pre-Budget submission to the Treasury, Rics has called for a reduction in VAT on house repairs and maintenance work and for a more benign tax regime on housing.
• Halifax mortgage customers are set to receive a share of a £500m payout. Britain’s biggest mortgage lender has admitted that it potentially confused 600,000 customers about whether a cap on its standard variable rate (SVR) applied to them. Borrowers who were affected received a mortgage offer from Halifax between 20 September 2004 and 16 September 2007 and still had the mortgage in January 2009. The problem occurred over confusion that a guarantee that its SVR would not rise higher than 2% above the Bank of England base rate, was later changed to a cap of 3%. They have admitted that document wording may have confused customers. If you think you might have been affected, call Halifax on 0800-141 2146.