As temperatures plummet energy companies are warming up to yet another round of price hikes - with electricity and gas bills predicted to rise by 10 per cent in the New Year. We look at ways to escape ever rising utility bills by exploring alternative energy sources. Jane Hannah (pictured) bought her woodburner second hand for £300.

Skiers who see themselves more as James Bond than Eddie the Eagle still need to make insurance a priority before they head for the slopes. Both confident and nervous skiers suffer serious tumbles that can cost a packet in medical bills. When Alison Laver (pictured) took a tumble in fresh snow in the French Alpine resort of Val d'Isere in February, she knew instantly she had broken her leg. But her policy came to the rescue.

The seventh generation of BMW's business-class barnstormer sets the benchmark for executive travel. It combines sure-footed, dynamic performance with sober, old-school comfort. It is faster, lighter (by 100 kg) and more fuel-efficient than the outgoing version, with marginally more bootspace and rear legroom. The 'pro' level multimedia system with a 10.5 in touch-screen is standard.

Global government bond markets are vast and affect everyone who pays tax, saves or invests. But it's often hard to tell what's going on when there's a surge in bond buying or a sell-off because the jargon used by industry insiders can be pretty impenetrable. We unscramble it here to help everyone else fathom what's going on.

When I look at my investment fund documents it tells me that I pay an annual management charge of 0.74 per cent, but how is this money taken? Does the fund manager take this money out of my individual investment or deduct it from the money that's pooled in the fund overall? Also when my fund quotes its performance and says it is up 7 per cent over the past year, is this measured before or after the fee?

Three weeks ago we answered a reader question on This is Money: The cheapest energy deal is with a provider I've never heard of, is it risky to go with them? The asking of that question, the existence of the safety net, the collapse of GB Energy, and what happens next, all combines to tell an interesting story about Britain's energy market. It's got very easy to set up an energy firm.

You may be under the impression that it's impossible to buy a property for £50,000 given the average British house price is four times that amount, but it can still be done. We've found five houses that cost less than £50,000, such as the property pictured in Bishop Auckland, which could be bought on 95% mortgage with a £2,500 deposit and a £10,500 salary.

Money Mail can reveal that people who ditch struggling small firms or fail to give up-to-date meter readings could be left as much as £400 out of pocket. Last weekend, GB Energy became the first UK power firm to go bust since 2008, blaming soaring wholesale costs. Its 160,000 customers will be passed to Co-operative Energy, which earlier this month was fined £1.8 million by the regulator for customer service failings.

Sky has announced that it will enter the UK mobile market in the New Year, as it follows its rivals BT and Virgin into the market. The London-headquartered telecommunications giant will launch SIM-only deals appealing to tech-savvy customers, with data provided instead of calls and texts. Prices are set to start at £10 a month for 1GB of data, rising to £15 for 3GB. Heavy data users can opt for 5GB at £20 a month. Sky TV customers will also get free unlimited calls and texts included in their plan for no extra cost.

One in four Britons have fallen victim to a scam at some point in their lives while three quarters worry about fraud, according to new research from Santander. With the help of Paul Wilson, a scam expert and host of BBC TV show the Real Hustle, Santander took to a shopping centre to see how easy it would be to glean information from the public.

Laird plans to raise £185m through an underwritten rights issue and scrap its 2016 dividend. It said it recognised its high level of debt and that there was limited scope to borrow more. A rights issue is when existing investors are given the opportunity to purchase more shares at a discount. Laird said the move would enable it to continue to invest in the business and deliver its cost-saving improvement programme.

Painting a gloomy picture of post-Brexit Britain, investment bank Morgan Stanley admitted its predictions should come with a 'health warning', as 'most forecasters, ourselves included, have been too pessimistic' about Brexit's economic impact.

Insiders say half of the tickets for high-demand music concerts, theatre performances and sporting events are now being bought using sophisticated touting software which works so fast that all the best seats can disappear before anyone else has had time to apply.

My car was parked when a cast iron drainpipe detached from the car park wall and fell onto it. The damage was repaired through my insurance company, More Than, but I had to pay a £250 excess. The company that owns the building admitted responsibility, and More Than received its outlay from the firm's insurer. But I cannot get back my £250 excess.

The payments industry is set for the most radical set of changes since the 1960s partly in a bid to stop the tide of fraud facing current account customers. It proposes a key new safeguard called 'confirmation of payee' which it believes will help prevent financial fraud.

Savers could be in line for a wave of top new National Savings & Investment deals. Chancellor Philip Hammond has already announced a three-year bond to go on sale in late spring. But, as well as announcing the new Savings Bond last week, the Government said it wants NS&I; to attract more money from us.

The rises of just under £4 per week and £3 per week, mean Chancellor Philip Hammond stuck to a Tory triple-lock pledge to decide annual rises in the state pension by whatever is the highest of price inflation, average earnings growth or 2.5 per cent. But he has ordered a review into the cost of the guarantee and whether it is affordable.

Four car-making giants have committed to building 400 sites across Europe to fast charge electric cars in a fraction of the time it takes today, even beating Tesla's Supercharger stations. The new installation will provide thousands of additional charging points for EV buyers to help make long-mileage trips a reality and encourage more people to adopt pure-electric models.

Customers lulled into a sense of security after two years of falling bills are in for a shock this winter, with energy costs on the rise again. All but one of the big six energy providers have bumped up the cost of their cheapest energy deals since September, according to comparison site uSwitch, while GB Energy has stopped trading.

If you are after a holiday home with a twist, this takes some beating. The classic boat dates back to the 1913 and is moored in the French capital Paris with views of the Pont Neuf bridge and the Louvre museum. It boasts a mahongany interior with a 16m living area that includes a kitchen and skylights.

By next March, the government - together with eleven pension providers coordinated by the Association of British Insurers - will have launched a prototype Pensions Dashboard . It won't be available to the public, but by 2019 the dashboard should have been rolled out to everybody. According to the Treasury's announcement in September, the Pensions Dashboard is 'a platform that lets savers see all their pension pots in one place and will help them to plan for their retirement more effectively.'

New research by MoneySuperMarket has claimed that motorists could save almost a quarter on running costs if they choose a brand new car over a used one. It says a brand new Ford Fiesta, left, at £1,210 is cheaper to run than a five-year-old Fiesta, right. We check up on what that older car could cost and whether the claims stack up once you factor in purchase price, depreciation and real-world fuel consumption?

Former Pensions Minister Steve Webb is This Is Money's Agony Uncle. He is ready to answer your questions, whether you are still saving, in the process of stopping work, or juggling your finances in retirement. This week, a reader asks if her years of marriage and as a single, working mum are correctly accounted for in her state pension.

Barclays has squared up to rival Hargreaves Lansdown by combining the clout of its online banking and investment arms to create a low cost investment platform. Current offering Barclays Stockbrokers - which is the second largest retail broker after HL - will be merged into the new service, which is called Barclays Direct Investing.

Five-year fixed rate loans are the cheapest they have ever been, on average below 3 per cent - and the best are considerably cheaper. With the gap between the average two-year fix and five-year fix at just 0.63 per cent, borrowers can now opt for security with little extra cost, but the best rates are tipped to rise soon.

To clear the average national household debt of ?13,000 at 6% interest with a monthly repayment of ?100 will take around 17 years. There are, however, plenty of simple ways to make significant savings on your regular spending that could clear your debt - or boost your savings - in less than a year. This is Money's top 50 - updated - money-saving tips may appear light-hearted but are deadly serious.

Choosing the right DIY platform is crucial but a wealth of choice and changes to charges have left many investors scratching their heads. We pick some of the best. We also highlight why investing in an Isa makes sense, as it should protect your hopefully growing investments from tax forever.

Despite endless media coverage of the political wrangling and financial speculation, the average Briton can be forgiven for remaining confused about what 'soft' and 'hard' Brexit really mean. About the difference between the 'Norway model' for the UK's post-Brexit relationship with the UK and the 'Swiss solution'. But a clever table put together by HSBC in a report called 'Is Brexit Getting Harder?' cleaves some clarity from the murk.

An interest rate cut before the end of the year looks less likely following the plunge in the pound. However, the Bank of England has indicated that higher inflation driven by rising import costs won't make it lift rates.

Musicians have seen pay rises averaging nearly 20 per cent in 2015, while cleaners are getting 17.8 per cent more, and window cleaners 12.3 per cent. Artists in general are earning 14.6 per cent more in 2015 than 2014, according to the huge annual data dump of pay scales by the Office For National Statistics highlights.