Cost of living & bills

British Gas has further extended its offer of half price electricity over winter, and customers can also make savings on Christmas Day itself. The energy supplier introduced its PeakSave Sundays offer over the summer, in a bid to get its customers to use power outside of peak hours in the evenings.

'Push off.' That's what the awkward shop could legitimately say to Auntie Vera when she attempts to return the sub-standard cherry stone extractor you generously gifted to her for Christmas. Auntie would be far too embarrassed to report to you that the gift was rubbish. How do you get round the problem? Retired judge Stephen Gold is here to help...

As the mercury plummets, insurance and repair experts are warning of the risk of water pipes freezing and bursting. Pipes that crack in this way can release up to 15 gallons of water a minute, causing immense damage to walls, floors and contents.

Why does the onus now fall on us, the paying shopper, to scan items and pack bags as we're directed like sheep into a payment pen? It's time to fightback ahead of Christmas and dodge the retailers forcing us to do the hard work, and have loyalty cards or else face far higher prices.

Household energy prices are set to rise in January, adding an extra £94, or 5%, to a typical annual bill. The new price cap, set by the energy regulator Ofgem, will see households pay a steep £1,928 on average. But improving the insulation in your home could counter the price rise - and even reduce your annual bills.

Tesco's Clubcard and Sainsbury's Nectar Prices are to be scrutinised by the UK's competition watchdog in a probe into supermarket loyalty schemes. The move comes alongside the CMA revealing separately that it had found evidence of profiteering by big name brands during the inflationary surge.

This Is Money revealed that some households have waited weeks to receive their post, which often arrives in large bundles. We hear from posties across Britain that packages take precedence and customers buying first-class stamps are paying a premium for something they're unlikely to receive.

Ofgem said the current £1,834-a-year average price-capped bill had to rise by 5 per cent because of increasing gas and electricity costs. The current price cap sets the energy bills paid by more than 80 per cent of UK homes, though the exact amount varies depending on gas and electricity use.

Chancellor Jeremy Hunt has announced a cut in National Insurance for millions of workers, among other measures intended to boost growth in today's Autumn Statement. We look at what it will mean for your take-home pay and the wider economy.

Many online shops are rushing to join the likes of Amazon and employing sophisticated tech to hike prices at times of heavy demand - such as the run-up to Christmas. Thanks to clever algorithms and AI, the cost of things is often adjusted hour by hour, she says. If you suspect the algorithm knows you're checking a site or have been there before, you're right. It does.

The money will stay invested until they turn 18. But with years of investment growth, they stand to inherit close to a six-figure sum. My cousins and I are left wondering how we prepare our children to be sensible when they receive this money. Do we tell them, and risk it curbing their ambition to earn for themselves when they know payday is coming? Or should it be an 18th birthday surprise? I would familiarise yourself with common mistakes in wills before you meet with a solicitor. Consider who you want to inherit your estate, at what age and who will manage the money in the intervening years. And get good legal advice.

A third of shoppers experienced a problem with a parcel in the last month, either because of late delivery or parcels being left in insecure locations, according to Citizens Advice. Alongside its research, the charity has published its parcel delivery rankings, which shows major parcel firms have delivered a dire service for the third year running.

With the future of standing charges in doubt, experts are calling for the fees to be scrapped for some customers, for regional unfairness to be fixed and for more help for vulnerable households. These daily fees have risen by up to 60% in two years, heaping unavoidable costs on households during the ongoing cost of living crisis.

Sarah Robinson (pictured), a paediatric nurse, has been left with no heating, hot water, light or any means of cooking for days following Ovo Energy bungles. Sarah is among hundreds of Ovo customers who have written to us in recent months about billing errors. In many cases, customers are receiving bills that are hundreds, or even thousands, of pounds higher than they believe they should be

Royal Mail has been handed a £5.6m fine by Ofcom for missing its delivery targets. But Ofcom's intervention will come as no surprise to the households up and down the country that have been affected by delayed post. It needs to get it right at local delivery offices, not just head office.

The Mercia Health Benefit Plan run by healthcare giant Bupa is due to close on 31 December, with surprised customers being told just months ago. The healthcare giant said not enough customers still have the plan to keep it open, but some have been left feeling abandoned.

Sixty per cent of over 60s with a household income of £20,000 or less have cut back on heating or powering their homes in order to make ends meet, research claims. As the cold weather kicks in, 8.9million, or 54 per cent, of over 60s are worried about being able to pay their energy bills this winter, Age UK said. One unnamed 72-year-old man, ineligible for pension credit, told Age UK: 'I don't know how I am going to manage.'

In his guide to bankruptcy, Stephen Gold has previously explained how to stave off creditors. Today he looks at a further three tactics to use while you find the cash to meet their demands. 'You could always try the 'Beanless Defence' - that's what only I call it so don't describe it as such to the judge or you will get 200 lines.' he says.

Grocery inflation is falling and every supermarket chain in the UK has 'upped the ante' on promotions in the last year, new findings from Kantar reveal. For the first time in a decade, all of the UK's top grocers increased the proportion of sales through deals in the last year, when compared to the previous 12 months. The promotional push comes as Kantar revealed UK grocery inflation has fallen to single digits for the first time since July 2022.

We received a bulk of post which was two-three weeks late. In among this, we had a penalty for a charge for a parking sent to us three weeks earlier, which meant we couldn't pay the reduced cost. We challenged Royal Mail and they said they couldn't compensate us because it wasn't a special delivery.

I have £6,120 of incorrect energy bill charges dating back to 2013 which I am still trying to put right. My gas was supplied by Npower for many years, but was taken over by Eon in 2019. An outstanding bill connected to my old, broken meter was never sorted out before the takeover, so I am still being pursued for a bill based on pre-2016 meter readings. The new supplier is now adding defaults to my credit file.