Household Bills | Household Expenses

With holiday season in full swing and the school break fast approaching, moneysupermarket.com advises how to make the most of your mobile phone abroad and avoid the traps when using internet enabled handsets or dongles.

British Gas has unveiled plans to create 2,600 skilled new jobs by 2012. The new recruits will lead the roll-out of smart meter technology across Britain - the biggest revolution in home energy use for decades.

Energy regulator Ofgem has urged suppliers to up their game in complaint handling as consumer research found less than one in four customers were satisfied with the way gripes were dealt with.

Consumers are being left confused, badly informed and potentially vulnerable to debt because of the poor quality of some major household bills, according to uSwitch.com, the independent price comparison and switching service.

The results from 774 respondents to ISPreview.co.uk's latest survey reveals that 58.6% of UK consumers are still not satisfied with the broadband speed they receive from their current ISP and 55.2% would be willing to pay extra for “significantly faster” performance.

Energy customers are being overcharged by a combined £1.66 billion this year (£74 per household), as declining wholesale costs have not been fully passed on by suppliers, according to research by Consumer Focus.