Gas & Electricity
How to keep your home warm as winter snap moves in
Confused.com offers homeowners advice on what needs to be done to prevent damage to their property. As the UK braces itself for a frosty Christmas, winter proofing is needed in order to give the elements a cold shoulder.
Prevent frost bite at home this winter
Frozen pipes and broken boilers are likely to cause problems in many British homes this winter and, with only 13% having home emergency insurance, many households will not be covered for such emergencies.
UK households slowly going green
As world leaders thrash out a deal on climate change in Copenhagen, latest figures from The Co-operative Bank show that UK households are slowly greening their lifestyles.
Christmas comes early courtesy of British Gas
Gareth Kloet, Head of Utilities at Confused.com comments on the new Websaver tariff from British Gas: "It's good news that British Gas has finally provided a worthy price challenger to OVO with its new Websaver 5 tariff.
Consumer Focus: Energy supplier profit margins
Consumer Focus is warning that the energy market is failing to ensure a fair deal for consumers. The warning comes as the energy regulator Ofgem's own estimates show a widening profit gap.
moneysupermarket.com: British Gas WebSaver 5
Commenting on today's UK energy market - the launch of British Gas WebSaver 5 and the plight of prepayment customers - Scott Byrom, utilities manager at moneysupermarket.com said: "With this latest product launch from British Gas Christmas has come early for UK consumers.
Thin end of wedge as £4.30 added onto electricity bills
Energy regulator Ofgem has signed off investment in the regional electricity networks that will add £4.30 a year onto household electricity bills.
Consumer Focus: Smart meter announcement
In response to today's announcement, Zoe McLeod, energy expert for Consumer Focus, said: ‘Smart meters have the potential to help bring energy customers out of the dark - by ending estimated bills and making people aware of the savings they could make.
uSwitch.com: Smart meters
uSwitch.com, the independent price comparison and switching service, welcomes today's announcement on smart meters, but believes there are still a number of issues that need to be ironed out before the launch.
UK energy system gets smart
Smart meters will be rolled out through energy suppliers to every home by the end of 2020 under final plans published by Energy and Climate Change Minister Lord Hunt. A paper setting out the case for developing smart grids in the UK is also being published.
Smart meters will save you nothing
With the government revealing its plan to install smart meters in all households by 2020, there seems to be a large amount of confusion as to the savings they will actually bring. Gareth Kloet, Head of Utilities at Confused.com comments:
Brits underestimate essential monthly bills
Brits are grossly underestimating their monthly essential spend by as much as £964, whilst at the same time overestimating how long they could survive on their assets, if they were to lose their monthly income, by a staggering five months according to a major new report.
Household appliance labels mislead consumers
Some of the top selling household appliances may not be performing in accordance with claimed standards printed on the labels, according to research by Defra.
Private rental sector needs Government help
The rental sector is increasingly seen as key to future housing strategy as production of new homes is out of line with consumer demand.
Landlords feel the benefit of British Gas
British Gas have joined forces with the National Landlords Association (NLA), the UK's leading representative body for private-residential landlords, as part of the NLA's Recognised Supplier Scheme.