June 2014

Npower has been told by Ofgem it must meet strict targets to fix billing problems and to improve its complaints procedure or face a curb on sales, after it sent ex-customers huge bills months and in some cases over a year after they'd left the firm.

It should take as little as 17 days to switch gas and electricity supplier, after regulator Ofgem backed plans to make changing energy company easier and quicker.

The Bank of England will be given greater powers to restrict mortgage loans in plans set out by Chancellor George Osborne to fix Britain's housing market.

Martin Lewis, our boss and founder and editor of MoneySavingExpert.com, has tonight been awarded an OBE for services to consumer rights and charitable services in the Queen's birthday honours list. This is a message from me on behalf of the staff at MSE following the news (he has no idea we’re even writing this).

Shoppers now have more protection when buying goods and services and greater rights when things go wrong, as the EU Consumer Rights Directive is now in force.

If you're planning to buy a fishing licence for Father's Day, make sure you avoid copycat sites otherwise you could end up paying extra purely to cover "administration" costs.

If you've got a basic bank account with Lloyds, NatWest, RBS or TSB, you'll soon be able to withdraw cash from any ATM, after the providers announced they'll lift a ban on customers using rivals' machines.

If you've sent off for a new passport, you may not get it back in time for your holiday after it emerged at least 30,000 are stuck in a backlog waiting to be dealt with.

The competition watchdog wants the cost of providing courtesy cars after an accident to be capped to try to reduce the price of insurance premiums.

The Church of England has released a rap song featuring MoneySavingExpert.com creator Martin Lewis which warns of the dangers of taking out payday loans. It comes as a regulator criticises the industry for lacking competition.