August 2020

The owner of big six energy supplier SSE has agreed to pay £1.2 million to regulator Ofgem, after the firm missed its 2019 targets for installing smart meters.

The Government's 'Eat Out to Help Out' scheme – which gave diners 50% discounts up to £10 per person on sit-down meals out from Monday to Wednesday – ended on 31 August. But scores of restaurants, pubs and cafés are continuing to offer a similar discount at their own expense.

Holidaymakers who have booked stays in the UK with several other households are finding they are unable to get refunds for their bookings – even though travelling could go against Government coronavirus guidance.

Tesco has started charging flat fees for grocery delivery and Click & Collect slots, in a major shake-up which means cheaper times are no longer available and some customers will have to pay much more.

British Gas has paid £1.48 million in compensation after it failed to tell 100,000s of prepayment customers it was switching top-up providers.

The Money and Mental Health Policy Institute has awarded Lloyds Bank the first-ever 'Mental Health Accessible' accreditation for businesses.

The Financial Ombudsman Service has received about 3,500 coronavirus-related complaints so far this year – and issues with travel insurance providers were the most common.

The Financial Conduct Authority has said firms should consider a range of support options – including waiving or reducing payments – under new proposals to help mortgage customers who are still struggling once coronavirus-related payment holidays end on 31 October 2020.

Local authorities in England and Wales can once again use bailiffs to collect outstanding debts from today, after a five-month suspension because of coronavirus. 

More than a million patients in England paid more than they needed to for prescriptions last year and could have saved an average of £40 with an NHS 'prescription payment certificate', new data obtained by MoneySavingExpert.com reveals.