Energy

Octopus Energy has increased the price of its standard tariff by 11% – though it says former Iresa customers are protected from the hike. 

Water companies should be allowed to force households to install water meters, an influential group of MPs has said.

Millions of British Gas customers will see their bills rise again from today – so act now to save £100s/year.

Citizens Advice has lodged a 'super complaint' with the competition watchdog after finding that customers who remain loyal to firms are overpaying by £4 billion a year. The charity says the practice of overcharging loyal customers is ongoing and widespread, and has called on the Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) to "act now to stop people being exploited". Research by the charity has found that British consumers are losing £4.1 billion a year across the mobile, broadband, home insurance, mortgages and savings markets to the so-called 'loyalty penalty'. It says eight out of 10 consumers pay a significantly higher price to at least one of their providers for remaining with them. To overhaul your finances and save £1,000s, see our Money Makeover guide. What is a 'super complaint'? A super complaint can be made by a Government-designated consumer group to ask a regulator to investigate an issue or a market that it believes is working against the public interest. The regulator must publicly respond to the complaint within 90 days saying if it believes it is an issue, and how it intends to deal with it. This is the fourth super complaint Citizens Advice has made since being given the power to submit them in 2002.

Eleven energy firms have been rapped by Ofgem over how they handle complaints, after the regulator found more than half of customers remain unhappy with how issues have been dealt with.

Energy regulator Ofgem has ordered big six provider Npower to co-operate with its upcoming collective switch trial, aimed at helping thousands of the supplier's customers to find a better deal. 

Gas and electricity supplier Green Star Energy has paid almost £680,000 to more than 8,800 customers and Ofgem's fund for vulnerable consumers following a number of failings.

Ovo Energy customers on its standard tariff will see prices rise by up to £135 a year for a typical dual-fuel home, after it announced its second hike of the year. 

Economy Energy is hitting thousands of customers with an astonishing £300+/year rise – but many will be able to escape it by switching away, or in some cases an admin blunder means they'll beat the hike.  The fact the price is rising is not a surprise, as most energy firms are increasing costs. What is shocking is the scale of the rise, which is as big as we can remember in recent years. While on average it will lead to a rise of £311/yr on typical use – 38% – some are set to be hit with an increase of up to £460/yr. The hike hits on Sunday 7 October. As it's a variable tariff you can at least switch penalty-free, but we have learned scores of bill-payers were wrongly told it was actually a fixed deal whereby the price per unit of energy was fixed for a year. This admin blunder was made in a 'welcome' email sent by Economy Energy. After MoneySavingExpert.com got involved, Economy Energy told us by phone it would not levy the hike on anyone who could prove they got this email (see it below, with the important lines highlighted). But since, when we've asked for confirmation in writing all throughout this week, it's gone quiet, which we find outrageous. However, some MoneySavers who got this email have told us they've successfully challenged the rise.

Cheap energy deals are disappearing fast with the lowest fixed deal up by more than £70/year since this time last month, MoneySavingExpert.com can reveal.