Cost of living latest: Cadbury scraps chocolate bar after fall in demand; best and worst motorway services revealed (2024)

Winter can be a particularly difficult time for many households - especially because of the current high energy prices.

As the colder months start to set in, some of the country's largest energy providers have announced a raft of measures to help ease the burden on struggling families.

Sebrina McCullough, head of external relations at Money Wellness, said: "Don’t be afraid to ask for help because the support is there."

Here, the advice site has created a round-up of the top seven energy support packages available.

British Gas

British Gas is offering the UK's biggest ever energy support package with £100m worth of help available to those facing financial hardship.

Eligible customers will be able to get:

• Grants of up £1,500 aimed at those struggling to pay bills
• £250 of non-repayable credit for those on repayment meters
• Debt write-off for customers who have no reasonable means to repay.

Visit its websitefor details of what's available to you.

Shell Energy

Shell Energy has confirmed it will price match the £150 customers receive from the Warm Home Discount - meaning you'll get £300 towards your bill in total.

You don't need to do anything to get the extra money. If you get help from the Warm House Discount, Shell will automatically apply it to your account.

However, you'll only be eligible if you joined Shell on or after 22 August 2022.

E.ON Next

E.ON Next is offering a range of help for vulnerable customers from now until the end of winter in March 2024, including:

• 25% off standard variable prices for customers with no existing debt
• 50% off standard variable prices for customers with existing energy debt who sign up to the support scheme. Customers' debt will be written off at the end of the term if they keep on top of payments
• The E.ON Next Pledge tariff which tracks the price cap and will remain £50 below the cap.

To be eligible for help, you must be an existing E.ON Next customer with a household income of less than £19,00 a year. Customers with certain medical dependency needs with household incomes under £31,000 will also be able to apply for help.

EDF

EDF has committed to rolling back the price of standing charges to their April 2021 levels for its most vulnerable customers.

Around 260,000 customers claiming the Warm Homes Discount will be eligible for the roll back, which will be applied to your account as a £30 credit in December.

OVO

OVO is offering a range of free financial and practical support including smart thermostats as well as electric throws and boiler servicing.

The support package is open for applications from 16 October.

Octopus Energy

The energy challenger is offering 10,000 free electric blankets to eligible customers.

They're asking customers who can afford it to buy one for themselves but will cover the cost for vulnerable customers such the elderly, those with mobility issues or other medical conditions who are impacted more by the cold.

The offer is limited to one blanket per household.

Utility Warehouse

The UW Hardship Fund is offering financial assistance for eligible customers, as well as advice on budget planning, benefit entitlement support and efficient energy advice.

If you're a regular reader of this blog, then you'll know we bring you the top savings accounts of the week every Thursday.

Here are this week's best accounts, according to Moneyfacts' Caitlyn Eastell.

Monument Bank – 35 Day Notice Account

Minimum opening amount: £25,000

"Monument Bank has increased the rate on its 35-day notice account this week. It is available to those who can invest £25,000 upfront, paying a rate of 5.10% gross / 5.22% AER.

"This account may be an attractive option for savers looking to supplement their income and happy to give notice to access their funds.

"To open and manage this account, savers will need to do so via the mobile app. However, they must note that the initial investment should be made within the first 14 days of account opening or it may automatically close."

JN Bank – Three Year Fixed Term Savings Account

Minimum opening amount: £1,000

"Paying a rate of 5.97% gross, this scoops the lead position in the top 10 in its respective sector, so those who are comfortable with locking away their investments for a guaranteed return on their savings may well find this an attractive option.

"Savers may be glad to hear up to 11 additional deposits can be made after initial funding for 14 days from account opening."

Close Brothers Savings – 1 Year Fixed Rate Cash ISA

Minimum opening amount: £10,000

"This account pays an attractive 5.65%, taking a position within the top 10 when compared to other fixed ISAs of a similar term and may attract savers who are prepared to lock away their cash for a guaranteed return.

"However, savers should note that earlier access is permitted subject to 90 days' loss of interest and account closure."

Moneybox – Moneybox Cash ISA

Minimum opening amount: £500

"The deal pays a rate of 5.00%, payable on its anniversary and may appeal to savers who want flexibility and instant access to their ISA.

"This account also includes a bonus of 0.85% for the first 12 months, which may appeal to savers. However, investors must note that if they make more than three withdrawals per annum the rate drops significantly to 0.75%."

It might feel early for some, but supermarkets are already gearing up for the Christmas period.

Tesco says it has bought in more turkeys this year as customers are feeling "more optimistic" than they were last year.

"I think people are determined to enjoy Christmas this year," said managing director Ken Murphy.

"We're buying up on turkeys because we believe that people will want to celebrate more together and spend more time with friends and family."

He added the impact of rising interest rates hasn't been as bad as he initially feared.

"You've definitely got some people rolling off mortgages but less than you would have thought initially, and the new rates are also coming down," he said.

"I'm sure that it will be challenging for a number of families, but overall we think the customer is in good shape for this Christmas."

UK mobile users are paying for an average of 22.1 GBs per month as part of their monthly package - despite only using around 11.7 GBs, according to new data fromUswitch.

To put this into real-world context, streaming for an hour on NetflixHD would use around 3 GBs

With the average cost of data being 29p per GB, this equates to £3.02 per mobile user per month - meaning more than £190mis wasted on data every month.

"Decisions around data allowance can feel tricky for many consumers, as they may not know if they're a light or a heavy data user," Uswitch mobiles expert Ernest Doku said.

"You don't want to get caught short, but you also don't want to pay for something you’re not using."

Here are his top tips to help make sure you keep your spending under control.

1. Check your data allowance
This means finding out how much data you're using each month - you can usually see if you log into your mobile network account.

If you're often left with lots of unused data, you're probably paying for a tariff that isn't best suited to your needs.

2. Dig deeper into data usage
The price comparison site's mobile data calculator can help you estimate how much data you might need.

With this information, you can make better decisions around your mobile package, and be more mindful of whether you rely on broadband or your mobile plan more for data-reliant activities such as video streaming.

3. Save data where you can
Wi–Fi is your friend when it comes to saving data.

Fixed-line home broadband or secure public Wi–Fi hotspots mean you can download whatever you need before you head out and shift to relying on mobile networks.

4. Keep a data buffer
Most networks will warn you when you're about to go over your data limit, allowing you to purchase add–ons rather than paying per MB (megabyte).

If this keeps happening, upgrading your monthly data package is cheaper than constantly paying out for add-ons.

To avoid any expensive data top-ups, it's a good idea to have a buffer in place for when you use more than you expect.

5. Check out data rollover services
Increasingly, networks are wising up to users having data left at the end of their monthly billing cycle and are allowing them to roll it over into the following four-week period - so see if this an option for you.

The UK's construction sector contracted heavily last month as the housebuilding arena saw one of its worst months in more than a decade, a key survey has shown.

Projects to build homes were cut back as demand weakened and the cost of borrowing rose last month, companies said.

Output levels declined across the UK construction sector for the first time in three months and the latest downturn marked the "worst overall performance since the early stages of the pandemic", Tim Moore, economics director at S&P Global Market Intelligence, said.

The latest S&P Global/CIPS construction purchasing managers' index scored 45.0 in September - a steep drop from 50.8 in August.

A score above 50 indicates that output has grown - anything less than that shows it has contracted.

"The impact of high mortgage rates and low house buying demand continues to flow through the supply chain and negatively hit the UK construction industry," Mr Moore added.

"It has been a tough year for residential construction and the sharp decline in September shows the pressure on the sector is still a long way from easing, despite the pause on the raising of interest rates."

The PMI score for the residential sector hit 38.1 during the month, the worst-performing part of the construction industry.

That is the worst score, apart from a period during the pandemic, since April 2009.

While we continue to bring you cost of living updates, our business team has been reporting the latest news from the City.

Here are some of today's top stories...

The competition regulator is to investigate the dominance of Amazon and Microsoft in the UK's cloud market.

It follows a study by the telecoms watchdog Ofcom which "identified features that make it more difficult for UK businesses to switch and use multiple cloud suppliers".

British Airways (BA) is on the brink of a long-term pay deal with its pilots aimed at removing the renewed threat of strike action until at least 2027, our City editor Mark Kleinman reveals.

The trial of embattled crypto executive Sam Bankman-Fried has begun - with prosecutors claiming he stole more than $10bn (£8.2bn) from unsuspecting customers.

Heading on a road trip? Or stopping for a snack on your commute? Motorway services can be a helpful option - but one has been ranked the worst in the country for a second year in a row.

Hartshead Moor East in West Yorkshire is the least popular motorway services out of 120 analysed, according to a survey by watchdog Transport Focus.

Located on the busiest route across the Pennines from Lancashire to Yorkshire, the Welcome Break-owned site on the M62 was given an overall satisfaction rating of just 84%.

At the time of the survey, the facility was undergoing building works, installing new customer toilets.

Welcome Break said it was "disappointed" by the result, but hopes it will climb the rankings next year now the toilet improvements are complete.

The joint-second worst services were:

• Bridgwater (on the M5 in Somerset)
• Lancaster South (on the M6 in Lancashire)
• Toddington North and South (both on the M1 in Bedfordshire).

They each received a score of 88%.

The ranking was topped by Moto's Rugby services on the M6 in Warwickshire for a second consecutive year - the only location to score 100%.

Value for money of refreshments available to eat in at the site was a key area of concern, with just 64% of respondents describing it as fairly or very good.

Transport Focus chief executive Anthony Smith said the survey show "there is still room for improvement", including making sure the range of food and drink on offer is "good value for money".

We've brought you a lot of news about surprising security-tagged products in recent months, from chocolate bars to baby milk and cheese.

Now, the latest one to be spotted is toilet roll.

The four Andrex rolls, priced at £3.75, were found with yellow security alert stickers on them at a Tesco Express in south London.

It comes after Britain's biggest supermarket offered body cameras to its staff and announced it has invested £44m in four years on security measures.

These included door access systems, protection screens and digital radios, as well as the cameras.

Yesterday, the retailer said it has experienced a higher level of theftthis year and wants the police to work more closely with itsstores.

Tesco boss Ken Murphy called the increase in shoplifting "anational problem".

"We would also welcome the opportunity to work much more closely with the police forces in the communities that we serve together to identify and bring to justice the perpetrators ofit," he said.

Tesco has created a hub that collects data on serialoffenders, and Mr Murphy said it would be helpful to share thatinformation with the police to counter the issue.

Virgin Money has announced it has made "some improvements" to is affordability calculations today and that means it can lend more to most customers.

"We've relaxed our rules and removed restrictions, giving more customers access to higher multiples," it said.

"This means for most customers, we can now lend more today than we could last week."

Contractors are no longer limited to 4.49x, it confirmed.

Plus, higher earners and customers remortgaging with no additional borrowing now have increased access to its max 5.5x multiple.

Here are some examples for those purchasing or remortgaging with additional borrowing.

• Income under £50,000 – 4.49x
• Income £50,000 to £74,999 – 5x
• Income of £75,000 or more – 5.5x

Craig Calder, head of secured lending at Virgin Money said the new calculations "better reflect" borrowers' individual situations and provide "most customers with improved lending amounts".

Rightmove figures show advertised rents have hit new highs, piling pressure on tenants as the cost of living crisis rumbles on.

A lack of supply and huge demand has sometimes seen prospective tenants forced to queue to view just one property.

If you're on the hunt for a rental home and are wondering what steps you can take to make sure the keys end up in your hands, Rightmove's Tim Bannister has these tips...

Move fast to set up a viewing

This is key, Mr Bannister says, though it can be difficult when juggling other commitments. Having instant property alerts set up and getting to know local estate agents can help to make sure you are one of the first to know about a new property.

Be clear about your 'non-negotiables' from the start

This includes your maximum budget, how many rooms you need and how long you intend on staying at the property. This will help avoid going on viewings where the property is not quite right, and help agents suggest the most suitable other properties if one does not work out.

Be flexible on a move-in date if you can

Though tricky, it can be an attractive addition to a tenant application. This is easier for first-time renters, but if you're already renting, considering if you have any options to temporarily move in with friends or family to fit around the new property move-in date could help.

Stay organised and keep finances/documentation in order

This includes having the deposit ready to go, references lined up, and a guarantor secured if you need one.

Widen search for more options

If you are able to expand your search it could open up more options and you could potentially find some cheaper properties too.