Weekly Money: the news stories that we noticed 22 to 26 February

26 February

Almost four million children in England live in fuel poverty, warns a new report published today. The research by the National Children’s Bureau reveals that it’s not just older people who struggle to pay their energy bills and keep warm.

It warns that living in a cold home leads to an increased risk of children suffering a range of health problems - from asthma and bronchitis to poor mental health – as well as being a factor in their educational attainment and general wellbeing.

Separate research from fuel poverty charity National Energy Action shows that cold homes claim needless lives and cost every local health trust in England more than £27,000 each day.

Jenny Saunders of NEA, said: “As well as it being completely unacceptable that in the 21st century people are still becoming ill and dying needlessly because they live in cold homes, treating health-related conditions is also placing a shocking strain on the public purse.”

As part of Fuel Poverty Awareness Day, the charity is urging struggling households to seek help by calling the Home Heat Helpline on 0800 33 66 99.

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Have you had a problem with a public service? Chances are you didn’t complain. Citizens Advice reckons a shocking 15 million people who have had a poor experience with a public service such as HMRC, the DVLA, their GP or local authority have not registered the problem as a complaint.

Its research suggests that in the last two years around 19 million have had a bad time, but less than a quarter complained. Problems range from being sent the wrong DVLA form to HMRC messing up tax credits.

“People aren’t complaining because they find it daunting or are worried about the consequences,” said Gillian Guy of Citizens Advice.

She called for a clear and consistent route to registering complaints formally about public services.

25 February

The Government decided again yesterday not to help millions of women hit by changes in the state pension scheme. In a House of Commons debate, 289 MPs voted against changing existing arrangements to give some 2.6 million women an easier – and some say fairer – transition into retirement.

The debate followed a long-running campaign by Women Against State Pension Inequality (WASPI), which was started by a small group of women incensed because they were not adequately informed that they would have to wait years longer than they expected for their state pensions.

That campaign has been growing rapidly and, by last night, more than 156,000 people had signed the petition calling for fair transitional arrangements for those affected.

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Almost half of us are worried about money despite the recovery -while many spend beyond their means every month, warns the mutual Scottish Friendly.

It reckons after paying for essentials like housing, energy, water, groceries, transport and childcare, the average household has £905 left each month to save or pay for clothing, socialising, furniture and luxuries. That leaves them “financially fragile”, according to the mutual.

Younger adults are most at risk with one in five 18-24 year olds spending more than their income each month just on housing and related costs. Meanwhile more than a quarter are going into the red after paying for other day-to-day essentials.

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Aviva is offering new low-cost health insurance which pays out if people are diagnosed with cancer. The insurer said it acted after its research showed people are more worried about being diagnosed with cancer than any other serious disease.

The policy offers up to £100,000 to cover drugs and a £5,000 payment to help with everyday costs, Aviva said premiums would be low: for example, a 50 year old would typically pay between £5 and £8 per month.

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Mortgage borrowing jumped 38 per cent in January compared to a year ago and reached its highest level since mid-2008, the British Banking Association reported yesterday.

The number of mortgage approvals was 33 per cent higher than a year ago, with remortgaging up 42 per cent and house purchase up 27 per cent.

The increase was down to “borrowers looking to get ahead of the increases in stamp duty for buy-to-let and second home buyers scheduled to come into effect in April”, according to the BBA.

24 February

It’s time to introduce a statutory scheme in telecoms that automatically offers compensation when things go wrong, in line with consumers’ expectations. The call has come today from Which?.

“We want to see compensation for telecoms failures brought in line with other utilities and consumers’ expectations,” said Richard Lloyd, executive director of the consumer group. “Compensation should be simple, easy and fair for consumers.”

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Britain’s fastest-selling property hotspot? It’s Dartford in Kent, reckons Rightmove. The website says homes there have been selling in 16 days, cutting two-thirds off last year’s average of 49 days.

Sales have been speeding up across the country with the average time to sell falling to 79 days this year compared to 87 days in the same period in 2015.

At the slower end of the market properties are taking more than 100 days to sell, with Darlington named as the slowest place, taking an average of 132 days to find a buyer.

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Is your home making more money than you? If you’re lucky enough to live in Three Rivers, Hertfordshire, it almost certainly is.

Average property prices grew three times more than annual wages in Three Rivers in the past two years, according to the Halifax. It reports that the average annual wage in the area is £49,999 while the average house saw an increase of £147,990 over 24 months.

23 February

Financial companies are still failing to deal properly with customer complaints, judging by the latest figures from the Financial Ombudsman.

They reveal that the numbers of complaints about mis-sold PPI remain high while there continue to be alarmingly large numbers of decisions ruled against some financial institutions.

The banks have repeatedly faced accusations that they have compounded their crimes in the biggest scandal ever to hit the industry by using delaying tactics to try to wear people down in the hope that they will give up their claims.

Past Ombudsman figures have highlighted Lloyds Bank as one of the worst for using the tactic, and yesterday’s figures reveal that 78 per cent of the complaints against the bank were upheld between July and December 2015.

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There are now more mortgage deals than in any time over the past eight years. Mortgage Advice Bureau reckons there were 17,132 mortgages available on the market on average in January: the highest number since March 2008 when there were 23,802.

Meanwhile mortgage rates are still at record lows. Two year fixed mortgages, for instance, are down from around 3 per cent a year ago to around 2.5 per cent now, according to the latest Moneyfacts figures.

Existing homeowners who haven’t remortgaged in over a year could make significant monthly savings by switching deals, particularly if they are still languishing on a poor-value standard variable rate,” said Brian Murphy of Mortgage Advice Bureau.

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If you save just £31 a week into a Junior Isa as soon as a child is born, you could hand them £41,886.06 by the time they reach 18, according to Fidelity International.

If you can afford £78.46 a week you could be able to give them a £106,208.07 present on their 18th birthday, the firm says. Its figures are based on projected future investment growth of 5 per cent a year.

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Rumours that the Chancellor plans to replace the current pension system with a pension Isa or a low flat-rate of tax relief, have been criticised by the former Pensions Minister.

Steve Webb, now of Royal London, said: “The March Budget could be the biggest example of daylight robbery since the days of Dick Turpin.”

He warned that a pension Isa would steal billions of pounds in tax revenues from the next generation “who will need the money to fund the public services of an ageing society”. He added that a low flat-rate of tax relief would leave hard-pressed savers worse off by billions.

22 February

Almost two million young adults have been locked out of the housing market because of high house prices, stricter lending criteria and the difficulty of saving for a deposit in a low-interest environment, while house prices soar.

That’s according to a new report from think tank the Social Market Foundation which suggests that if homeownership rates among 25 to 34 year olds in 2016 were the same as in 2001, an additional 1.8 million young people would be homeowners.

Katie Evans, author of the report, said: “Getting onto the housing ladder is becoming harder and harder for young people. Our failure to build enough homes means this problem threatens to stretch into the future.”

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Meanwhile, the ability to buy an average home in England and Wales last year improved everywhere except in the South East, where house price growth continued to outpace wage growth.

First-time buyers saw the largest improvement of all buyer groups, according to Hamptons International. “But it’s still very expensive to buy a home, and out of reach for many first-time buyers,” said Fionnuala Earley of Hamptons.

“The key to better affordability is for wages to increase substantially faster than house prices.”

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More than six million consumer switched energy supplier last year, reports Ofgem. That was up 15 per cent on 2014 and marks the highest number of switches since 2011, with more than two-fifths of people choosing independent suppliers.

Rachel Fletcher of Ofgem said: “It’s encouraging to see switching levels at their highest level for four years.”

The energy watchdog reckons many people can save up to £200 a year with those who have never switched saving a deal more. Last week uSwitch reported that the average saving for those who had never switched was £337.

The continuing problem of consumers over-paying for gas and electricity while energy firms faced accusations of not being competitive enough forced Ofgem to ask the Competition and Markets Authority to investigate the industry.