British Gas today cut electricity prices by 10% for 4.5 million domestic energy customers after a fall in wholesale prices.
The company, which is the biggest supplier of domestic electricity in Britain, said the average dual fuel customer would see bills fall by £132 a year to £1,127.
It claimed the cuts made it the cheapest supplier of electricity in the country, with its rates now up to £111 a year lower than other firms. Other suppliers will now be under pressure to follow suit and reduce their prices.
The move follows a 10% cut in gas prices by the firm in February and has been driven by a fall in oil prices, which have dropped from a peak of $147 a barrel last summer to around $50 as the global economic crisis has deepened.We are very likely to see reduction in gas and electricity prices by other companies as well.

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Recession has caused holiday makers to reconsider holiday plans and the effect is showing up clearly more than 50% people have already cancelled there holidays and many are looking for cheaper holidays options.
Cheap family holidays are gearing up to cater the demand and many holiday companies are offering heavy discounts.

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3, the “next generation” mobile phones operator, manage to reduced its losses in last year.

Pre-tax losses in the year to December 2008 narrowed from £1.4 billion five years ago to £152 million, and down from £791 million a year ago. Revenues at the group, owned by Hutchison Whampoa of Hong Kong, jumped 18 per cent to £1.5 billion.

3, which has 8 per cent of the British market, with 4.9 million customers, has faced problems since it launched in 2003. A strategy based on securing high-spending customers through gimmicks such as video-calling flopped and the group was forced to lure customers with cheap tariffs.

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Alistair Buchanan, chief executive of Ofgem, promised more protection, clearer contract terms and an end to the contentious automatic rollover practice when fixed-term contracts to end as small business owner are traped into the roll over contracts format where they end up paying double charges and can’t switch over to different supplier for the same period, the simple reason is that every major supplier in United Kingdom require written notice before certain period to end any supply contract whether it gas or electicity contract if consumer fails to do so it rolls over to next 12 months.

The measures are part of a package aimed at a crackdown on unjustified price differences, more safeguards for vulnerable customers on pre-payment meters and removing obstacles preventing householders and businesses accessing better offers.

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The number of People taking mortgages has gone up by 4%, February figures showed.

A total of 24,300 loans for house purchase during the month, up from 23,400 in January, the Council of Mortgage Lenders said .

however there’s still very little activity compare to historical standards, with mortgages taken out by people buying a home running at only around a third of the average total for February of 76,000 seen between 2002 and 2007.

There was also a rise in the number of first-time buyers getting on to the property ladder, with 9,400 mortgages taken out by people buying their first home during the month - 7% more than in January.
as a first sign of coming out of this slow market

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The current economic situation in the UK and the steep rises in gas and electricity bills has caused serious financial problems for millions of British homeowners. However, those people who are tenants are now finding that they are facing a heavy financial penalty for fluctuations in the energy market. The situation is now considered to be so serious that potential tenants are now seeking assurances from landlords that their rental properties are energy efficient.

Most savvy landlords have already capitalized on this new opportunity to attract new clientele by ensuring that their properties possess energy performance certificates. Additionally, The Landlord’s Energy Saving Allowance also allows property owners to recoup the money that they have spent on installing insulation.

Those landlords ,in England and Wales,who have previously sought to avoid obtaining energy performance certificates are in for a rude awakening as the government has passed laws to ensure that they must provide proof of these certificates when letting out their properties.

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With huge price hikes in gas and electricity bills affecting a significant proportion of the UK’s 60 million population, shopping giant Tesco has stepped into the energy saving arena by announcing that it will provide free loft and cavity wall insulation for those who are on benefits or over the age 70. Other customers will be charged a fee of £199.

Tesco revealed that it had seen data that showed that around 9 million British domestic properties did not have proper insulation. The company aims to assist 500,000 people to trim their energy bills. The announcement comes hot on the heels of the Government’s unveiling of a £1 billion energy saving package designed to help the most vulnerable households.

Presumably, it didn’t take Tesco long to work out that customers who save money on the cost of their energy bills will have more cash to spend on other essential items ,such as food, which can be purchased from the retailer.

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As the UK teeters on the brink of recession drivers are finding that , as well as facing the prospects of ever increasing motor costs, they are having to deal with the prevalence of petrol theft. The increase in this type of crime means motorists should pay special attention to the finer details of their car insurance policies in order to find out whether they are covered.

This criminal activity has come under the spotlight because thieves who find that they are unable to siphon of fuel from modern day vehicles via traditional methods, have decided to drill directly into petrol tanks to empty the contents. So drivers who are already under serious pressure from the credit crunch could find themselves faced with a bill that is likely to run into thousands of pounds.

Unfortunately for motorists thieves are not only concentrating their efforts on fuel, they are also turning their attention to catalytic converter theft. Norwich Union reported that this type of crime has increased by more than 500% over the last 12 months.

By using the Save On Bills comparison service users can find the best available insurance deals to suit their needs.

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UK energy regulator Ofgem has completed a seven month inquiry into the British gas and electricity supply market. In its findings the watchdog revealed that although it found no evidence of price fixing between the big six suppliers – Centrica, RWE,EDF, Scottish Power, E.ON and Scottish and Southern Energy - it was concerned that over 4 million British consumers are losing,on average, £55 per year because they are not benefiting from the best available tariffs.

Ofgem has announced that it will move to place a ban on, what it considers to be grossly unfair, differences in pricing. The organization added that there must be an end to the practice of charges being linked to different modes of payment and there must be more clarity in the way that energy price plans are presented to customers. Far too often, consumers do not fully understand what it is that they are signing up to.

Ofgem also warned the largest energy operators that the UK’s Competition Commission would be invited to launch a detailed investigation into the industry’s pricing structures if energy suppliers failed to implement their recommendations.

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With the credit crunch continuing to bite and the UK teetering on the brink of recession it came as no surprise that the Bank of England ( BOE ) reported that the demand for secured loans has fallen during the third quarter of 2008. The BOE has also predicted that the decline in this type of loan is expected to continue in the coming months.

UK lenders have made no secret that the tightening of the financial markets has caused them to consider the restructuring of their organisations and the withdrawal of most of their secured loan products. However, the dramatic fall in house prices has not helped the situation.

Many borrowers are complaining that lenders are placing too many restrictive terms and conditions on secured loans. However, it was also reported that there was a significant increase in those consumers who were unable to keep up with their loan repayments.

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