Credit Action News Round-up (16 September 2011)

EDF Energy is last of the ‘Big Six’ to raise energy prices: EDF energy has announced that it will be the last of the ‘Big Six’ energy suppliers to increase its electricity and gas prices. The rise will be 4.5% and 15.4% respectively. The changes will be made on 10 November and have been blamed by EDF on rising wholesale energy prices. They will take the average dual fuel energy bill to almost £1,300 a year. Price hikes by Scottish Power, British Gas, Eon and Scottish and Southern Energy have already come into force and nPower customers will see bills rise from 1 October. Across the industry, tariffs have seen price rises of up to 18%. Whilst EDF’s average hikes are the smallest of all the major energy suppliers, it will still affect their 3.2 million residential customers.

Ryanair customers must use prepaid cards to avoid £6 surcharge: From early October, passengers flying with Ryanair will have to use the airline’s own Mastercard (the ‘Ryanair Cash Passport’) to avoid paying booking fees. In the airline’s current system, the £6 admin fee for a one-way flight which is charged to customers paying with a debit, credit or Visa electron card is avoided by using a Mastercard prepaid debit card. From 1 November, the charges will apply to every customer who pays without using the Ryanair Cash Passport.  A prepaid card has to be loaded with money in advance before it can be used, unlike a standard debit card. They are currently estimated to be held by only 5% of the population. Martin Lewis, MoneySavingExpert.com creator, says, "Ryanair is sticking two fingers up at every regulator and consumer group with this news.” The Office of Fair Trading (OFT) has called on the Government to update laws to stop traders charging for debit card payments.

OFT to investigate dentists’ charges: The Office of Fair Trading (OFT) is to study the confusion over the prices charged by UK dentists. Both NHS and private dentistry will be covered by the market study, which the fair trading regulator plans to complete by March 2012. The investigation follows reports from Which? that patients lacked comparable information on private dental prices, that private prices are rarely on display in private dental surgeries and that patients had a mixed response to their dentist recommending cosmetic treatments. In 2010, the UK market for dental service is forecast to grow to £8.2bn by 2014, according to the OFT. The investigation will look at the choice between dental practices, payment methods and the types of treatments on offer.

Cost of dying rises to £7,248: Statistics from Sun Life Direct show that the cost of dying has increased to the equivalent of three months’ average salary. This figure represents a 20% rise over the past four years – in fact, funeral costs have increased by a full 61% since 2004. As well as funeral costs, probate fees, headstones and flowers are all expenses which affect the ‘cost of dying’. These have increased by more than £400 in the past year alone, and it is predicted that they will continue to grow. Nearly half of consumers have not made arrangements for funding their own funerals. Simon Cox, Head of Life Planning for Sun Life Direct, said: “Many people are sleepwalking into a financial nightmare, leaving their end of life plans to either their families, the state or no one at all.”

ICB report recommends more competition and transparency in the market: A report by the Independent Commission on Banking (ICB) has called for greater transparency around fees, and said that banks should produce more detailed information on annual statements about the cost of a current account, the report said. The Commission also put the longstanding competition issues in UK retail banking down to the problems with changing a bank account - 77% of personal accounts are held with the largest four UK banks. To overcome this, the report recommended that people and businesses wanting to change banks should be able to switch accounts within seven days, whilst a strong new challenger in the market was also suggested as a way to increase competition. The ICB also proposed that banks should separate their investment and retail arms to prevent a future financial crisis, and called for the changes to be made by 2019. 

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