When will energy bills fall, and are fixed tariffs finally making a comeback? TiM podcast
When will utility bills drop and can the flat rate finally pay off? This is the Money podcast
We had some good news about our energy bills this week – right?
Ofgem’s price cap is coming down – saving households on average around £400 a year.
The past 18 months have been terrible for households, so much so that the government had to step in in October and introduce a price freeze – but that was still double what the typical bill payer would have had to pay a year earlier.
And while the limit is coming down, doing away with government subsidies means most people will actually only save about £19 a month or £225 a year.
So what will we have to pay when the new ceiling comes into effect in July, bills continue to fall and when will energy companies start undercutting the price cap again with flat rates?
In this podcast, Georgie Frost, Helen Crane and Simon Lambert discuss when energy bills could return to ‘normal’ and whether we should make firm deals when they come back, or if we should proceed with caution.
We also have the latest UK inflation figures this week. Despite a not-insignificant drop from 10.1 percent to 8.7 percent in April, experts are still forecasting another rate hike — thanks in part to a surprise jump in something called core inflation.
We explain what that is and discuss how high the base interest rate can rise.
Mortgage rates have also risen, with major lender Nationwide raising its fixed rate and tracker mortgage rates by up to 0.45 percent, among others.
We look at why that’s happening and take some advice from brokers on what people should do with a new mortgage deadline.
But with bad news for mortgage holders comes good news for savers easily accessible rates that are getting closer and closer to 4 percent. We list the best purchases.
The US debt ceiling has also been in the news this week as the two main parties have so far failed to reach an agreement to raise it.
If that doesn’t happen soon enough, the world’s largest economy could default on its debt – but what exactly would that mean and what is the risk?
Finally, with warmer weather on the way we discuss ‘camper vanflation’ and why the younger generation can’t seem to get enough of the classic VW Camper.