Money blog: Fashion brand to charge up to £8.99 for returns; millions of Nationwide customers to get £100 payments (2024)

A worrying proportion of households are experiencing problems with their smart meters, research from Citizens Advice suggests.

The charity has said energy companies are failing to fix problems with meters, with roughly 20% of households with a smart meter still having to regularly submit meter readings because their device isn't doing so automatically.

It warned people could end up with huge unexpected bills if their supplier isn't able to take an automatic reading for an extended period of time.

In one instance, a 71-year-old man was landed with a shock catch-up bill of almost £5,000.

Franc Kolar said he had been assured by his supplier the meter would work in his home, and this was the main reason he switched to them.

Current rules allow suppliers to back bill customers for a whole year, whether they have a smart meter or not.

Government figures show by the end of last year more than 10% of smart meters weren’t working properly.

However Citizens Advice said this is "just the tip of the iceberg".

"The whole point of smart meters is to empower households to save energy and money, but in reality millions are missing out on those benefits due to problems with technology and poor supplier service," said the charity's chief executive, Dame Clare Moriarty.

"Energy companies are very keen for customers to get a smart meter but when issues arise they are often nowhere to be found. That has to change."

Nationwide has revealed it will give its customers a share of a £385m cash pot.

Those who are eligible will receive a £100 payment directly into their bank accounts as part of the Nationwide Fairer Share scheme, which aims to reward customers who meet certain criteria.

Customers will need to hold a qualifying current account and either a qualifying saving or mortgage product.

You will have need to have held the account since 31 March or earlier, and have the account still open in June.

The building society will be contacting customers between now and the end of May, and the payment will be sent out automatically.

By Sarah Taaffe-Maguire, business reporter

Parsing out whether there's been any market election reaction is tricky given the big economic news yesterday - we learned inflation fell sharply (but was still higher than forecast) and the UK government borrowed the fourth largest amount in any April since records began.

The pound is still up against the euro - and so buys more of the Eurozone currency than before yesterday morning's economic announcements. It's still at a high not seen since early March with £1 equal to €1.1745.

Sterling has come down from its highs against the dollar seen yesterday morning but is still higher than most of the last month with a pound buying $1.2731.

The FTSE 100 (Financial Times Stock Exchange index of most valuable companies on the exchange) is down again this morning, 0.23%, after a sharp 0.56% drop in response to the inflation data.

The cost of UK government borrowing rose for the second day in a row as the interest rate on the benchmark 10-year government bond rose to 4.276%. Government bonds are IOUs sold on the market to raise funds.

It's a busy morning on the corporate front as many major companies listed on the London Stock Exchange have updated the market and issued full-year results.

The biggest contributor to the FTSE 100 fall was National Grid, the British and US electricity systems operator. In an effort to raise £6.8bn to fund grid investment, it said it would issue new shares and sell its US onshore wind business and a liquefied natural gas terminal.

Online retailer Oh Polly has introduced a new returns policy to clamp down on "repeat refunders".

The fashion site announced customers would be charged based on how much of their order they want to return.

Customers returning up to 50% of their order will be charged £2.99, while those who return more than 90% will be charged £8.99.

The company had previously charged a flat fee of £2.99 for all returns.

Oh Polly explained in an email to customers: "Customers with high return rates increase the cost of the business, and we can either alter prices collectively for all, or only for those who fall into the high returner category."

The UK's competition regulator has issued three tips for pet owners amid concerns they are paying too much on vet bills and are not given enough information about treatment options.

The Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) said today it was launching a full market investigation into the UK's veterinary sector.

It advised animal owners to:

• Shop around for a vet and don't always go to the closest
• Ask the vet if there are other treatment options
• Think about buying medication from places other than your vet if it's not an emergency

Ocado has struck a deal with rapid grocery delivery service Getir to acquire its customers, after the latter pulled out of the UK.

Customers who were using Getir are being sent emails urging them to switch to Zoom by Ocado.

They also received a 25%-off discount and free delivery on their first Zoom by Ocado order.

Most younger workers want the chance to have a job in another country, research suggests.

A survey of 1,000 people aged 18-34 found half of respondents would be more likely to stay in a role for longer if they had the option to move overseas for a period of time.

The young people cited a better quality of life, salary and benefits, and better work-life balance, as the main reasons for wanting to move overseas for work, according to employee mobility platform Jobbatical.

"A decade ago, candidates were searching for the most exciting office and work perks possible, but today the draw of international living, better quality of life and smoother work-life balance is top of the wishlist for ambitious, high-quality talent," said Karoli Hindriks, co-founder of Jobbatical.

Disastrous harvests have sent olive oil prices skyrocketing in recent years - but new forecasts suggest that could be about to change.

The forecasts point to a bumper crop across the Mediterranean this summer, with favourable weather conditions across southern Europe giving suppliers some hope.

Filippo Berio managing director Walter Zanre said conditions in Spain, Greece, Tunisia and the eastern end of the Mediterranean are looking hopeful.

However, he said flowering in Italy had been "a bit patchy" and some areas, including Tuscany, have "depressed forecasts".

Even so, the overall expected bumper crop should provide much-needed relief to the olive oil markets.

Our Money team has been reporting on the sharp increase in olive oil prices, finding it is the supermarket item with the sharpest increase in price over the last three years.

While prices were around the £3.50 mark just a few years ago, now a one-litre bottle will set you back more than double that in most supermarkets.

Here's how much you'll pay for a litre in each supermarket...

• Aldi Solesta Olive Oil - £6.79
• Waitrose Essential Olive Oil - £7.50
• M&S Olive Oil - £7.50
• Asda Olive Oil - £7.80
• Sainsbury's Olive Oil - £7.80
• Morrisons Olive Oil - £7.80
• Tesco Olive Oil - £7.80

The price of olive oil is now expected to start declining as the markets approach the next harvest in October, according to Mr Zanre.

Commodity analysts at Mintec also reported a decrease in commodity prices in recent weeks.

However, this doesn't mean supermarket prices will necessarily come down as there is still plenty of volatility in the sector.

Suppliers have also warned olive oil stocks could run dry before the next harvest season, with problems potentially affecting supply in September and October.

So when could we see prices come down on supermarket shelves?

Mr Zanre said: "At the moment the prospects for the next Mediterranean olive harvest look positive, so hopefully we will start to see prices ease in early 2025."

People will now be able to rent Peloton bikes for £99 a month, according to a report.

The company has been trying to boost its profits are seeing a post-pandemic slump in demand.

The bike rentals will also include access to all of Peloton's live online classes and back catalogue, according to The Times.

Renters can cancel their memberships and return the bike at any time.

Buying a Peloton bike upfront would cost you £1,995, along with a £39 monthly fee for the online classes.

Peloton last year reported an operating loss of £210.4m, up from a loss of £81.4m the year before.

Every ThursdaySavings Champion founder Anna Bowesgives us an insight into the savings market and how to make the most of your money. This week, she's looking at which savings accounts are paying more than inflation...

The latest inflation data is out, and the current situation is a savers' dream - interest rates have remained pretty stable, while the rising cost of living is slowing.

As we know, while inflation may have fallen to 2.3% (which is close to the government target) it doesn't mean that prices are falling - it means that the rate at which costs are rising has slowed. And if you can find a savings account that is going to pay you more than the rate at which your cost of living is going up, that could mean extra pounds in your pockets.

If you have your cash with a high street provider, you are particularly vulnerable. For example, the Barclays Everyday Saver account is paying just 1.66% on the first £10,000 deposited into that account. Balances of over £10,000 will earn a diluted return as the amount over £10,000 will earn just 1.26% - well below inflation.

In the meantime, you could earn up to 5% on the top paying easy access accounts and more if you are happy to tie some of your money up.

The top one-year bond is paying 5.21% whilst the top five-year bond is paying 4.57%.

While the longer term, lower paying bonds look like a poorer proposition at the moment, it makes sense to think longer term too.

What happens if rates fall sharply over the next few years? You might feel pretty pleased with yourself in a couple of years if you had locked at least some of your cash up for longer, hedging against inflation and interest rate cuts.

The supermarket has insisted its strategy to stay ahead of discount rivals Aldi and Lidl is working despite seeing the chain's market share fall.

Asda became the first supermarket to target both Aldi and Lidl with a price-matching this year - initially with 280 lines, then 400 from April.

But both rivals are still catching up, according to data from insights firm Kantar which show:

• Lidl's sales were up 9.1% year on year in the 12 weeks to 14 April - making it the fastest-growing bricks and mortar supermarket;
• The discounter now has a market share of 8% - the highest it has been;
• Aldi's growth slowed to 2.8% in the same 12-week period - its market share is now 10%, down from 10.1% a year ago;
  
• Asda has performed less well. Its sales contracted 0.4%, meaning its market share is now 13.4%, down from 14% a year ago.

Despite the figures, Asda finance chief Michael Gleeson said price cuts and the matching scheme had "helped limit some of the more recent impact of the combined Lidl and Aldi [market] share".

In a trading update, Mr Gleeson said: "I think if you look at the Kantar market share over the last couple of years, it's true Lidl have done better over the last seven months [but] the combined share of both discounters, their relative outperformance, has significantly declined and actually Aldi have underperformed the market in the last couple of quarters for the first time in 15 years or so, outside of COVID."

He added: "I think it is true to say that we will have had a market share loss over the last six months or so. But in the context of the longer periods, I think it does ebb and flow."

Asda is the UK's third biggest supermarket, behind Tesco and Sainsbury's.