Some cold comfort to be claimed

AFTER Britain's hottest summer on record, the sudden drop in temperatures this week has caught many by surprise myself included.

- by Katie Elliott

On my early 6.45am commute, I watched a faint mist drape across the fields from the train window, and all I could think about (true to the form of someone permanently cold) was what would soon await me back home. That is a chilly flat and, more worryingly, rising heating bills.

With the energy price cap scheduled to change in October, bumping up bills by 2% for the millions still on variable tariffs, households face renewed pressure on already stretched budgets. For some, moving to a fixed-rate deal, which freezes the price of your energy unit rates for a set period of time, could save as much as £215 a year on the upcoming cap. This makes it well worth visiting a website like Uswitch.com to compare deals.