MONEY MORSELS

Pension squeezed

THE poorest pensioners will get the smallest boost to their retirement income from April, according to pensions provider Royal London. The rate for new state pensioners will rise by 3 pc or £4.80 to £164.35 a week in April 2018, while those who claim pensions credit will only see an increase of 2.3 pc or £3.65 to £163.

Energy fine

SMALL power provider E has been fined £260,000 for failing to conduct background checks on its door-to-door sales staff. The watchdog also found that sales agents had misled customers by claiming to work for a price comparison service.

Pricey premiums

AROUND 13 million people are being overcharged by about £110 for home insurance, Citizens Advice warns. The charity found insurers typically lure customers in with a cut-price offer for the first 12 months, then ramp up premiums and hope the rises go unnoticed.

Mortgage rush

HOMEOWNERS rushed to lock into a cheap mortgage before the Bank of England increased interest rates earlier this month, new figures show. Banks and building societies lent £ 23.1 billion to borrowers in October — up 7 pc on the previous month and 14 pc on October 2016, according to industry trade body UK Finance.

Money mules

THE number of people who have had bank accounts closed due to suspicious activity rose by nearly half to 24,798 in the year to September, up from 16,588 over the same period last year. Fraud prevention service Cifas, which compiled the data, warns a growing number of students are being lured into acting as ‘money mules’, where crooks launder funds through their accounts in exchange for cash.

Shop small

AMERICAN Express customers get £5 back for every £10 spent at thousands of small shops, cafes and restaurants from December 2 to 17. There is no limit on the number of times shoppers can use the offer but not more than once at the same store. Register at

Shut down

A HIGH-RISK trading firm has been shut down by the Insolvency Service for promising punters vast profits, then refusing to pay out and pocketing £350,000. Metro Options falsely claimed it could earn £400£500 per trade betting on whether markets would rise or fall.

ATM Warning

ACTION must be taken to stop 5,000 towns and villages from becoming ‘ATM deserts’ MPs warn. Link, which oversees the free cash machine network, wants to cut fees that banks pay when a customer uses another bank’s ATM by 20 pc.