£320 bills hike on Monday (not an April Fool)
Rises cancel out energy cap savings, say experts
THE typical family of four will be paying more than £300 more for household bills from Monday.
Water, broadband and council tax are among the costs all rising together on April 1, April Fool’s Day.
Experts warn while Ofgem’s energy price cap is set to fall, any savings will be swallowed up by the other rising costs.
Money-saving website nous.co calculated that the combined price hikes of council tax, water, broadband, mobile phone, TV licences and car tax will cost households £320.77 over the next year.
It more than wipes out the £238 a year the average household will save on energy bills.
And to add insult to injury, the price of stamps are also going up. A standard first class will rise 10p to £1.35 on Tuesday and a standard second class will go up 10p to 85p.
Nous.co CEO Greg Marsh said: “We’re being hit by another Awful April this year.”
Consumer expert Scott Dixon, of thecomplaintsresolver.co.uk, said the bill rises were unfair and mostly unavoidable.
Mr Dixon added: “We all seem to be paying more for less and getting no bang for our buck.
“This will heap further misery on households struggling with the cost-of-living crisis.”
There is good news for some households though.
In the Budget, Chancellor Jeremy Hunt announced a cut in the main rate of National Insurance contributions paid by workers from 10% to 8% from Saturday. Mr Hunt said this will benefit 27 million workers.
Those on the average UK salary of £35,400 will save more than £900 a year as a result of the cuts, which began in January when the rate was cut from 12% to 10%, the Treasury said.
However the cuts tend to benefit the higher paid over those on the lowest incomes who struggle the most.
For example for those earning £20,000 from employment, the new 2p cut is worth £148.60 a year, yet for those earning £50,000 it is worth £748.60.
THE beginning of next month has been dubbed April Cruel Day as households are hit by a wave of price increases.
Council tax, water bills, stamps and car tax are all set to rise. Some mobile phone and broadband companies are also hiking up costs.
All this means the typical family of four will be paying £300 a year more from April 1.
When wages and benefits have fallen in real terms since the Tories came to power, many people will struggle to afford this extra outlay.
If the Government thinks it has ended the cost of living crisis it is taking people for fools.