Broadband and the costs of being disabled

Money Box

BBC

Business

4.2 • 825 Ratings

🗓️ 26 November 2022

⏱️ 26 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

Broadband providers have been told by the regulator Ofcom to 'think carefully' before making significant price rises. Most providers of telecoms and broadband raise their prices each spring in line with inflation plus three or four percentage points. That means some firms could put up prices by 16% next year - an extra £5 a month in some cases, and most have yet to confirm their plans.

Stories of economic turmoil and falling share prices have led many investors to wonder what they can do about their investments. Especially when they get financial statements telling them the value of their pension fund or savings have fallen sharply. We'll speak to Kirsty Stone who's an independent financial adviser at The Private Office about that.

The government has recently been encouraging claims for what is called Pension Credit - a top-up to the state pension for people aged 66 or more whose income is low. In June, the Department for Work and Pensions held its annual Pension Credit Day of Action to encourage people to claim this benefit. But has it been too successful? The Department says applications are at an all-time high but some listeners are telling us they're experiencing long delays.

And, what's it like trying to pay for energy bills when you're disabled. We'll hear from a woman with cerebral palsy who's got £5,000 of energy debt.

Presenter: Paul Lewis Reporter: Sarah Rogers Researchers: Sandra Hardial and Star McFarlane Editor: Jess Quayle

(First broadcast 12pm, Saturday 29th October, 2022)

Transcript

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0:00.0	On a winter's night in 1974, a crime took place that would obsess the nation.
0:07.0	It was an extraordinary news story.
0:09.0	The story of an aristocrat, Lord Lucan, who's said to have killed the family Nanny,
0:14.0	mistaking her for his wife, then somehow just disappeared.
0:18.0	One of the great mysteries in English criminal history. We're still looking for
0:21.7	Lucan. It's honestly one of the most powerful stories of my lifetime. I'm Alex Fontunzelman. This is
0:27.8	the Lucan Obsession. Listen on BBC Sounds. BBC Sounds, music, radio, podcasts. Hello, welcome to this Moneybox podcast.
0:39.3	The value of investments and pensions has fallen sharply in the last few weeks.
0:43.3	What should people do if they wake up considerably less well off?
0:47.3	We hear from disabled people who say the help they get with their energy bills is not enough to meet their needs.
0:53.3	Disability costs and people in power forget that.
1:00.0	And many pensioners are reporting long waits to get a boost to their state pension
1:04.5	after the number applying for extra help trebled.
1:08.3	But first, broadband providers should, quote, think carefully before making
1:13.5	significant price rises next year. That message from the telecoms regulator Offcom, which also
1:19.5	told Moneybox that the industry should put its customers first, while the cost of living crisis
1:24.5	puts what it calls an unprecedented strain on household budgets.
1:29.7	That warning comes as firms consider their prices for 2023.
1:34.0	Most phone and broadband providers raise their prices each spring,
1:37.4	not only in line with inflation, but adding more than three percentage points extra in many cases.
1:44.1	That means some firms could put up prices by 15% next year,
1:48.5	in some cases an extra £60 a year for the same service.
	...

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