Energy Debt and Annuities

Money Box

BBC

Business

4.2 • 804 Ratings

🗓️ 23 March 2024

⏱️ 25 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

As many as two million of the poorest households have seen the amount they owe their energy suppliers double over the past year. This new analysis of debt figures has been given to Money Box by the consultancy firm Baringa. It says people who've fallen behind on their payments are now £1,100 in the red, an amount that has doubled in a year. Energy UK, which represents suppliers, say they're doing all they can - and we'll hear more about Ofgem's plans to help tackle debt in the industry.

Twenty financial advice firms have been told that they must provide the regulator with details of the services they provide customers when they charge them for what is called “ongoing advice”. The Financial Conduct Authority has written to the companies as part of its enforcement of the new Consumer Duty. What will this mean for consumers?

And, an annuity is a contract with an insurance provider which converts your savings or pension pot into a guaranteed income for your retirement. As annuity sales rise, we'll discuss what they are and how they work.

Presenter: Paul Lewis Reporter: Sarah Rogers Researchers: Sandra Hardial and Jo Krasner Editor: Jess Quayle

(First broadcast 12pm Saturday 24th Feb 2024)

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.
0:27.4	This is The Lucan Obsession. Listen on BBC Sounds. BBC Sounds, music, radio, podcasts.
0:36.6	Hello, welcome to this Moneybox podcast.
0:39.5	Does your financial advisor charge an annual fee?
0:42.6	If so, what do they do for it?
0:44.5	The regulator has asked 20 big firms for answers.
0:48.6	And as annuity sales reach a 5 billion pound high,
0:52.4	listeners ask, what is an annuity? And where are the shops that sell them?
0:56.8	But first, 2 million of the poorest households have seen the amount they owe their energy supplier
1:01.8	double over the past year. This new analysis of debt figures has been given to moneybox
1:06.7	by the consultancy firm Beringa. It says people who've fallen behind on their payments
1:11.4	now owe on average £1,100 double what they owed a year ago.
1:17.1	There were some relief for the future on Friday
1:19.0	when the regulator, Offgem, lowered the cap on the price of electricity and gas.
1:23.9	After a rise in the standing charge for most customers,
1:27.0	a typical household bill would fall by 12%.
1:30.1	But Ofgem also reported that debt to electricity and gas suppliers stands at a record 3.1 billion pounds.
	...

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