Utilities

Nectar cardholders can now rent or buy box sets and movies from the Sky Store with their points – even if they don't have a Sky TV subscription.

Eversmart Energy, a small energy supplier with about 39,000 domestic customers, has stopped trading. If you're a customer, your energy supply will continue as normal – here's what else you need to know.

Northern Ireland's second largest energy supplier, SSE Airtricity, is to hike electricity prices by 6.9%, meaning the typical bill for those on its standard tariff will jump by £39/year.

Northern Ireland's largest energy supplier, Power NI, is to hike electricity prices by 6.1%, meaning the typical bill for those on its standard tariff will jump by £35/year.

Plusnet is to double the price of its BT Sport add-on from £5 to £10 a month for thousands of customers in September. 

Solarplicity, an energy supplier with around 7,500 domestic customers, has stopped trading. 

Hundreds of ex-Solarplicity customers who recently switched away were wrongly moved to Toto Energy – if you're affected, here's what you need to know.

Energy bills will fall by £75/year for 11 million households in October, regulator Ofgem has revealed this morning – but don't let this lull you into a false sense of security, as you could still save £330+/yr by switching supplier.

Mobile phone customers will be given clearer information about how much of their monthly payment goes towards paying off their handset, as part of a package of new measures announced today by the telecoms regulator aimed at protecting those who are overpaying. Ofcom has unveiled three initiatives to help tackle unfair mobile phone pricing: Mobile contracts will give a clearer breakdown of costs. Customers choosing a bundled contract – which includes a handset and a usage allowance – will be told what the cost would be if both parts were bought separately. Ofcom says it wants to introduce these new rules "as quickly as possible" but hasn't set a firm date.  Ofcom's also proposing a ban on firms linking 'split' contracts where the handset contract is longer than 24 months. A split contract is where consumers have separate contracts for their handset and airtime – Ofcom wants to stop longer split contracts being linked because it makes it harder for customers to switch providers if they have to pay off their handset before they can switch. This is just a proposal though and there's no set implementation date.  Five mobile firms have also agreed to cut costs for out-of-contract customers from February 2020. These companies, including EE, O2 and Vodafone, have made various specific commitments to reduce bills for customers once their minimum contract term is up – see more details below. For full help on how to cut mobile costs, see Cheap Mobile Tips and Best Sim-only Deals.

New supplier Green has launched the cheapest energy deal in 10 months.