Sir Keir Starmer has laid the groundwork for an increase in taxes after warning the Autumn Budget on 30 October will be 'painful'. Increases to income tax, national insurance and VAT have already been ruled out, making it harder to balance Britain's books.

Regulator Ofgem is proposing trimming the standing charge by £20 to £100 a year to remove the part that pays for supplier operating costs. But swapping the cost over to unit rates means many homes face unavoidable bill hikes.

During the cost of living crisis, supermarkets and other retailers have come under fire for introducing a two-tier pricing structure. An investigation by consumer website Which? has discovered 'concerning membership pricing practices' at Boots, Superdrug and supermarkets.

Some of Britain's least energy efficient homes could see their annual energy bill rise by more than £550 from the start of October, according to Rightmove. The average home currently pays bills of £1,568 a year, with prices limited by the Ofgem energy price cap , but this will rise to £1,717 from 1 October. However, those in poorly-insulated homes could see much larger increases.

HMRC is expected to collect almost £18billion in dividend tax in 2024/25, and the number of those paying will have doubled since 2021/22. Nearly 3.6million taxpayers are expected to pay a tax on their dividends, according to a Freedom of Information request by investment platform AJ Bell.

Energy bills are set to rise by £146 in just a few months' time, but taking out a cheap fixed rate now could help offset any price increase. If the fixed rate is cheaper than the one likely to come in in October - and it's a big if - then households will save money on their energy bills.

Broadly speaking, most of us don't like to do big clear outs, especially when you might have collected so much stuff (that you deem useless), which could fill an entire room.

The water regulator today called for major improvements in customer service after finding that some households were not getting the support they should. Some were not given water on time - or at all.

In part one of a new guide on cohabitation, Stephen Gold debunks common myths about the legal rights of unmarried couples. What rights do cohabiting partners have after a split, and do 'common law' spouses really exist?

My tenants fitted a smart meter in my home without my permission, and I don't want it there. They say they'll pay to have the meters removed but the supplier has just turned off the smart functionality. I'm concerned about leaving them in dumb mode. Can I get a traditional meter again?

There is a storm coming for broadband prices, and the poorest households will struggle the most. Astonishingly, this is all totally fine with the regulator, Ofcom, which cares more about prices being clear than fair.

I have complained to British Gas that I do not have a smart meter display at my new address. Originally, they informed me that there were none in stock and that I could not lodge a request for one to be supplied when they got some more.

With school summer holidays in full swing, parents can find themselves hard-pressed to juggle the stresses of work and childcare without spending considerable sums on professional help. Unsurprisingly, many grandparents find themselves the first port of call for childcare during the holiday period - and a new calculator suggests their 'work' could be worth an average of almost £11,000 per year.

I understand Labour will enact a policy whereby they can retrospectively charge VAT on any school fees paid from the date the policy starts, giving them time to put a framework around the VAT charging and claw back backdated VAT. Is this the case and if so how likely is challenging it to be successful?

Regulator Ofcom has cracked down on the practice of raising mobile phone, broadband and pay-TV bills every year by inflation - and above. But these firms can still hike prices every year provided they say so when the deal is taken out.

More people than ever are being stung by the 60 per cent tax trap , which affects those earning between £100,000 and £125,150 a year. While the official top income tax rate is 45 per cent for earnings above £125,140, the removal of the personal allowance above £100,000 means an even higher marginal rate just below that.

My wife and I have had nothing but problems with our Octopus smart gas meter. There is a problem with the connection, meaning it is not 'smart' and readings don't get sent automatically. We are disabled and due to the meter's positioning, we cannot read it - so unless Octopus sends someone to read it for us, our bills are based on estimated usage. I already complained to the Energy Ombudsman and Octopus promised to send a meter reader every three months, but that hasn't happened. Now our bills are rising again and we've been told we owe £1,423.

Water bills are due to rise for almost all of the country - and residents of just one lucky region will see these costs drop. The water bill changes are laid out in proposals by regulator Ofwat, which has analysed the spending plans of English and Welsh water companies. But there are some things you can do to cut water bills, especially if you have a water meter fitted.

Households could save £300 on their water bills each year by cutting down on waste and thirsty appliances - and getting a new toilet could save more than £100. Moving from a traditional flush toilet to one with a dual flush saves £109 a year on average, the research found - with toilets using 22% of all water used in a home. However, they will need to be on a water meter in order to benefit.

Customer service levels at the country's biggest companies have deteriorated, according to a report. The latest UK Customer Satisfaction Index by the Institute of Customer Service asked 60,000 people what they thought of the customer service at 275 major firms - and found that satisfaction was at its lowest level since 2010. Retailers top the customer satisfaction list, with seven of the top 10 organisations in that sector.