According to Lloyds TSB, the typical British household has £5,000 in savings and investments. This compares to over £19,000 in China.

German households, meanwhile, have average savings of almost £9,000.

UK and China

The bank said that the “remarkable” findings reflect the fact that there is no “social safety net” in China, such as state pensions and benefits, meaning that families must provide for themselves financially.

Lloyds TSB also said that the so-called savings ratio in the UK – that is a person’s savings as a proportion of their disposable income – has been falling over the last decade.

Currently, Britons save around 7 per cent of their disposable income. This compares with 47 per cent in China.

Greg Coughlan, head of savings at Lloyds TSB, said: “Despite significantly higher income levels, today’s British and German households are both being roundly beaten in the savings stakes by urban Chinese households.”

Dr Karl Gerth, author of As China Goes, So Goes the World: How Chinese Consumers are Transforming Everything and a lecturer in modern Chinese history at Merton College, Oxford, said that Chinese people save out of necessity because they have to pay for healthcare, education, housing and their retirement.

“It has nothing to do with ancient Confucian wisdom and all to do with contemporary realities,” said Dr Gerth.

He said that savings levels among young Chinese people are far lower than among their parents’ generation.

“In China, young people are learning to spend,” he said.

Lloyds TSB’s findings were based on over 3,000 interviews with adults in the UK, China and German.

telegraph.co.uk

But Southern Water, which is installing meters in all its customers’ homes after Kent, Hampshire and Sussex were designated areas of “water stress”, will increase prices by an average of 8.2% or £31, and Bristol Water is raising prices by 8.8%.

Water bills in the UK set to rise by 5.7%

South East, a water-only company that operates in the same counties as Southern and is also installing universal water meters, is increasing prices by 4.6%, or £9.

But customers of South West will face the highest bills, with the company estimating an average charge of £543, a rise of 4.7% or £24 on 2011-12.

The rises, which are based on a rise in the retail price index in November 2011 of 5.2%, will mean an average annual bill of £376 throughout the UK. A spokesperson for Ofwat said prices would vary from customer to customer if their water was metered, or if non-metered, depending on the rateable value of their home.

In 2009 the regulator set the size of “real” rises in charges for the years 2010-2015, with the aim of keeping average bills almost in line with inflation for another three years. Ofwat says this is around 10% less than the rise asked for by water companies.

Regina Finn, the Ofwat chief executive officer, said: “We understand that any bill rise is unwelcome, particularly in tough economic times. Inflation feeds through into water bills, and this is driving these rises. We will make sure customers get value for money.”

But the Consumer Council for Water said higher-than-anticipated inflation figures for the past two years meant customers had ended up paying more than they might have expected.

Dame Yve Buckland, the chair of the CCW, said: “In the current economic climate, many customers are struggling with rising household bills and the level of water debt is growing. Companies need to tell their customers very clearly what they are getting for their money and to help customers who are having difficulty paying their bill.

“Anyone struggling to pay their water bill should contact their company immediately. They can usually offer more flexible payment options, such as weekly or monthly payment plans. In some cases they may also be able to help through special assistance funds, or schemes to help eligible customers reduce their water bills.”

guardian.co.uk

The research, by Sheffield Hallam University, showed that a basket of frozen family groceries cost just £15.45, whereas the same items bought fresh would cost £23.25. By opting for frozen versions of family favourites – such as broccoli, salmon and sausages – families could save almost £8 per supermarket trip.

Saving money with frozen food

Charlotte Harden, a nutrition and science consultant at the university, said: “We compared items from four of the top supermarkets and found that frozen food comes in at much better value per 100g. Many families are feeling the pinch at this time of year and will be looking for cost savings so they can clear post-Christmas debts. A really simple way to make your money go further is to buy frozen food.”

Previous research has indicated that the nutritional value of many frozen foods, such as vegetables, is just as good as fresh ones.

Over the course of a year the savings would amount to £405.60 – enough to fund gym membership for a year or buy an iPad2. Items compared included the most popular family purchases of pizza, broccoli, carrots, garlic bread, whole chicken, prawns, salmon, sausages, spinach and parsnips.

The study included “value”, regular, premium and organic ranges and found that shoppers had the opportunity to swap from fresh to frozen on more than 600 items.

Brian Young, director general of the British Frozen Food Federation, said that not only could frozen products help families save money but it could also reduce food waste. Recent figures from Defra (the Department for Environment Food and Rural Affairs) showed that 17pc of fresh food purchased was thrown in the bin.

telegraph.co.uk

Shopping comparison website Kelkoo predicted a similar increase this year, well above the expected 3.65% rise in total retail sales.

Online shoppers spent an average of just under £1,500 each on 39 items last year, with internet retail trade accounting for 12% of total spending, the highest in Europe, said the report.

Online shopping

Other European countries with high online retail market shares included Germany (9%), Switzerland (8.7%) and Norway (8.1%), while the lowest were in Italy (1.3%) and Poland (3.1%).

Chris Simpson of Kelkoo said: “Over the last five years internet retailing has improved substantially thanks to the use of affordable ‘always-on’ internet connections, simple and secure payment systems and the increasing popularity of mobile devices, combined with the growth of mobile-based retail sites.

“All of these factors should help online retail sales and retail sales via mobile devices to continue to thrive in 2012.

“It’s natural to see consumer appetite for online shopping growing year on year. This is not because people are spending more money but because they are shopping in the most convenient and affordable way for their individual needs.

“Inevitably, this will have an ongoing negative impact on the high street, an issue which is forcing retailers to bring the two channels much closer together.

“It is widely acknowledged that the recession has boosted the appeal of online retailing and UK consumers are more determined than ever to make every penny count.

“We predict that British online retailers will enjoy an average rise in online sales of 14% this year.”

guardian.co.uk

Shelter said that the figure is a 44pc rise since 2008, as people have had to cut back on essentials to cope with the squeeze on their incomes, the charity said.

Grocery Shopping

Just over one in five people surveyed said they had spent less on gas and electricity in the last 12 months to finance their housing payments, a 60% increase on four years ago.

The latest survey could equate to 16 million people cutting back on food spending and 10 million reducing fuel bills to cover their rent or mortgage if the figures were projected nationally, Shelter said.

Campbell Robb, chief executive of Shelter, said: “These staggering findings show just how many millions of people are cutting back on essentials as the continued squeeze on incomes starts to really bite.

“It demonstrates the tough choices families are now having to make, between heating their home, putting a decent meal on the table or paying for the roof over their head.

“Every two minutes someone in Britain is at risk of losing their home. We strongly urge anyone struggling to pay their rent or mortgage to seek advice as early as possible.”

Households have been faced with high living costs and deteriorating employment conditions, but the largest drop in inflation in nearly three years was reported earlier this week following high street discounts in the run-up to Christmas.

telegraph.co.uk

CPI fell to 4.2%, from 4.8% in November, according to the Office for National Statistics. This was in line with expectations.

It is now at the lowest level since June last year, with CPI reaching a three-year peak of 5.2% in September.

UK Inflation Drops

Inflation also fell in the eurozone – from 3% in November to 2.7% in December.

Michael Saunders, chief European economist at Citigroup , told Sky News he expects UK consumer inflation to continue to drop, reaching 2% by the end of the year.

In Britain, the retail prices index (RPI), which includes housing costs, also dropped, from 5.2% to 4.8%. The fall was slightly less than the 4.7% forecasted.

The falls were prompted by heavy retail discounting, particularly on clothing, and a supermarket price war in the run-up to Christmas. Many of the promotions began earlier than usual.

Falling gas and petrol also contributed to the drop, announced on Tuesday.

The fall in the rate of inflation is likely to reinforce arguments in favour of holding interest rates at historic lows of 0.5%, with some predicting they will be held there until 2016.

Earlier this month, the British Retail Consortium (BRC) said shop price inflation fell to 1.7% in December – down from 2% in November – its lowest level for 16 months.

The rate of inflation for non-food items was at a two year low of 0.3%, and significantly down on 0.8% in the previous month.

This was driven by price cuts on electrical items, clothes and footwear, with many items cheaper than they were a year ago.

However, the BRC said food prices rose 4.2%, which was slightly higher than November’s 4% increase, despite the high level of supermarket discounts.

A supermarket price war broke out after Tesco announced a £500m price-cutting campaign, Asda guaranteed to be 10% cheaper than its rivals and Sainsbury’s launched its own brand price matching scheme.

finance.yahoo.com

It becomes the fifth of the big six energy companies to announce price cuts for either gas or electricity in the past few days.

E.On said it too was responding to a recent dip in wholesale energy prices.

E.On cuts standard electricity prices by 6%

It said its cut would affect 75% of its customers and would amount to a cut of £31 in its customers’ average annual bills.

However, E.On’s chief executive, Dr Tony Cocker, warned that prices were likely to go back up again at some point in the future.

“Reductions over the last few months in the wholesale price that we pay for our customers’ energy have now allowed us to help as many of our customers as possible by cutting our electricity price,” he said.

“Whilst we’re pleased to pass on this recent slight fall in wholesale prices, most experts agree that global energy prices will continue their long-term rise.”

So far, only Scottish Power has failed to cut either its gas or electricity prices.

Of the five big firms that have moved, three have cut their gas charges while two have cut their electricity prices.

Ann Robinson, at price comparison website Uswitch, said: “Suppliers are focusing their cuts on one fuel, while previous hikes hit both gas and electricity.

“The fact is that these cuts will not even come close to wiping out last year’s eye watering price hikes.

“Households can save up to £420 by moving to dual fuel, paying by direct debit and signing up to a competitively priced deal – a far bigger saving than that being offered by suppliers lowering their prices,” she said.

Adam Scorer, from Consumer Focus, urged Scottish Power to fall in line with its other competitors.

“Their customers will also be keen to see if the supplier will buck the trend and makes deeper cuts or reductions across both gas and electricity given wholesale price falls in both,” Mr Scorer said.

“We hope this shows suppliers are waking up to the need for customers to see rapid cuts when wholesale prices are low and that this trend will continue if wholesale costs carry on falling,” he added.

bbc.co.uk

The cut will apply to all customers on standard and capped tariffs. It comes after similar moves by rivals to lower energy prices.

Britain’s biggest energy supplier British Gas said it would cut electricity prices, effective immediately, by an average of 5%, but leave gas prices unchanged saying wholesale costs were continuing to rise in the long term.

Npower

However, npower will be bringing in the price reduction ahead of its competitors on February 1.

SSE said on Thursday that its household gas prices would fall by 4.5% from March 26, while French-owned EDF Energy is due to bring in its 5% reduction in gas prices from February 7.

Although the firms are competing to offer the best deals to customers, after hiking prices in the winter, none of the companies have cut both gas and electricity prices.

Npower’s chief commercial officer Paul Massara said: “It’s obviously no coincidence that several energy companies have announced price reductions this week and we do not apologise for joining them.

“We are now at a point where costs, at least in the short term, can justify a price cut and we want to make sure that npower customers always get competitive deals.”

Until March, the company has also waived cancellation fees for customers on its fixed-price deals who may want to move to a cheaper tariff.

But Mr Massara warned: “The longer term outlook cannot be predicted, so existing fixed price deals may still be an attractive option.”

finance.yahoo.com

The price cuts will bring relief to cash-strapped consumers, the energy giants say.

British Gas has cut electricity bills for more than five million people with an average five per cent drop in its standard energy tariff. The price cut will take effect immediately, and will snip around £24 from the average bill. The company is not reducing gas prices.

UK energy firms cut prices

SSE, the owner of Southern Electric and Swalec, has cut the price of household gas by 4.5 per cent from 26 March, shaving £28 off the average gas bill for up to 3.5m households. It has also said its commitment to cap household gas and electricity prices will be extended by two months to October 2012, and pledged to look at more cuts if possible. Customers of M&S Energy, which is supplied by SSE, will also benefit from the reductions.

The moves follow EDF’s announcement on Wednesday that it would drop gas prices by 5 per cent – and other operators are set to follow suit.

However, campaign groups say that the cuts are a drop in the ocean compared to the steep energy price rises seen in recent years. For example, British Gas – owned by Centrica – increased gas bills by 18 per cent and electricity by 16 per cent in August.

It wasn’t the only one – all of the “big six” energy suppliers upped their tariffs last winter, and again in summer. SSE increased household gas prices by 18 per cent and electricity by 11 per cent in September.

However, recent reductions in wholesale energy prices have led suppliers to reverse the price rises.

Ian Peters, managing director of British Gas, said: “Household budgets are stretched and we are doing everything we can to help our customers keep their bills down.”

‘Not enough’

But Anne Robinson, director of consumer policy at uSwitch, said the price changes did not go far enough.

“The bottom line for consumers is that these cuts will go nowhere near cancelling out the 21 per cent hike in prices they’ve seen in the last 18 months. We can only hope these reductions are the first and more will follow.”

Mark Todd, director of the independent price comparison service Energyhelpline, added: “We believe there is room for price cuts of up to 10 per cent because of the recent dramatic falls in wholesale prices but clearly the major suppliers do not feel they have the necessary leeway to go much further than 5 per cent.

“This may be because they are worried about their profits but also because they genuinely think that wholesale prices could go back up and that investment in green energies is limiting their room for manoeuvre.”

channel4.com

The consumer champion found that 90% of grievances against power firms were not taken to the energy ombudsman and that tens of thousands of complaints remained unresolved after eight weeks. Which? estimates that homeowners could be losing out on up to £4 million in compensation by not pursuing complaints.

Energy Bill

Forty percent of consumers have had a problem with a gas or electricity company over the past two years. Which? said this is a remarkably high number for an industry where very little should go wrong with the product itself once a customer has signed up.

The majority of complaints from customers were about billing mistakes, inaccurate meter readings and missing bills. Nearly a quarter of those with a gripe failed to take any action, according to the Which? study.

Customers can lodge a complaint with the energy ombudsman for free if their power supplier fails to adequately respond to an issue raised within eight weeks or sends a deadlock letter saying it can do no more. Around 95% of complaints that reach the ombudsman are upheld. Seventy percent of these receive financial compensation.

Which? also published the results of its annual energy company satisfaction survey alongside its research into complaints. All of the “big six” power firms were rated poorly by customers, with npower, EDF Energy and Scottish Power performing the worst. The top spots in the poll were taken by smaller firms such as Good Energy, Utility Warehouse and Ecotricity.

Which? executive director Richard Lloyd said: “These findings reveal shockingly high levels of complaints and low levels of customer satisfaction in the energy industry, at a time when domestic bills have gone through the roof. Ofgem, the regulator, should publish the truth about the full level of complaints in this essential service. Energy suppliers should be held publicly accountable, on a regular basis, for putting right the problems their customers are reporting.

“It is a sign of the level of frustration with this industry that so many people have a problem but don’t complain, even when they could be missing out on compensation. It is important that dissatisfied customers complain directly to their supplier first. But if your supplier doesn’t sort the problem out, it’s worth contacting the energy ombudsman. The vast majority of complaints it receives are upheld, with an average compensation payout of £125.”

The Which? research was published on the same day EDF Energy announced a 5% reduction in its prices after Ovo Energy announced a similar move earlier in the week. Industry analysts predict EDF’s decision could result in the rest of the “big six” following suit.

Vincent de Rivaz, EDF’s chief executive, said: “What customers want more than anything else is fair, clear and transparent prices. We know they want action rather than words. That is why we are the first major supplier to announce a cut and were the last to increase prices.”

totallymoney.com