Andrew MiddletonCEng 🏃 🚵‍♂️

Miss one Council Tax monthly payment and within 3wks they can make you pay for the whole year! My response after listening to a case study who’s finances were wrecked by this. Watch the full @itvMLshow Council Tax cost cutting special on ITVX: itv.com/watch/the-martin-lew…

Pls spread word, tonight @itvMLshow 8pm a COUNCIL TAX COST CUTTING SPECIAL. - 100,000s are in too high a band & could be due £1,000s back - Many more are missing out on crucial discounts or reductions - Plus there's over £100m of unclaimed council tax credit Big show. Do watch

Why buying a home could cost you £1,000s more next year… the Stamp Duty changes that weren’t in the budget speech. Watch the full @itvMLshow budget special at itv.com/watch/the-martin-lew… Feel free to share

The FULL Winter Fuel Payment interview with Lisa Nandy.  Sorry if my frustration about the risk to the 780,000 poorest pensioners missing spilled over with slightly bad language. Courtesy of @GMB

It's time to rename the energy Price Cap, the energy Pants Cap. No one, who's capable of switching, should be on it right now. You can either - Fix at 9% less than the Cap - Get a discounted tariff (ie price cap but cheaper) - Get a special EV tariff - Sophisticated users can go for Octopus Agile/tracker tariffs with rapid price moves All smash the Price / Pants cap. clubs.moneysavingexpert.com/…

News. The Chancellor's just announced Winter Fuel Payments will no longer be universal to all pensioners, now only pensioners on benefits will get it - in my view that's too narrow a group. Here's my formal statement to @RachelReevesMP ... -------------- The targeting of Winter Fuel Payments is too narrow with the winter we have coming. Pensioners were already due to get less as this will be the first time since winter 2022 they haven’t got the up to £300 extra winter fuel cost of living top-up. The Energy Price Cap is likely to rise 10% this October and stay high across the winter, leaving most energy bills nearly double those pre-crisis, at levels unaffordable for millions. Many pensioners eke out the £100 to £300 Winter Fuel Payments to allow them to keep some heating on through the cold months. While there's an argument for ending its universality due to tight national finances, it's being squeezed to too narrow a group – just those on benefits and Pension Credit. Yet again, those just above the thresholds will be hardest hit. This is often justified as there's a 'lack of household income data' to allow other targeting. However, there's a usable precedent from the emergency energy crisis measures announced in April 2022, which I'd urge the Government to look at. Then, a payment was made to homes in council tax bands A to D – as an imperfect but workable proxy for lower household incomes. That'd allow an additional group of lower to middle-income pensioners to keep the payments and mitigate bill shocks. Councils' discretionary funds could also be funded as in April 2022, for the limited numbers who still need help but don't qualify. Plus, with this announcement, the Government has a huge moral imperative to ensure the 800,000 people eligible for Pension Credit who don't get it, are informed, educated and helped through the process. It is planning an awareness-raising campaign, but it needs to ensure that reaches every corner – and if possible proactively and personally contact people. Pension Credit is a crucial gateway benefit, giving access to a host of other entitlements, and now with the link to the Winter Fuel Payment, it makes it even more important to ensure fewer miss out."

If you left Uni since around 2000 (poss before if not paid off), this is worth a listen, even it's a long time ago, millions are potentially owed money. Do share with anyone it is relevant for...

If you know anyone thinking of taking money out of their pension (or nearing age 55). This is a must listen as get it wrong and it can cost you £10,000s. Do spread word.

It’s meter reading week… If you pay by monthly direct debit and don’t have a working smart meter, do an energy meter reading over the next week. The Price Cap drops 7% on Mon 1 July. A meter reading means they can’t assume more usage was done earlier when it costs more.

This as published in the @Daily_Express is utter nonesense. I have had no such conversation nor have I claimed I have. "The money saving expert claims he was told by a senior party insider that the ability to withdraw 25 percent of a pension pot tax free could be swept away during the next five years if Labour claim power."