Homeowners offered free gas for a year if they replace boilers

Published on Sunday 2 September 2007 00:06

SCOTTISH Gas is offering its customers looking to replace inefficient boilers an incentive of one year's free gas.

The utility group's research found that out-of-date boilers are costing homeowners an extra 240 a year.

Boilers more than 15 years old are particularly inefficient, with 4 in every 10 spent on gas being wasted. Indeed, the group said if all those with gas central heating in the UK installed a high-efficiency condensing boiler, the collective energy saving would be enough to heat 3.7 million homes for a year.

Ritchie Palin, a Scottish Gas engineer, said: "Energy efficiency statistics back up the benefits of installing a new boiler and we're confident that householders will see the difference in their bills as soon as they fit a new boiler, so much so we're offering to pay your gas bill for a year as an added incentive to households who buy a boiler from us this autumn."

Phone bills slashed

MOBILE phone users who shopped around for a better deal collectively sliced 1bn off their bills in the last year.

USwitch, which compiled the research, believes even bigger savings could be made if phone providers were forced to cut the time it takes to transfer a phone number from one network to another.

At present it takes an average of five days in the UK, compared with two hours in the Republic of Ireland.

Credit card shock

CREDIT card users are being urged to check their interest rates, after financial information group Moneyfacts spotted a 7% hike in the interest rate on cards issued under the BMW brand.

Samantha Owens, head of personal finance at Moneyfacts, advised users of the card, administered by American Express, to switch to another provider.

She said: "The card has no 0% introductory offers for balance transfers or purchases, so now becomes a very average product, especially when you consider that Barclaycard Simplicity comes with a standard purchase rate over 10% cheaper at 6.8% APR."

Nationwide also urged customers to check the order in which their debts are repaid, after its research revealed that two-thirds did not understand how their cards worked. The cheapest debt is usually repaid first, not the other way around.

Shares incentive

HALIFAX is offering free share dealing until the end of 2007 in an attempt to woo investors back into the stock market after the recent turbulence.

The bank is waiving the usual 1.50 dealing fee for its monthly ShareBuilder account until December 31.

Sue Concannon, managing director of Halifax Share Dealing, said: "A regular monthly investment plan is by far the easiest and most cost-effective way for novice and experienced investors alike to build up a share portfolio. We hope that by cutting the fee completely many more people will be encouraged to try the system and buy shares on a regular basis.

"It could be very profitable in the medium to long term and it can be a lot of fun too."

Bond celebration

NATIONWIDE Building Society is launching a new one-year Loyalty Fixed Rate Bond for members, paying a very competitive rate of 6.70%, to celebrate its merger with Portman Building Society.

New customers can also benefit with a new one-year Fixed Rate Bond paying 6.60%. The bonds provide a guaranteed return to savers.

Leeds Building Society has launched a new savings bond paying 6.4% until 2010. The bond is only suitable for those able to lock money away for a full two and a half years, as no more than 25% of the money invested can be withdrawn before February 2010.

Amounts between 100 and 1m can be invested and interest will be paid on September 1, 2008, and February 1, 2010. An alternative monthly interest option is available, paying 6.34%.