Share Sounds. related to Personal Finance - Energy

Welcome to the This is Money and Share Radio podcast, brought to you in partnership with NS&I. It’s been quite a stressful week both real and imagined. The UK banking system was put through its paces in the Bank of England’s stress test which simulated a range of disaster scenarios from crashing house prices to rising unemployment. The biggest failure proved to be the majority tax payer owned RBS, whilst it was ‘must try harder’ for Barclays and Standard Chartered. Unfortunately not all this week’s stresses have been virtual though and rising fuel prices contributed to the collapse of GB Energy affecting 160,000 customers. When it comes to finding a new supplier there’s certainly plenty of choice at least as more and more smaller firms spring up- so just what is going on with Britain’s energy market? Georgie Frost is joined by Editor Simon Lambert and Consumer Affairs Editor Lee Boyce to find out. Also this week they look at the scams tricking people out of personal data and gig tickets as well as the meaty issue of what else is in the new plastic fiver. This is Money is presented by Georgie Frost in partnership with NS&I.

Oil prices are sitting at their highest level in a year. For now, financial markets seem convinced the Opec cartel's new deal to limit global crude production will stick. Motoring organisations have already warned petrol prices may rise by 9p a litre, adding about £5 to the average cost of filling up a car. But what of Oil's cousin, natural gas. How has the market for that been affected? Matt Cox has been hearing from Edgar van der Meer, Senior Analyst at industry specialists NRG Expert.

OPEC has reached a deal to cut oil supplies for the first time since the global financial crisis in 2008, prices are expected to rise above $50 a barrel as countries with large oil reserves like Saudi Arabia and its Gulf allies accepted big reductions in production. OPEC decided to cut 1.2m barrels a day to about 32.5m b/d for six months from early 2017 after six hours of talks in Vienna. Our energy expert in Vienna Peter Bild joined the show to discuss.

Consumer writer Megan French from Money Saving Expert gives some advice for those affected by the collapse of GB Energy as well as discussing the pros and cons of PayPal for online Christmas shopping. Plus we have a roundup of the best deals the team have found this week.

There are calls for Ofgem to look at how to better protect energy consumers from their supplier going out of business. It comes as 160,000 energy customers face uncertainty, after GB Energy Supply was forced to shut down. USwitch is calling on the regulator to look at how suppliers can cope with fluctuating wholesale energy prices more effectively. James Brydges spoke to Claire Osborne, an energy expert from USwitch, about the increase in wholesale prices.

Welcome to the This is Money and Share Radio podcast, presented in partnership with NS&I. This week of course the top financial story was Philip Hammond’s first, and indeed last, Autumn Statement. Just what state are the country’s post-Brexit finances in, and crucially what would the Chancellor offer to help his much referenced ‘Jams’? In the end those ‘just about managing’ certainly received a few headline policies but with predictions pointing towards low growth, high borrowing and high inflation many argue Jam spending has been spread too thin. There were also some losers with those enjoying salary sacrifice perks and letting agents coming into the crosshairs, as well as in fact the Autumn Statement itself which will now be scrapped. So what will all this mean for the pound in your pocket? Georgie Frost joins editor Simon Lambert and reporter Becky Rutt to answer just that. Also on the agenda this week they discuss Black Friday and for a slightly different purchase the opportunity to buy a road legal Formula 1 car. This is Money is presented by Georgie Frost in partnership with NS&I.

Energy suppliers are allegedly making larger profits than they admit. The Sun Newspaper claimed they could be making a 24% profit margin, almost six times higher than figures provided by regulator Ofgem. The newspaper based its claims on a PwC report commissioned by Energy UK. Energy UK rejects the claims saying they were "a misrepresentation of facts". But now Business Secretary Greg Clark has started an investigation. To get a clearer grasp on the situation and the upcoming investigation, Matt Cox spoke to Senior Analyst at NRG Expert, Edgar van der Meer.

Sue Dougan is joined in the studio by Hannah Maundrell editor in chief of money.co.uk. On the agenda today, as we head towards the winter, we are being warned to brace themselves for a rise in their energy bills. Elsewhere, Visa says consumer spending increased by 2.5% in October compared to the same month last year. Plus, Amazon is in the news again after being ordered to pay back the parents of children who made in-app purchases on mobile devices. All these stories and more on The News Review.

According to a key annual report annual report from energy practise Oliver Wyman, the biggest commodity trading houses have seen profits from reselling oil shipments jump more than 50% over the past five years. Roland Rechsteiner, co-author of "Reimagining Commodity Trading" at Oliver Wyman, talks on their annual oil report.

Sarah Pennells is joined in the studio by Kevin Pratt, web editor at MoneySuperMarket.com. Today they discuss the average fall in pay for self-employed workers as well as the growing cost of online fraud. Plus why fashion sales have suffered their worst decline in seven years. All these stories and more on The News Review.