January 2016

Millions of Sky customers hit with inflation-busting line-rental price rises last month have been given a fresh opportunity to haggle a better deal after action by regulator Ofcom.

If you're a Barclays current account holder and haven't yet signed up to its Blue Rewards scheme, join by 31 Jan and you'll get double rewards for the first month. This means you can earn at least £55 in your first year on the scheme. Meanwhile, Co-op Bank's also launched a new reward scheme which can pay at least £48/year.

A parliamentary motion calling for extra measures to protect hundreds of thousands of women aged 55-65 who will be hit by changes to the state pension was unanimously passed by MPs today. But the vote isn't binding on the Government, which can choose to ignore it.

Most resolutions hardly outlast Christmas turkey leftovers, but I've designed these so if you do 'em now, the impact's felt all year

More than 106,000 people have now signed a petition protesting controversial changes to the state pension which will hit hundreds of thousands of women aged 55-65. MPs will decide if the petition should be granted a second parliamentary debate after an existing debate already scheduled for tomorrow (7 January).

For the last couple of years there's been a trick to get British Gas at far cheaper prices. That's because Sainsbury's Energy is a 'white label' of British Gas – in other words the same company but using a different brand – and for someone with typical usage it has been over £200 cheaper. Yet that trick won't work anymore as Sainsbury's Energy's changed its tariffs.

If you're one of TalkTalk's four million customers you've until Thursday to claim a free upgrade – including free Sky Sports for TV customers or a 12-month mobile Sim – after the telecoms giant extended its deadline.

The cost of taking out a standard loan for between £7,500 and £15,000 dropped to the cheapest ever today, after Marks & Spencer slashed its loan rate to 3.3% rep APR.

Millions of HSBC customers were locked out of their online accounts for two days after a major technical problem with its internet banking system.