Beware April price changes

Spring is in the air as April approaches - but beware the price changes coming with it.

By Nathalie Bonney

Stamps

Make sure you stock up on stamps before 6 April, when the price of both first and second-class stamps will increase.

First-class stamps for standard letters weighing up to 100g will rise by 2p to 41p, while second-class stamps will increase in price from 30p to 32p.

The cost of sending ordinary meter and account mail, which is largely sent by small businesses, will remain at 36p and 25p respectively.

Royal Mail estimates the rises will add 3p onto the average household's 50p weekly expenditure on postage.

Last April, the cost of a first-class stamp increased from 36p to 39p and a second-class stamp rose from 27p to 30p. The price of special next-day delivery, meanwhile, increased from £4.65 to £4.95 for mail up to 100g.

TV licences

Licence fees are based on a six-year BBC funding settlement that started in April 2007. In year one (2008) and year two (2009), the licence fee increase was set at 3%. In years three (2010), four (2011) and five (2012), the increase is set at 2%. The BBC can set any increase in year six, up to 2%.

This means that on 1 April, the cost of a TV license will rise by 2% from 1 April, the cost of a colour television licence will be £145.50 (from £142.50) while a black and white licence will be £49 (up from £48).

Motoring costs

A new ‘showroom tax' based on the most polluting cars will come into effect in April. The introduction will cost drivers from £110 tax in the first year of ownership.

Band M vehicles (those that produce over 255g of CO2 per km) will have to pay £950 while drivers of greener cars – up to band D (producing (121-130g CO2/km) won't have to pay anything.

From 1 April, the government will also add 3p in fuel duty and VAT on to the cost of petrol and diesel.

Fee to go bankrupt

From 6 April 2010, the fee you will have to pay to go bankrupt will jump a whopping 25%, from £360 to £450. On top of this, bankrupts also have to pay a £150 court fee.

Phone calls

From 1 April, BT will shift the start time of its off-peak period from 6pm to 7pm. Meanwhile, its peak period will start at 7am rather than 6am.

The move means 4.7 million people signed up to BT's Evening & Weekend plan will no longer wil able to enjoy free calls until 7pm. A further 8.5 million people on BT's Weekend plan, meanwhile, will no longer talk for free from 6pm on Friday evenings.

BT has written to affected customers suggesting they move from its Evening & Weekend plan (which currently costs just £2.99 a month) to its Anytime Plan (which is more costly at £4.99 a month).

London taxis

Taxi fares are reviewed annually and calculated by Transport for London, based on a cost index that has been used since 1981. From 1 April 2010, the average taxi fare will increase by 2.3%. This is the lowest rise since 2004.

Last April taxi fares increased by 3.4%.

Multi-channel TV

Households with a subscription to Virgin Media's L and XL TV packages will see prices rise from 1 April. Customers with a subscription to the L package will see prices rise from £10 a month to £11 a month, while those on the largest package, XL, will now pay £23 a month, instead of £21.50.

New tax for high earners

Anyone earning above £150,000 will be subject to the new 50% tax rate - meaning 50p of every pound they earn goes to the taxman.

OTHER CHANGES TO EXPECT IN APRIL...

* The ISA allowance will increase to £10,200, of which £5,100 can be held in cash.

* The number of qualifying years for the full state pension will drop from 44 years (for men) and 39 years (for women) to a universal 30 years. The retirement age for women will also increase to 65 years, in line with men.

* New national insurance credits are being introduced for unpaid carers, so that the years they spend looking after others will count towards their state pension. They must spend at least 20 hours a week caring to qualify for this or in the case of parents receive child benefit for children under the age of 12.

* Child benefit and some disability benefits will increase by 1.5%.

* People in Northern Ireland will benefit from free prescriptions while prescription costs in Scotland will drop to £3.

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Plan to force dog owners to pay £500 to insure their pet 'will penalise responsible owners'

Plan to force dog owners to pay £500 to insure their pet 'will penalise responsible owners'

By Niall Firth and Steve Doughty
dailymail

A plan to force dog owners to fork out for expensive insurance will penalise responsible owners who look after their pets properly, animal charities warned today.

Owners may also be required by law to have a microchip implanted on their pet under Government plans to curb the use of dangerous dogs. Insurance for dogs can cost in excess of £500 a year.

But critics today warned that the new proposals should be targeted at those who to flout the laws rather than responsible dog owners who take care of their pets.

Dog owners could soon have to pay for insurance which covers damage or injury their pet causes

Shadow Environment Secretary Nick Herbert, said: 'The problem of dangerous dogs is growing and the current legislation is clearly not working, but the Government's proposals risk penalising millions of law-abiding dog owners with the blunt instrument of a dog tax.

'We should be targeting the minority of irresponsible dog owners, not the vast majority who are responsible dog lovers.

'And we need to legislate carefully, not in haste, so that we don’t repeat the mistakes of the infamously flawed Dangerous Dogs Act.'

The measures, part of proposed changes to the Dangerous Dogs Act unveiled today, are aimed at tackling the growing problem of vicious animals being bred for use as weapons, particularly on inner-city estates.

But a spokesman for the Kennel Club said: 'We believe that any new legislation must tackle the root cause of the problem which is irresponsible ownership.

'This sort of proposal will not work in isolation.

'Any new proposals must be targeted at those who continue to flout the laws rather than the majority of responsible dog owners.'

An RSPCA spokesman said: ‘It is important that the right people are targeted with this.

‘The crux of these proposals is that the Government is trying to tackle anti-social behaviour with dogs but it’s important that the vast majority of fantastic dog owners are not penalised for the small minority.’

'But in the end nothing has ever happened. If Labour are re-elected in May all we'll get is the same tired-out old approach and none of the changes the country really needs.'

Another measure being considered is the use of Dog Control Notices for misbehaving animals - known as 'Dogbos'.

Chris Laurence, vetinerary director at the Dog's Trust said that insurance for dogs was of relatively little value.

‘Far more important are control orders and compulsory micro-chipping,’ he said.
muzzle the devil dogs.jpg

Control notices would allow police officers and council officials to force miscreant owners to muzzle, leash or even neuter their pets.

‘It is control orders that are important because they mean legislation in a private place rather than just in public places,' said Mr Laurence

Ministers are suggesting making it compulsory to have only third party insurance to cover attacks by dogs on bystanders, neighbours or workers.

Dogs may be implanted with a microchip to identify their owner.

The price of microchipping and insuring a dog means that families could face bills of £100 and more to legally own a pet under the new rules.

The proposals come in the wake of outcries over incidents like the death of four-year-old John-Paul Massey, savaged by a pit bull at his home in Liverpool last November, and protests by employers and unions over the rate of attacks by dogs on workers such as postmen.

Home Secretary Alan Johnson said: 'The vast majority of dog owners are responsible, but there is no doubt that some people breed and keep dogs for the soul purpose of intimidating others, in a sense using dogs as a weapon.

'It is this sort of behaviour that we will not tolerate; it is this sort of behaviour that we are determined to stop.'

The plans for curbing the use of intimidating dogs were put forward in a Department of the Environment consultation over changes to the Dangerous Dogs Act, the 1991 law often cited as an example of hastily-made and unworkable legislation.

The Act names four breeds, including pitbull-terriers, which are banned.

However the law also allows the banned breeds to be kept in some cases, if they are neutered, tattooed with the owner's details, microchipped, and are allowed out in public only if on a lead and muzzled.

Figures uncovered by the Tories have suggested 100 people every week are treated in hospital after being bitten by a dog, with the number of cases rising from 3,079 in 1997-8 to 5,221 last year.

In London alone, the number of dangerous dog cases going to court increased from 35 in 2002-3 to 719 in 2008-9.

The rise in the so-called 'status dog' has prompted the Metropolitan Police to set up a new unit to handle a surge in the number of attacks and to kennel hundreds of seized animals.

Terrible cases to make the headlines in recent years include that of John-Paul Massey, a four-year-old who died at his grandmother's house in Liverpool last year after suffering 'massive injuries' inflicted by a dog later found in tests to be a pitbull, a breed banned under the Dangerous Dogs Act.

In February last year, three-and-a-half-month-old Jaden Mack was killed by a Staffordshire bull terrier and a Jack Russell at his grandmother's home in Ystrad Mynach, South Wales, devastating the local community.

The previous summer there was a rash of attacks by dogs on children in different parts of the country.

Victims: John-Paul Massey, four, died after suffering 'massive injuries' inflicted by a dob. Right, 13-month-old Archie-Lee Hirst was killedby a rottweiler

There were reports of children being bitten in Guisborough, Cleveland; Killingworth, North Tyneside; Chesterfield, Derbyshire; and Grimsby, Lincolnshire.

At the start of 2008, nine-year-old Chloe Grayson was left scarred after she was attacked by a 10-stone rottweiler in Rotherham, South Yorkshire. She was attending a New Year's Eve party with her parents at a neighbour's house.

The attack came just three days after 13-month-old Archie-Lee Hirst was killed by a rottweiler in the back yard of his grandparents' home in Wakefield, West Yorkshire.

Two weeks earlier, kennel worker Mandy Peynado's arm was amputated because of injuries she suffered trying to protect her throat when she was mauled by a rottweiler at Knightwood Kennels, near Salisbury, Wiltshire.

On January 1, 2007, five-year-old Ellie Lawrenson was found bleeding to death in the living room of her grandmother's home in Merseyside after attending a family party.

The dog involved, named Reuben, was shot at the scene by Merseyside Police. It was later confirmed that the animal was a 'pitbull terrier-type' banned under the Dangerous Dogs Act.

In September 2006, five-month-old Cadey-Lee Deacon was fatally attacked by a pair of rottweiler guard dogs at the Rocket pub in Leicester, which was run by her grandparents.

In March last year, an 11-year-old boy's ear was torn off in an attack by a pitbull-type terrier in the Alway area of Newport, South Wales.

Adults were also attacked - including railway engineer James Rehill, 78, who was 'dragged like a doll' through the street in a fatal attack by his own dog in January last year.

Witnesses looked on in horror as Mr Rehill was savaged by his rottweiler in Newham, east London.

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The 7 biggest supermarket scams

Household Bills - Beware of these supermarket scams


Find out how to fight back against supermarket scams and rising food prices so you can beat the grocery stores at their own game...

Believe it or not, recent figures suggest that over the past few years, the wholesale price of basic food essentials, such as bread and butter, has plummeted almost 50%.

No, I'm not making this up. And yet, I can't say I've noticed. In fact, every time I'm at the checkout, I'm continually amazed at how much money I manage to spend on food each week.

So why are my food bills continuing to spiral upwards? Well, apparently, supermarkets simply haven't been lowering their prices in line with declines. And in fact, prices have still been going up.

If you ask me, this is a bit sneaky. Unfortunately, however, it's not the only trick adopted by many supermarkets – there are lots of them. So here are seven supermarket scams to avoid at all costs...

Size matters

You might think you'll save yourself some pennies if you buy larger packs of goods. After all, generally speaking, buying in bulk is supposed to be cheaper.

But according to research from mySupermarket.co.uk, shoppers could be paying up to 46% more by opting for bigger packs. For example, an 800g jar of Hellmann's mayonnaise was found to be 33% (99p) more expensive than buying two jars of 400g mayonnaise.

The best way to avoid this is to always check product details before buying – it's a really good idea to check the price per weight. Although this may sound like a lot of hassle – particularly if you're walking around the supermarket in a bit of a hurry – if you shop online using mySupermarket.co.uk, you will find it much easier.

That's because this nifty website allows you to track how much your shopping would cost at each of the UK's four major supermarkets (Sainsbury's, Tesco, ASDA and Ocado/Waitrose). It also means you can easily see how much you'll be paying per gram/kilogram, so it's easy to check which is the cheapest option, no matter how big or small the packet.

What's more, it will also tell you when you can 'swap and save' by substituting a bag of grapes for a box of grapes, for example. The savings soon stack up!

Special offers

Special offers such as 'buy one get one free' deals can be very tempting. But while in some cases these can help to slash your food bills, they don't always provide the best value for money.

Often you'll find the very best deals are on perishable items such as fruit and vegetables. So unless you can guarantee you'll eat two bags of satsumas in a few days, you may find you end up throwing a lot of food away.

What's more, if you head down to your local greengrocers or market, you will probably find you can buy the same product even cheaper. Or simply grow your own!

Similarly, be wary of deals such as 'buy one get one half price' and 'two for £3' – if you don't actually need to buy two, don't get too sucked in. Some supermarkets cunningly raise prices one week and then reduce them the next so that they can claim a discount. So don't buy more simply because you can.

Delicious smells

I have to confess that I fall for this one on a regular basis. I just can't resist the smell of freshly baked bread as I walk down the bakery aisle. Usually this trick works its magic and I find myself loading up my trolley with the stuff.

But try not to let yummy smells tempt you into buying items you really don't need or didn't intend to buy in the first place. Stick to your shopping list!

Relaxing coffee shops

These days it seems that supermarkets are determined for you to spend hours and hours wandering around their aisles.As a result, coffee shops such as Starbucks and Costa have started springing up in supermarkets, allowing you to while away the hours, enjoying a cup of coffee and a spot of lunch, before continuing to amble along the aisle.

After all, what better way to spend your day than in the supermarket? And the longer you spend in the supermarket, the more you might spend on your food bill! Don't get sucked in – walk in, stick to your shopping list, get out!

Product placement

Do you ever find yourself wondering what's at the top of the supermarket shelf? The one you can't quite reach? Supermarkets will often put the most profitable items at eye level so they are easy to find, while the cheapest items will be at the very top or very bottom of the shelf. This means you may need to be prepared to do some hunting if you want the best bargains.

Similarly, you may find the most expensive products, such as electrical goods, are placed near the entrance to the supermarket. Meanwhile, the cheaper basic foods will be towards the exit – so you'll have to pass the tempting electrical products to get to them.

Changing layout

It drives me mad when I walk into my local supermarket to find that everything has been moved around.

This is another cunning ploy adopted by supermarkets and means that however well you thought you knew the layout, you can guarantee you won't know where anything is anymore, and you'll be forced to traipse around the supermarket looking for everything on your shopping list.

As a result, you'll pass other tempting items which you're more likely to throw into your trolley. So again, stick to your shopping list!

Location, location

If you often run into your local supermarket at the station to pick up a few bits on your way home from work, be careful. That's because prices can change depending on the store location – even if it's the same chain.

Very large stores are likely to be the cheapest, while convenience stores and those in petrol stations and at motorway service stations will be more expensive. So try to avoid doing a big shop in the more expensive stores.

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See you soon.