APRIL 1ST - NATIONAL PRICE HIKE DAY

[Cannydc]

Sunday 1 April has been dubbed national price-hike day as a host of government bodies and private firms will increase charges, potentially adding at least £100 to family budgets this year.

Council tax bills will rise by an average of 5.1% (on band D properties in England), typically adding an extra £81 a year. The average water bill for England and Wales is to rise by 2%, or £9 a year, while the cost of a colour TV licence goes up from £147 to £150.50 a year.

The NHS charge for a dental check-up will also increase, by £1 to £21.60. And if you need a doctor’s prescription, it will cost £8.80 – up 20p.

Sadly, all this is no April Fools’ Day joke and comes days after a rise in the cost of stamps – from 65p to 67p for a first class stamp – on 26 March.

Those taking long-distance flights of more than 2,000 miles from UK airports will pay £3-£6 more in air passenger duty: taking it to £78 in cattle class or £156 at the front.

Mobile phone firms Three, EE, O2 and Vodafone will hike the cost of monthly contracts for some customers by up to 4% on or around 1 April, depending on billing date.

Sky TV and broadband customers will see their monthly contracts rise by around £30 a year.

Energy provider E.ON is removing its dual-fuel and paperless discount on 19 April. The discount is worth around £30 a year to customers who take both gas and electricity from it. In effect, it amounts to a 2.7% price increase for dual-fuel customers.


Welcome to May's Brexit Britain. Getting the price rises out over Easter, a great time to hide bad news. Expect a lot, lot more.

https://www.theguardian.com/money/2018/ ... bills-rise