Energy refunds, pensions, house prices and current accounts

Energy firms have been ordered to refund thousands of gas customers affected by a meter reading mistake. But those people who have been undercharged will not have to pay any extra.

The error – caused by companies confusing measurements from older imperial meters with modern metric ones – is believed to have affected several thousand households. ‘We have written to suppliers and asked them to refund affected customers,’ an Ofgem spokesperson told the BBC. The problem emerged after energy firm E.On discovered that it had overcharged 350 of its customers as a result of the mistake. But other companies may also have been affected. They have been ordered to identify any customers who have been overcharged by the end of the week. Pensions

A minority of those aged 55 and over are withdrawing too much from their pension pots, the industry has warned.

However, after the first full year since pension freedoms began, the Association of British Insurers said most people were being sensible. Well over half of those withdrawing money from their pots in the first three months of 2016 took out 1 per cent or less of their value. But at the same time 3,379 people took out more than 10 per cent from their pensions. Housing Gridlock in Britain’s planning system is damaging attempts to tackle the housing crisis, an investigation by The Times has found. Homeowners and developers are experiencing ‘severe’ delays in decision making as the Government struggles to meet its pledge to ‘get Britain building’. Almost a quarter of a million applications have not been processed on time since 2010, with planning departments reducing staff numbers, freedom of information requests show. In other housing news, The Telegraph reports that more than £3,600 has been wiped off the average selling price of a home in the last four weeks, as the summer slow down hits larger properties in particular. Houses with four bedrooms or more are struggling to sell, remaining on the market for an average of 74 days, Rightmove’s monthly update found. Asking prices of homes coming to market in the last month have fallen by 1.2 per cent, in line with expectations and long term averages during the subdued summer selling season. Current accounts Santander is halving the rate on its hugely popular ‘123’ high interest current account, in a move that will hit more than 500,000 savers. The rate will be cut from 3 per cent to 1.5 per cent on November 1, with customers given a minimum of 60 days notice beforehand. Santander is the first of the top high interest current account providers to slash its rate following the Bank of England’s rate cut. Inheritance tax

New research commissioned by Investec Wealth & Investment has revealed a significant increase in the number of families who are tackling the awkward question of inheritance, but far too many still admit to never discussing it.

IW&I’s study found that nearly half of adults have never discussed what they stand to inherit financially, if anything, with their parents. This compares to three quarters of adults in 2012 when the research was last commissioned by IW&I.

When asked why, around a quarter said they were concerned they would appear money grabbing and think their parents would be upset if they raised it while two-fifths did not want to think about their parents passing away.  One in 20 said they thought their parents would be upset that if they raised the issue with them.

Online shopping

More than £250 million worth of online shopping is estimated to have gone missing or not been delivered in the last year, according to new research from Direct Line Home Insurance. Despite the majority (89 per cent) of UK adults now shopping online, more than 18 million people (41 per cent) have had packages go missing or undelivered in the last five years, worth an average £68 per package. An unlucky one in five shoppers have had more than one package go missing in the last five years and an even more unfortunate one in twenty have had five or more packages undelivered. For one in ten online shoppers, the average value of their absent package was £300.50.