Money

I visited Morrisons in Holyhead on October 27. It was a particularly stormy day. When I returned to my car I found a loose trolley embedded in the rear light. I noticed all trolley bays were full and the trolley attendants were sheltering from the rain and wind. I reported the incident to the store manager who told me to bring receipts for the damage and also to email Morrisons with a copy of the receipt.

A new savings and resilience barometer launched by Hargreaves Lansdown looked at how likely people at different ages and income levels are to achieve a moderate income or above later in life. A single person needs a minimum income of £20,800 per year, while a couple requires £30,600 to achieve financial security, according to an oft-cited industry measure of retirement living standards. Those figures include the state pension, which is currently worth around £9,400 per person if you qualify for the full flat rate.

First Direct has lost its crown as the company with the best customer service levels in the country, fresh data has revealed. Pets at Home has pipped First Direct to the post and been hailed as the top business when it comes to satisfying customers, the Institute of Customer Service, said. The pets retailer has surged from seventh place to first place in the ICS's latest rankings, while the John Lewis Partnership has been pushed down from second to seventh place.

HR Owen Bugatti London has taken delivery of the UK orders this week and pictured the trio parked in formation inside the dealership's workshop. With each priced at around €3.5million before taxes (around £4million inclusive of VAT and delivery charges), pictured is a staggering haul of £12million-worth of lightning-fast vehicles.

I'm in the process of having solar panels and a storage battery installed on my home. In order to run the battery on a cheap night-time energy tariff, and receive Smart Export Guarantee payments for any excess electricity I generate, I need my first-generation smart meter upgraded to a second generation one. However, my energy supplier, EDF, is refusing to do so. Secondly, I am struggling to find a cheap night-time tariff that does not also require me to have an electric vehicle - which I do not. I'm doing what I can both for the planet and my pocket, but feel like I'm hitting brick walls so far. Can you help?

Ford's incredible 50-year stint at the top of the sales charts was brought to an abrupt end in 2021, as the Vauxhall Corsa rose to the summit of the registrations table. Does its recent crowning make it the small hatchback to have today? Cars & motoring editor Rob Hull puts it to the test.

I tried to sign on to claim state pension credits (anticipating gaps) but the DWP automatically closed my claim down when I tried to do this online. I did not qualify for the contribution-based benefit. But I was unable to contact anyone on the phone, and job centres were closed, so I couldn't explain I just wanted to claim my state pension credits. Is there any way I can claim credits now?

On February 6, the Queen marks 70 years as Monarch following the death of her father King George VI. She was officially crowned the following year on June 2. Already, special coins are being promoted by Royal Mint to mark the historic occasion. Next month, a new set of 50-pence pieces will be put into circulation while Royal anniversary gold sovereigns will also be released in limited numbers.

Rarely does a single company change the course of investing history for ever. But one year ago, GameStop, then a little-known video game retail company in the US, did just that when its share price shot up by more than 700 per cent within a single week. While its share price has now settled after crashing back down again, the GameStop share frenzy has had a lasting impact that reverberates to this day.

Prospects are bright and the stock should rise. Hargreaves now has three divisions - land regeneration, trading and recycling, and industrial services. All three are performing well and growth is expected to accelerate over the next five to ten years. Reassuringly too, Christopher Mills, a veteran investor with a history of picking winners, owns 28.5 per cent of the shares, while Banham owns a further 8.2 per cent, so is clearly incentivised to deliver returns. At £4.00, the shares are a buy.

The League One football club, which is owned by the fans, wants to raise money to repay a bridging loan for the development of its stadium in Plough Lane. Two years ago, the club launched a bond which raised £5million after building costs for its new stadium soared. Now AFC Wimbledon needs another £4.5million to refinance the high interest bridging loan.

Steven Bartlett is the latest star of Dragons' Den - and we recently caught up with him for a special bonus This is Money podcast episode. In this frank interview with This is Money's Simon Lambert, Steven tells us his story, the challenges he's faced in his business life, how he got ahead and his tips for anyone else wanting to start a business.

The Edinburgh-based group said its Western Desert Assets pumped out roughly 36,300 barrels of oil equivalent per day on average from the time it completed buying them from Shell in September to the end of 2021. It now expects to deliver an average of 37,000 to 43,000 barrels each day in 2022, and for production to expand throughout the year and exit rates to surpass the high end of its forecast range.

Vodafone shares jumped 4.5% after it emerged the FTSE 100 firm held talks late last year about buying rival UK mobile network Three from Asian conglomerate CK Hutchison. If a deal goes through Vodafone will add Three's 9.3m customers to its existing 20m, making it a huge player in the British telecoms space. However, such a tie-up would draw scrutiny from regulators.

We may still be in January but the race is already under way in the 2022 housing market - and for canny sellers, there's no time to lose. The average asking price of property coming to market across the UK since the New Year is £341,019, according to Rightmove. That's 7.6% more than a year ago and is the highest annual rate of price growth recorded by the property website since 2016.

A total of 28,375 publicly-accessible charging devices for electric vehicles are now available across the UK, of which almost one in five are rapid chargers, latest Department for Transport records confirm. However, the data shows that London has benefitted from a much faster expansion of its charging infrastructure than any other region, with 102 devices per 100,000 of its population, while areas like the North West have just 24 per 100,000 people. There are also growing concerns that infrastructure is failing to keep pace with the number of electric cars entering the road, with one new public device added for every 24 zero-emission vehicle registered last year.

People in their 70s or 80s have often put off thinking about it or were reluctant to give money away to their children when they were younger, but by then there is not much time left, explains Osbornes Law. Gifts are subject to the well-known rule that you have to survive seven years before they become tax free, and if you are wealthy enough to set up a trust you can pass on far more by doing this in your 50s or 60s.

If you're anything like me, energy bills will feel like a painful monthly expense and one that you really aren't looking forward to rising by £54. Nonetheless, like me, many This is Money readers will be able to grudgingly stomach the hike and feel it as just another part of the current cost of living squeeze. Others, however, will be among the millions of people for whom this is going to be a real problem and may have to choose between heating and eating.

Some of the big name US growth stocks have suffered falls since late last year, but is this a changing of the guard and why is the shift in central bank thinking seen to benefit value not growth? On this episode of the Investing Show, Simon Lambert of This is Money, and Richard Hunter of Interactive Investor discuss what may lie ahead for investors in 2022, how the year has started and the kind of companies that could benefit from value getting its day in the sun.

Power firms are unleashing heavy-handed debt collectors over bills that have often been issued in error. Customers of one firm have had unexpected demands after the supplier sold debts to a third party. The debt-purchasing company is represented by a law firm which two watchdogs have received complaints about.

Santander reported a 532% surge in 'mum and dad' or 'friend in need' scams - where fraudsters impersonate their victims' loved ones - between August and November last year. Ex-headmistress Elizabeth Baker (pictured, left, with partner Hugh) - came close to losing more than £500 after a scammer pretended to be her daughter. Meanwhile a conman tricked the father of Cally Beaton (pictured, right) out of £1,800.

Yorkshire Building Society has launched a new regular savings account offering savers the chance to win one of ten £1,500 cash prizes each month. Regular saver accounts enable savers to save a fixed amount every month, albeit typically with a minimum or maximum limit on how much can be deposited each time. The Make Me a Saver account pays 1% interest and allows customers to deposit up to £150 per month whilst allowing instant access to their savings without penalty.

Choosing the right DIY platform is crucial but a wealth of choice and a variety of charges can leave investors scratching their heads. We pick some of the best. We pick some of the best. We also highlight why investing in an Isa makes sense, as it should protect your hopefully growing investments from tax forever.