Money Round-up Video: Cutting energy bills; Wonga debt write-off; rate rise worries

What to do with your money this week

Simon Read gives hints and tips on what to do with your money this week (Getty Images)

The Independent’s Personal Finance Editor Simon Read talks over the latest Money news with Headline London host Claudia-Liza Armah. This week they discuss saving on home energy bills, whether you will be let off your debt to payday lenders, and why borrowers should be planning ahead for an interest rate rise.

Switching energy suppliers
It’s the great heating turn-on this week as winter arrives, but millions should think about switch supplier to save money this winter, especially those on around 15 fixed-rate tariffs that end this month.

Only around two-fifths of households have switched which means three-fifths of homes are losing out on savings of potentially hundreds of pounds.

More on that here

Wonga woes
330,000 thousand borrowers have had their debts wiped out because of irresponsible lending. But is Wonga's announcement of wiping off debts as good as it sounds?

It doesn’t mean you don’t need to pay your debt to the payday lender, points out Simon Read. Only those who wouldn’t have been given a loan under new affordability rules will be let off their debts.

More on that here

Mortgage rate worries
Should you be worried about a possible interest rate hike by as early as the end of the year? Simon points out that it may not hit until after next May’s election, but waiting until then to do something about your mortgage could be a costly mistake.

Simon points out that around half of borrowers don’t know their mortgage interest rate while a fifth believes rates will never rise. But rates will rise and if you don’t plan for it, you could be in for a serious payment shock.

More on that here