Latest news with #April2026
The Sun
09-07-2025
- Business
- The Sun
Huge change to mobile and broadband rules so customers can get £100s in compensation sooner
A HUGE change to mobile and broadband rules means customers can get £100s in compensation sooner. Anyone who complains to their provider and does not get the response they want can take their claim further to the ombudsman. 1 Currently, providers have up to eight weeks to respond. But under new rules laid out by Ofcom, this will now be reduced to six weeks. This means frustrated customers can get compensation quicker. Ofcom has been consulting on the change and made its final decision this week. But customers will have to wait until April 2026 before the changes officially come into place. Rocio Concha, Which? director of policy and advocacy, described the move as "positive". She said: "Recent Which? research found that eight in ten suffered a connection issue with their broadband provider in the year to January 2025. "So unfortunately, telecoms issues are far from uncommon and customers rightly expect that any problems will be resolved quickly and efficiently." She added: "Any providers who are falling short urgently need to up their game to ensure their customers are getting the service they rightly expect and that problems are resolved as quickly as possible." It is worth noting that when you take an issue to the ombudsman there's no guarantee of compensation, but it's one of the ways it can tell the supplier to offer redress. If you wish to complain to your broadband provider look for the customer service number on the company website. Ask to speak to the relevant team member and make sure you have important documents such as bills and bank statements to hand. Under current rules, if your supplier does not resolve the issues after eight weeks, you can take your case to one of two Alternative Dispute Resolution (ADR) schemes. Customers can escalate issues to either the Communications Ombudsman (CO) or the Communications and Internet Services Adjudication Scheme (CISAS). If your provider cannot solve your compliant, it will issue a deadlock letter which it means it does not think it can resolve the problem. You can find out what scheme your provider is part of by using the ADR checker on the Ofcom website. If you receive one of these letter it means you have 12months to contact the ombudsman. Resolving an issue through the ombudsman can lead to a simple apology, or you get compensation. If you are not happy with how it has resolved your complaint you can switch providers. HOW TO CUT BROADBAND COSTS If you're not happy with what your broadband firm is offering you, shop around for a new deal and switch providers. You can use price comparison websites like Uswitch to find the best deals based on your circumstances. You can also use a deal found on a price comparison site to haggle your existing provider down to a lower price. And if you are a pensioners or on government benefits like Universal Credit you should c heck if you can slash your broadband and mobile bills by hundreds of pounds a year. Social tariffs are offered to those on government benefits like Universal Credit, and they can save you hundreds of pounds a year compared to standard deals. They often come with no exit fees - but you should always check the terms and conditions carefully. Ofcom has a list on its website of all the firms offering social broadband and mobile phone tariffs here: Top tips on how to stay connected Here are some tips from Ofcom on how to improve your Wi-Fi connection and get more out of it: Use your landline or Wi-Fi calls: More people are making calls on their mobile network during the day, so you may find you get a more reliable connection using your landline or by turning on "wifi calling" in your settings. Move your router clear of other devices: Keep your router as far away as possible from other devices, such as cordless phones, baby monitors, TVs and monitors, as they can all affect your Wi-Fi if they're too close to your router. Also, place your router on a table or shelf rather than on the floor, and keep it switched on. Lower the demands on your connection: The more devices attached to your wifi, the lower the speed you get. Devices like tablets and smartphones often work in the background, so try switching wifi reception off on these when you're not using them. Try wired rather than wireless: For the best broadband speeds, use an Ethernet cable to connect your computer directly to your router rather than using Wi-FI. Plug your router directly into your main phone socket: Where possible, try not to use a telephone extension lead, as these can cause interference which could lower your speed. Test the speed on your broadband line: You can run a speed test using Ofcom's official mobile and broadband checker. If possible, carry out tests over a few days and see if there are any changes.
Yahoo
01-07-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Visa, Mastercard trials postponed
This story was originally published on Payments Dive. To receive daily news and insights, subscribe to our free daily Payments Dive newsletter. A federal judge has postponed an antitrust trial for several national retailers suing Visa and Mastercard over card swipe fees to next year, prompted by concerns that the prior October trial date would spill into the holiday season. Last week, U.S. District Judge Alvin Hellerstein moved the previously scheduled Oct. 20 jury trial for several large merchants to April 20, 2026, after he raised a question during a recent pretrial status conference about how long the trial might last, potentially conflicting with the holidays. In subsequent court filings, lawyers for the merchants asserted that Visa and Mastercard had seized on the judge's question as the basis of their effort to push the trial into 2026. Merchants suing the networks — about four dozen companies assembled into three groups of litigants — strongly opposed moving the first of what's expected to be two trials into next year. Hellerstein's order came the same week as a federal district judge in Chicago rescheduled a separate trial from May to September 2026 for a different group of merchants suing the networks. The trials next year cover three groups of plaintiffs that have been litigating against Visa and Mastercard for more than a decade and opted out of a prior multi-billion dollar settlement with the networks over damages. One group includes merchants such as Marathon Petroleum, apparel retailer Gap and restaurant company Panera Bread, with several of the plaintiffs' original complaints filed 20 years ago. A second group covers nine merchants, including retailers Macy's and TJX, the parent of TJ Maxx. While those two groups' cases are pending in Hellerstein's New York courtroom, a third case involves the plaintiffs' group, led by the food delivery business Grubhub, that is pending in Chicago federal court. Last year, Hellerstein decided that the trial in his court will involve five plaintiff companies from the two merchant groups assigned to his court. Four card-issuing banks are also defendants in the New York trial. About 30 merchants in the three plaintiff groups have reached independent settlements, including tech giant Amazon, as well as the retailers Costco Wholesale and Lowe's. Fashion retailer The Talbots was the most recent to settle, in June. The long-running antitrust cases date to 2005 when merchants sued Visa and Mastercard over alleged violations with respect to setting the interchange rates that retailers, restaurateurs and other merchants pay when consumers use a Visa or Mastercard-branded card. The networks 'just want to delay everything,' Lloyd Constantine, a New York attorney who represents about 40 merchants suing Visa and Mastercard, said in a June 18 interview before the new trial date was set. 'The delay of six months in a case that has been in court for 13 years was opposed by my firm,' he wrote Thursday in an email. Visa has no comment on the litigation, a spokesperson said Friday. A Mastercard spokesperson, Seth Eisen, said the company remains 'focused on resolving' the swipe fee litigation. 'It reflects our commitment to competing and innovating in this dynamic market by delivering value to everyone who pays or is paid using our products,' Eisen wrote Thursday in an email. The jury trial in New York next spring is expected to be the first to further litigate merchants' claims over their costs for card payments since a federal judge nixed a settlement with the networks over injunctive relief for retailers. Last June, U.S. District Judge Margot Brodie in Brooklyn, New York, rejected a separate March 2024 settlement covering injunctive relief, concluding that it treated large and smaller companies inequitably, and disadvantaged the biggest merchants. Talks on a revised settlement are ongoing. Amid the litigation, 'serious' settlement talks between the merchants and networks continue, Constantine said. The potential magnitude of 'extravagantly outrageous' awards if the merchants win at trial — tripled under U.S. antitrust law — seemingly make Visa and Mastercard 'highly motivated to settle,' he said. 'If past is prologue, if history tells us something, settlements are highly likely,' Constantine said. 'Not inevitable. Not certain. But highly likely.' In the separate Chicago federal courtcase, Visa and Mastercard are 'preparing renewed settlement offers to the entire Grubhub plaintiff group,' lawyers for Visa told U.S. District Judge Edmond Chang in a June 19 filing asking him to move the Grubhub plaintiffs' trial from May to later in the year. The networks are committed 'to engaging in serious, good faith negotiations with each of them' before the trial in New York, they added. A spokesperson for Arnold & Porter, which represents the San Francisco-based Visa, said the firm could not comment on active litigation. A spokesperson for Vorys, Sater, Seymour and Pease, which represents Grubhub merchants, said the firm had no comment on the matter. 'A settlement can occur at any point before, during or even after the trial,' Visa CEO Ryan McInerney told investors in a conference call last July, discussing the agreement that Brodie rejected. 'So, just keep that in mind as the process plays out.' The networks 'are willing to pay an awful lot of money to get rid of these cases,' Constantine said. 'But not anywhere near — not even close — to what they would have to pay were they to lose at trial.' Jeffrey Shinder, another lawyer who represents merchants, is skeptical of a pre-trial agreement. 'In terms of an overarching settlement of all of these clients, I see nothing that has happened that suggests to me that that is imminent or likely,' Shinder said in a June 20 interview. Beyond recouping years of card swipe fees they've paid Visa and Mastercard, the merchants are seeking fundamental revisions in how the two dominant payment networks set interchange fees. 'There's a perspective amongst the merchants that this is a once-in-a-generation moment to address a serious market failure that has harmed the merchants for decades,' Shinder said. They're hoping to eliminate a system in which the banks and networks apply default interchange rates to millions of merchants, replacing that with negotiated rates. Currently, only a very small percentage of merchants, those that are larger, have bilateral interchange rate agreements with Visa and Mastercard, according to plaintiffs' court filings. The lawsuit also seeks to banish a longstanding rule known as 'honor all cards,' in which a merchant that accepts any Visa or Mastercard-branded card must take all such cards, regardless of the issuing bank or the interchange fee associated with the card. That means the merchant can't decline a card with a pricier interchange, such as the numerous higher-fee cards that offer consumers travel or hotel loyalty program rewards. Nor can they usually add surcharges for payments with a card that carries a higher interchange cost. Travel rewards programs funded by higher interchange fees are borne by 'the merchants and their consumers who are paying with plain-vanilla cards or cash or SNAP (grocery benefit) cards,' Constantine said. 'It's coming out of the hide of people on food stamps. It is disgusting and that is the world that Visa and Mastercard want to preserve.' These types of changes form the basis of the permanent injunctive relief that merchants are seeking through the trial or lawsuit settlements, he said. 'If the case goes to trial, it's not going to be because the parties can't reach an agreement on money,' Constantine said. 'It's much more likely to be disagreement over the injunctive relief.' Had the trial begun Oct. 20, jurors would be 'impacted by holiday distractions and juror concerns about being unable to participate in holiday preparations, plans, and family gatherings,' lawyers for Visa, Mastercard and and several large bank defendants wrote in a June 16 brief asking Hellerstein to reschedule. In a letter four days later, lawyers for several retailers including Macy's and TJ Maxx, urged Hellerstein to retain the October trial date. The networks intend 'to seize every possible opportunity to avoid any timely trial of these Plaintiffs' claims,' attorneys with Gibbs & Bruns wrote. 'Moreover, while Plaintiffs wait for their day in court, Defendants' anticompetitive conduct continues to inflict overcharge damages on all Plaintiffs, each and every day.'
Daily Mail
01-07-2025
- Business
- Daily Mail
JEFF PRESTRIDGE: Rachel's raid on the tax-free Isa will plunge financial dagger into the hearts of millions
The Chancellor of the Exchequer will send a financial dagger through the hearts of millions of savers when she confirms a reduction in the amount we can safely tuck away in a tax-free cash Isa. We will discover the gory details on July 15 when Ms Reeves delivers her Mansion House speech in London. But for young and old, the prudent and the risk averse, the announcement will feel like a betrayal – an undermining of the savings culture that underpins the finances of millions of households up and down the country. For more than a quarter of a century, cash Isas have been an integral part of our financial furniture, providing savers a mini 'tax haven' where savings interest rolls up tax-free and all deposits are capital secure. They have allowed the young to save assiduously for a home deposit – and those longer in the tooth to build tax-free savings pots which can be used to supplement their retirement finances. Yet these trusty vehicles are now going to be butchered as part of the Chancellor's plan to encourage more investing rather than saving. From the start of the new tax year in April 2026, the amount we can save each year into a cash Isa could be cut from £20,000 to £5,000, maybe £4,000. For those who want to use an Isa to invest (buy stocks and shares), they will continue to enjoy a £20,000 annual allowance. While the Chancellor says the changes will boost an ailing stock market by encouraging investing over saving, I don't believe the public will act the way she wants them to do. At best, the impact on UK shares will be marginal. Millions of people, especially the wannabe homebuyers and the elderly, will simply not play ball. For them, investment risk is a no-go. For the Chancellor, that would not necessarily be a total disaster. After all, preventing cash savers from using the full annual Isa allowance will result in more of their savings being exposed to tax. This tax year, official figures indicate that tax receipts from savings will reap the Treasury £6 billion of revenue, three times the amount three years ago. This sum, I fear, will look like chicken feed if cash Isas are given a haircut – while the tax-free personal savings allowance for taxpayers (£1,000 for basic rate taxpayers, £500 for higher rate taxpayers and zero for additional rate taxpayers) remains frozen at its 2016 level. Savers are being shafted, left, right and centre.
Yahoo
27-06-2025
- Entertainment
- Yahoo
Hallmark Star, 53, Makes Major Career Announcement
Hallmark Star, 53, Makes Major Career Announcement originally appeared on Parade. Hallmark actress Jennie Garth is set to release a memoir. On June 25, People magazine confirmed the exciting news — and shared a photo of the book's cover. The title is the same as the name of Garth's podcast, I Choose Me. "Inspired by her thought-provoking podcast of the same name – Jennie brings her signature mix of warmth, honesty and humor to this deeply personal book about self-discovery and reclaiming your power," an official synopsis reads. "Through fame, heartbreak, motherhood and personal reinvention, Jennie discovered the transformative power of putting herself first. By learning to prioritize her own needs and desires, she found the strength to thrive — and to uplift others." Garth, 53, has also shared a statement about the book, which will be released in April 2026. 🎬SIGN UP for Parade's Daily newsletter to get the latest pop culture news & celebrity interviews delivered right to your inbox🎬 "I wanted to share the messy, beautiful truth of what it takes to rediscover yourself — through motherhood, heartbreak, aging and reinvention. My hope is that every woman who reads it feels seen, supported and inspired to put herself first without," she said. Earlier this month, Garth made headlines when she posted photos from a shoot that she did for Third Love. "I never thought I'd be doing my first underwear shoot at 53… but here we are! And I've never felt more confident, or comfortable in my skin," she captioned an Instagram post. "I'm proud to be part of this moment—not just because it's a first for me, but because it's with a brand that genuinely supports women through every phase of life, including menopause." Hallmark Star, 53, Makes Major Career Announcement first appeared on Parade on Jun 25, 2025 This story was originally reported by Parade on Jun 25, 2025, where it first appeared.
Reuters
18-06-2025
- Business
- Reuters
Nestle chairman Paul Bulcke to step down in April next year
June 18 (Reuters) - Nestle (NESN.S), opens new tab said on Wednesday that Paul Bulcke will step down as chairman in April 2026.
