The week began with an energy crunch, as households woke up to the problems sending gas prices spiralling – and the impact that could have on their bills.

It ended with a needless rush on petrol, as people were told there was no need to panic buy fuel… and some promptly panic bought it.

The petrol issue we’re told is to do with a shortage of HGV drivers to deliver fuel, the gas problem is unfortunately far more complex.

The immediate impact for households is that some are finding their energy supplier has gone bust and they are being transferred elsewhere, others are discovering they can’t switch, and many are staring down the barrel of a potential big imminent price cap rise followed by another next spring.

In this podcast episode, This is Money’s energy and consumer correspondent Grace Gausden explains what’s happening and Georgie Frost and Simon Lambert discuss the implications with her.

In the second part of the podcast, Tanya Jefferies joins to talk about the National Audit Office report into underpaid women’s state pensions, which highlighted her and our columnist Steve Webb’s work in exposing the fiasco,

Tanya updates us on their investigations and what may happen next.

And finally, there’s a new bank in town: Chase. Well it’s actually a very old one, because it’s JP Morgan launching current accounts in the UK under the Chase brand.

It’s got 5% interest, with a catch, 1% cashback and some nifty features. Is it worth getting?

Small energy suppliers are collapsing as gas prices soar and they struggle with the price cap

Small energy suppliers are collapsing as gas prices soar and they struggle with the price cap

Small energy suppliers are collapsing as gas prices soar and they struggle with the price cap 

How to listen to the This is Money podcast 

We publish our podcast every Friday to the player on This is Money, above, and on Apple Podcasts (iTunes) and on the podcast platforms Audioboom and Acast, both of which allow you to listen on desktop, mobile, or download an app. We also now publish to Spotify.

To download the Apple Podcasts app if you do not already have it, go to the App store. Or go to either the Apple App store or the Google Play store on Android to download the Acast, AudioBoom or Spotify app. 

Press play to listen to this week’s full episode on the player above, or listen (and please subscribe and review us if you like the podcast) at Apple Podcasts, Acast, Audioboom and Spotify or visit our This is Money Podcast page.   

THIS IS MONEY PODCAST

This post first appeared on Dailymail.co.uk

You May Also Like

Dollar turn is good for us all, says HAMISH MCRAE

The dollar has turned. You can see that in the sterling rate,…

Stella Artois upset drinkers after cutting down to 4.6% alcohol

STELLA Artois fans are all frothed up after its alcohol content was…

Billionaire telecoms tycoon Xavier Niel plots Italian tie-up with Vodafone

Vodafone shares bounced back from a near 30-year low after a rival…

Everything you need to know about McDonald’s Monopoly before it starts next week

MCDONALD’S is launching its monopoly game next week, giving fast food fans…