The latest hikes in energy prices ensure the average household energy bill will rise by 3.8 per cent, or £45, to £1,239 a year, says comparison service uswitch.com, but online users will pay only £1,010, saving nearly £230.

Tom Lyon, from uswitch.

com, said: “With Ofcom stats indicating that 71 per cent of adults in the UK have broadband, while 16.8 million households have a broadband connection, many more should have cheaper online energy plans.”

● Lenders want new customers for their credit cards in 2011, says Kevin Mountford, head of banking at finance website moneysupermarket.com

It explains the longest-ever interest-free period – 17 months – on balance transfers available from the latest Barclaycard deal.

NatWest allows 13 months interest-free on balance transfers and purchases.

● The case for working past 65 increases as moneyfacts.co.uk confirms pension payouts continue to plunge. Following a 2.7 per cent fall last year, a £10,000 pension pot now gives a 65-year-old man an income of only £607 a year, and a woman £568 because she is expected to live longer.

In 1995, with the same sum, a 65-year-old man received a pension of £1,138 a year and a woman £1,010 – making a drop to 2011 of 46.6 per cent for men, and 43.7 per cent for women.