Taking a Bath, Posting a Letter, Visiting the Dentist or Taxing Your Car? It Will Now Cost You More

3rd April 2015

Zero inflation doesn't mean the cost of everyday bills are not going up. In fact, this week alone we are going to see a raft of hikes from water providers, council tax, car tax right down to the price of postage.

1. From 1 april 2015, first-class stamps rose from 63p to 64p and the price of a second-class stamp will go up from 53p to 54p. For bigger items the price of a large letter first-class stamp up to 100g will rise by 2p to 95p and the price of a large letter second-class stamp up to 100g will go up by 1p to 74p.

2. Average council tax bills going up by an average of £16 a year to £1,484 for the average Band D household (Wednesday 1st April). NOT IN SCOTLAND.

3. Vehicle Excise Duty (car tax) set to increase by up to £10 for some categories (Wednesday 1 April 2015).

4. Water bills will increase by £5 to £401 for the average household (Wednesday 1 April 2015).

5. Prescription costs will also go up from £8.05 to £8.20.

6. The NHS dental charge payable for a band one course of treatment will increase by 30p from £18.50 to £18.80. The dental charge for a band 2 course of treatment will increase by 80p from £50.50 to £51.30. The charge for a band 3 course of treatment will increase by £3.50 from £219 to £222.50.

7. O2 price rise - O2 Pay Monthly customers will see their bills increase from April. It's going up by 1.1% this year, the same as the Retail Prices Index measurement of inflation.

8. EE -customers who joined or upgraded to a Pay Monthly plan, SIM Only plan, 4GEE Wifi / mobile broadband or Business contract between 26th March 2014 and the 10th February 2015 ​​saw a 1.1% increase to their monthly price plan on bills received from the 26th March 2015.

9. Air Passenger Duty - this is levied on flights from UK airports, and will also increase by the RPI rate of inflation from 1st April.

10. NHS wig and fabric charges - the cost of NHS wigs and fabric supports are rising by 1.6% from the beginning of April too.

11. Sky, which normally increases its prices in September, has also recently announced a hike in the cost of its sports TV package which will rise by £1 to £47 a month from June. At the same time the cost of its popular family bundle, which includes its highest profile shows and access to drama channel Sky Atlantic, will rise by £3 a month to £36.

Hannah Maundrell, Editor in Chief money.co.uk comments; "Whilst we can't ignore the fact that some of our living costs are going down, such as food and mortgage rates, others are still going up. It really worries me that so much talk of 0% inflation will make consumers sit on their hands in the false sense of security that prices for everything will remain static. Regardless of the economic terminology, consumers still need to save money wherever they can to accommodate rising costs in some areas of their finances."