MARTIN Lewis’ MoneySavingExpert (MSE) has revealed how a quick check could help thousands of Brit households get free insulation this winter.

Many households in the UK could be eligible for a range of freebies offered by energy providers and local authorities under a government scheme.

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And these could help bring down your energy bills this winter.

The finance guru’s website MoneySavingExpert (MSE) has urged people to check if they qualify for the Great British Insulation Scheme which is open to a further 400,000 households.

The scheme is open to households in council tax bands A-E across England, Wales and Scotland.

You also must have an Energy Performance Certificate (EPC)rating of D or lower.

An EPC rating tells you how energy efficient a building is, with A being the most efficient and G being the most inefficient.

F-rated homes are some of the leakiest homes in the country, meaning the heat produced by gas boilers quickly escapes the building.

They’re also unlikely to have double glazing or insulation.

The incredible scheme offers households free insulation, including loft, roof, cavity wall and other types of insulation – which could cut your annual energy bill by £100s.

Low-income households can also get new boilers and heating controls through the Energy Company Obligation (ECO) scheme.

Under the ECO scheme, suppliers have a legal obligation to implement energy-saving measures in your home.

Help is offered on a case-by-case basis, but it can mean having a new boiler fitted, or loft or cavity wall insulation put in, often for free.

You can find more details about the scheme here.

The ECO was first launched in January 2013 and has been extended four times.

Not all energy companies are signed up to the ECO scheme. Here is the list of ones that are:

• British Gas
• E (Gas and Electricity) Ltd
• E.ON
• Ecotricity
• EDF
• Octopus Energy
• Outfox the Market
• OVO
• Scottish Power
• Shell Energy
• So Energy (including ESB Energy)
• The Utility Warehouse
• Utilita Energy

You only qualify for the ECO under certain circumstances, such as claiming certain benefits and living in private housing.

You also could be eligible if you live in social housing.

Also, just because you are eligible for the ECO scheme, that doesn’t mean you are guaranteed help.

Meanwhile, you may have to fund part of the energy-improving measures in your home.

You can apply by contacting either your local council or energy supplier.

SOCIAL HOUSING DECARBONISATION FUND

The government recently confirmed fresh funding to help thousands of homes with poor insulation and outdated heating systems are in line for upgrades.

It has boosted the Social Housing Decarbonisation Fund (SHDF) by £75million.

The funding will be offered to 42 councils and housing associations across England to help them co-fund installations in up to 8,000 homes.

Under the scheme, council houses will be retrofitted with wall and loft insulation, double glazing, heat pumps, and solar panels.

They will not be limited to one installation and could get their home insulated, have doors and windows upgraded to reduce heat leakage and cut their energy bills.

If eligible, those living in social housing will not need to do anything, as their housing provider will contact them.

Other households will need to check what their local authority has on offer, and they may need to apply for help.

Local authorities will deliver the funding in different ways.

Therefore, you will need to check directly with your council.

BOILER UPGRADE SCHEME

Meanwhile, through the Boiler Upgrade Scheme, you might be able to get a grant to help with the cost of installing a heat pump.

The grant was first launched in 2022 and was originally worth £5,000 or £6,000, depending on the type of heat pump.

But as heat pumps are typically expensive to purchase and install, costing between £5,000 and £8,000, the government boosted the grant in October to £7,500.

The grant can be used towards both air-source heat pumps and ground-source heat pumps.

Those wishing to install a biomass boiler can also apply for a £5,000 grant.

You must find an MCS-certified installer to claim the grant on your behalf.

MCS is the certification scheme for energy-efficiency product installers.

You can find the nearest ones to you by visiting www.mcscertified.com/find-an-installer, but it is worth shopping for a few quotes.

Once you agree on a price, the installer will apply for the grant and you will then be contacted by Ofgem, the energy regulator, to confirm that the work is being done on your behalf.

You must pay the difference if the pump costs more than the grant.

HOME Bargains shoppers are rushing to buy an “amazing” beauty gift set that’s scanning at tills for £8 instead of £31.

The “ideal stocking filler” features several L’Oreal products.

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Home Bargains has slashed the cost of its L’Oreal Blemish Buster Gift Set from £38.99 to just £7.99.

That’s over 80 per cent off meaning customers save £31.00.

What’s in the set?

• 1x Smooth Sugars Clearing Scrub 50ml.
• 1x Pure Clay Blemish Rescue Mask 50ml.
• 1x Hydra Genius Aloe Water 70ml.

Essentially, customers looking to exfoliate, treat and hydrate their skin for a good price, need look no further.

A Home Bargain’s representative posted a photo of deal to Facebook and wrote: “An ideal stocking filler. Just look at that saving.

“Available in store & online.”

Comments from excited shoppers flooded the comment section, along with thousands of likes.

One shopper said: “I use the hydra genius and it costs more than that on its own so this is a fab bargain!”

While a second commented: “Just got one and it’s fab.”

And a third said: “Please can santa bring this please oh please.”

However, many shoppers also expressed their disappointment to see the set was out of stock either online or in their local Home Bargains store.

Equally, no wonder they’re out of stock – just one of these items usually costs around the price of the whole set.

If you head to L’Oreal’s website and search for a specific set item, you will be directed to a retailers website selling the product.

For example, a 50ml pot of the L’Oreal Paris Face Mask Pure Clay Glow currently costs £7.21 on Amazon.

According to L’Oreal’s website, no retailers are selling the Smooth Sugars Glow Scrub right now, but when searched directly on Amazon it appears to be selling for £20.40 per 50ml pot.

Similarly, a 70l bottle of the Hydra Genius Aloe Water is also selling on Amazon for £12.99.

To find your local Home Bargains store, simply head to the website and click Store Locator.

Then enter your postcode or town to find your nearest store.

How to shop for bargains

As always, we recommend shopping around to find the best deal.

There are plenty of comparison websites out there that’ll check prices for you – so don’t be left paying more than you have to.

Most of them work by comparing the prices across hundreds of retailers.

For example, Google Shopping is a tool that lets users search for and compare prices for products across the web.

Just type in keywords, or a product number, to bring up search results.

Price Spy also logs the history of how much something costs from over 3,000 different retailers, including Argos, Amazon, eBay and the supermarkets.

Once you select an individual product you can quickly compare which stores have the best price and which have it in stock.

CHOCOLATE fans will be doubly disappointed this Christmas as Cadbury has shrunk its classic Santa Selection Box by ditching the Double Decker.

The 1970s and 80s favourite chocolate bar has been replaced with a caramel Freddo, which is around half the size.

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This year’s box weighs just 125g, down by 14 per cent from 145g last year. It is more than a quarter smaller than the box was in 2018, when it was 169g.

But the price has increased. 

In 2021 – when it was bigger – it was available in supermarkets for between £1.25 and £2. 

This year, it costs between £1.75 and £2.75 at the UK’s four main supermarket chains.

Consumer expert Martyn James described the exchange of the Double Decker for a caramel Freddo as an “outrageous example of shrinkflation” – where companies sell a smaller product for the same or a higher price.

“A Freddo is the lowliest of chocs and is not a fair swap for the majestic Double Decker,” he said, adding that Cadbury had “ruined” the Christmas classic.

This is not the first time that Cadbury’s has left fans furious this year after it made changes to its chocolates.

Shoppers were in uproar in April after noticing Dairy Milk orange bars have been axed from shelves.

Meanwhile, in August the popular Darkmilk bar suddenly vanished from supermarket shelves.

And last month it announced that Festive Friends will not be returning this Christmas.

It follows the decision not to bring back the Cadbury Caramel Bunnies this easter.

The former British brand Cadbury’s – now owned by US food giant Mondelez – came under fire in 2018 for removing the Fudge from the Santa selection box and replacing it with an Oreo bar.

But since U-turning on the move and reintroducing the family favourite in 2019, it has made repeated changes to the box which have left customers short-changed.

The latest move is thought to be the fourth time in six years the chocolate maker has cut the size of its traditional selection box.

In 2020, it shrunk the size of the Fudge in the box by 12 per cent. 

Then a year later it cut the size of the Wispa and Double Decker bars, meaning customers got 24g less chocolate, compared with 2018.

Now the 37.3g Double Decker is gone completely, with the replacement caramel Freddo weighing it at just 19.5g.

Overall, there is 44g less chocolate in the box this year than there was in 2018.

It now includes small versions of Fudge, Wispa and Crunchie, a treatsize pack of mini buttons and small Dairy Milk bar and the caramel Freddo.

A 180g bar of Dairy Milk contains more chocolate and costs less at most supermarkets, at between £2 and £2.50.

Mondelez has been approached for comment. 

How to save money on chocolate

We all love a bit of chocolate from now and then, but you don’t have to break the bank buying your favourite bar.

Consumer reporter Sam Walker reveals how to cut costs…

Go own brand – if you’re not too fussed about flavour and just want to supplant your chocolate cravings, you’ll save by going for the supermarket’s own brand bars.

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Shop around – if you’ve spotted your favourite variety at the supermarket, make sure you check if it’s cheaper elsewhere.

Websites like Trolley.co.uk let you compare prices on products across all the major chains to see if you’re getting the best deal.

Look out for yellow stickers – supermarket staff put yellow, and sometimes orange and red, stickers on to products to show they’ve been reduced.

They usually do this if the product is coming to the end of its best-before date or the packaging is slightly damaged.

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Buy bigger bars – most of the time, but not always, chocolate is cheaper per 100g the larger the bar.

So if you’ve got the appetite, and you were going to buy a hefty amount of chocolate anyway, you might as well go bigger.

Do you have a money problem that needs sorting? Get in touch by emailing money-sm@news.co.uk.

Plus, you can join our Sun Money Chats and Tips Facebook group to share your tips and stories

Brooks Macdonald blamed investor confidence falling ahead of the Budget as one of the reasons it recorded outflows of £100m in the first quarter of its financial year.

Its latest results, published today (16 October), show a 6% reduction in gross inflows compared to the previous quarter.

MPS Platform, including the group’s B2B offering for financial advisers – BM Investment Solutions – grew to £4.6bn, from £4.4bn.

Gross outflows were down 5.1%, marking the second quarter in succession they have fallen.

Net outflows were offset by positive investment performance in the quarter, resulting in the group’s closing FUM increasing by £100m to £17.9bn.

Brooks Macdonald CEO Andrea Montague said: “Our business has shown resilience through improved client retention across all our UK propositions.

“The considerable speculation around the upcoming Budget and rumoured changes to taxation and reliefs has clearly had an impact on investor confidence with lower gross inflows in the quarter.

“Our recently announced acquisitions of LIFT and Lucas Fettes demonstrate the pace at which we are delivering on our strategy, to reignite growth focusing on client service, reach, scale and efficiency.

“I remain confident about unlocking the full potential of Brooks Macdonald.”

FANCY an easy bit of luxury as the winter weather bites? Treat your hands and nails to a manicure.

But rather than heading to a salon, save on costs and give yourself a DIY pamper session.

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Follow these tips . . . 

BACK TO BASE: First, clean your nails with some polish remover on cotton wool to get rid of any old bits of polish and dirt.

Then start filing them down to the same length.

Make sure your nails are completely dry before you file them, otherwise they can split.

Decide the shape of the nails you want.

If you like an almond shape, file diagonally from the outer edges to the middle.

Or if you want more a square shape, file horizontal to the tip.

SOFT FOCUS: Slather your hands in some rich hand cream.

Try the Cuticura repair hand and nail cream, £1, from Poundland.

Then pop the tips of your fingers in a bowl of olive oil and soak for ten minutes.

The vitamin E in the oil helps strengthen your nail and soften the cuticles.

Push back your cuticles with a rounded stick.

You can get a pack of cuticle sticks for £1 from Boots.

POLISH UP: It’s always best to apply a base coat before painting your nails to prevent colour from staining.

You can get a wide range of colours from barrym.com — and there’s currently 25 per cent off with code NAILS25.

Start with one stroke down the centre of the nail and then come back to do the sides.

Professional manicurists often offer specialist nail art but you can get the same look with stickers, including coloured tips to give the appearance of a French manicure.

A pack of 35 stickers is £2 from Boots.

Finally, your manicure will last a lot longer if you apply a top coat of polish to seal it.

• All prices on page correct at time of going to press. Deals and offers subject to availability.

Deal of the day

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CREATE cosy warmth with this wall-mounted fireplace heater, down from £249 to £199.20 at Homebase.

SAVE: £49.80

Cheap treat

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KEEP toes toasty with these chenille socks, £5 for a pack of three at B&M.

What’s new?

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THESE Cadbury pumpkin patch cakes are all treat and no trick. New in at Tesco, a four-pack costs £2.50

Top swap

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PLUMP and prime skin with Charlotte Tilbury’s magic cream, £52, from John Lewis.

Or try Primark’s similar PS pro hydration cream, £6, to score some savings.

SAVE: £46

PLAY NOW TO WIN £200

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JOIN thousands of readers taking part in The Sun Raffle.

Every month we’re giving away £100 to 250 lucky readers – whether you’re saving up or just in need of some extra cash, The Sun could have you covered.

Every Sun Savers code entered equals one Raffle ticket.

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