Monday newspaper round-up: Energy bills, Black Friday, Lloyds Bank, Sephora

(Sharecast News) - Household energy bills across Great Britain are set to rise at the start of next year, analysts predict, putting more pressure on household finances. Officially, the price cap for January-March 2025 will be set on Friday morning by regulator Ofgem, limiting what energy providers can charge in England, Scotland and Wales. - Guardian

Black Friday is fast becoming Black Fraud Day with the discount period now "prime time" for scammers, according to Britain's cybersecurity chief, who said criminals were using artificial intelligence to trick shoppers. With online criminals taking advantage of an eagerness to save money amid the cost of living crisis, last Christmas people in the UK were scammed out of more than £11.5m, figures show, almost £1m more than in the same period in 2022. Fake clothing or high-end tech listings on social media were among the common ploys used to dupe people. - Guardian

Lloyds Bank has been accused of "swamping" lawyers with truckloads of post to stop them claiming compensation for drivers in the car finance mis-selling scandal. Courmacs Legal claimed it was receiving "tens of thousands" of legal letters every day from the bank's finance arm, Black Horse, which other lenders instead send electronically. - Telegraph

Thousands more investors are seeking to sue Hargreaves Lansdown over Neil Woodford's failed equity fund, claiming the investment platform continued to recommend the product even as it ran into issues. RGL Management, the litigation firm, is seeking to double the number of people represented in a High Court claim against Hargreaves Lansdown, taking the number of claims from 2,750 to more than 5,000. - Telegraph

Sephora, the LVMH-owned make-up giant, is ramping up its store expansion in the UK as it attempts to take on rivals such as Boots in the battle for British beauty. Guillaume Motte, its chief executive, said he wanted to double the size of the business in Britain by opening new shops and expanding its online channel. "We're probably looking in the next two to three years to have at least 20 stores in the UK," he told The Times. - The Times

A parcel company that previously received brickbats for poor service has more than doubled its annual pre-tax profits after a "record year" for deliveries. Evri said that a £32 million investment in customer service and the growing number of consumers shopping online for second-hand goods had helped to boost growth, with parcel volumes rising by 14.9 per cent to more than 730 million during the 53 weeks to the end of February. - The Times