Top of the polls for Nationwide

In a recent poll carried out by moneysupermarket.com a building society has beaten all of the big banks, pipping them to the post with the number one spot as most trusted bank or building society amongst UK consumers. The big name banks have always claimed to be the most trustworthy and reliable, but the poll has shown that the highest percentage of people actually have more trust in a building society. The Nationwide scooped the number one spot on the poll, and its excellent service and reliability levels were highlighted. Read more

Tags: place, halifax, poll, bank, uk consumers, spot

Will inflation levels get worse before they get better?

The financial headlines has recently been filled with news about the soaring rate of inflation, and this comes as no surprise given that the rate of inflation has soared to its highest level since records began in 1997. For some months now the rate of inflation has been steadily rising, and it has been soaring above the government’s target of 2% for some months now. For July the rate of inflation hit an all time high of 4.4%, which came as no surprise to many who had already predicted that the rate of inflation would keep on rocketing. Read more

Tags: inflation, Stagflation, economics, stagnant economy, degree, control, Banking, Economy of the United Kingdom

Banks raking in millions through sneaky overdraft tactics

According to a recent report banks in the UK have been raking in a fortune recently by sneakily increasing the interest rates on agreed overdrafts on customers’ bank accounts. Banks have lost millions of pounds over the past couple of years due to overdraft charge claims, and it is thought that this move is designed to try and claw back some of revenue that has been lost through reimbursing these charges to customers. Read more

Tags: demand, bank accounts, Treasury spokesman, matter, ripped off, suit customers, bank of england

Who is telling the truth – Brown or Darling?

For many months now both consumers and industries have been concerned about the slowdown that has hit the UK’s economy. With the nation hitting a period of stagflation, which is a toxic combination of stagnant economic growth and soaring inflation levels, it seems that the nation has been thrown into chaos. Even the Monetary Policy Committee and the Bank of England have been at loggerheads over recent months with regards to the movement of the base rate, with some wanting to increase the rate to curb inflation and others wanting to cut the rate to boost the economy. Read more

Tags: economics, gordon brown, crisis, Labour Party, Alistair Darling, United Kingdom, nation, Labour

Campaigners do not think price comparison sites will necessarily mean the best credit card deal

According to some officials from a consumer campaign group sing a price comparison site to try and get the best deal on a credit card will not necessarily prove effective. More and more price  comparison sites have sprung up over the past couple of years, and many people use these to try and get the best deals on credit cards as well as on other products and services such as loans, mortgages, insurance, utilities, and more. However, officials have said that these sites will not necessarily mean that you are getting the best deal. Read more

Tags: consumer campaign, try, Credit Cards, couple, business, Business Finance, research, comparison

Property sales continue to slump

As most people are aware the sale of properties in the UK has really fallen over recent months, and estate agents have reported amongst their poorest sales figures of properties for decades. A recent report has shown that property sales have now fallen by 40%. In the last three months estate agents have average around five property sales a month each, as property transactions continue to plummet, and homeowners looking to sell their homes are finding things very difficult, with many feeling pressured to reduce the price and sell to predatory buyers looking to take advantage of the slow market by offering desperate selling ridiculously low prices. Read more

Tags: property sales, drought, Chartered, mortgage drought, stamp duty

Widow fined £800 by Northern Rock

A woman who previously had tens of thousands of pounds worth of savings with ailing bank Northern Rock was outraged when she was hit with an £800 fine from the bank for withdrawing her savings, even though she had followed the procedure required in order to avoid these charges. The elderly widow, Mrs Heather, had savings of £173,000 with Northern Rock, but like many other customers decided that she wanted to withdraw her money when Northern Rock ran into problems in September 2007. Read more

Tags: worth, face financial penalties, error, interest, finance

How does your future retirement look?

Most of us look forward to a comfortable retirement when we eventually reach out golden years, and we all want to be able to spend time travelling and seeing the world, spend quality time with loved ones, and do the things that you simply cannot do when you have work related commitments. However, many of us tend not to bother thinking about how we will fund our retirement when we are in our twenties and thirties – after all, retirement seems such a long way off at that stage. But the years soon catch up with you, and many people may find that they are suddenly thundering towards retirement age with no real plan in place to fund a comfortable retirement. Read more

Tags: savings, Generations and Age Groups, older people, help, ability

Split decision on rates at last MPC meeting

According to the recently released minutes from the last Monetary Policy Committee meeting held in early August there was a split vote with regards to interest rate movement. However, despite this many officials now believe that the minutes indicate that the MPC and the Bank of England are now prepared to look at cutting rates again despite soaring inflation levels that are set to get worse. This is because of the gloomy forecasts that have been made with regards to the UK’s economy. Read more

Tags: mpc, Monetary Policy Committee, year, remainder, interest rates

Is private health insurance the way forward?

We all want to do our best to protect our own health and that of our loved ones, but for many people in the UK the National Health Service leaves a lot to be desired. The NHS has come under fire for many things over recent years, from the length of its waiting lists and the quality of care given in hospitals to the levels of staff and even the levels of hygiene exercised in NHS hospitals. Read more

Tags: cannot, super bugs, health insurance, issue, giant, price, recent years, research

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