A consumer watchdog has stated that energy bills must be cut by the UK’s energy giants for the winter, stating that the fall in oil prices over recent months warrants a fall in energy prices.
Both the government and consumer campaigners have said that energy companies need to start reducing the cost of gas and electricity [...]
It has recently been revealed that two building societies, the Yorkshire and the Barnsley Building Societies, are to merge, with the larger Yorkshire building Society agreeing to the merger with its smaller rival in a form of rescue bid. This is one of a number of recent mergers and takeovers in the world of banking [...]
A recent report has suggested that High Street bank, HSBC, is giving more favourable treatment to its better off customers with its Internet arm First Direct than to its poorer HSBC customers. Officials claim that the customers of First Direct, who tend to be better off due to changes that were made by the bank [...]
The government has recently taken steps to try and help homeowners by changing court protocols in order to make it more difficult for lenders to take court action without taking other steps first in cases where homeowners have fallen behind with mortgage repayments.
It is hoped that this will help to reduce repossession levels, and lenders [...]
Officials from a new consumer watchdog group have expressed concern that many consumers are receiving estimated energy bills that mean somewhere along the line they will end up paying more for their energy usage than they need to, netting the energy films more profit and leaving the consumer even more out of pocket.
Recent figures have shown that since the start of October hundreds of mortgage deals have been pulled off the shelves by lenders who are becoming increasingly nervous in the current difficult financial market. Over the past year thousands of mortgage products have been taken off the shelves as lenders have become more and more concerned [...]
Following the collapse of Icelandic banks earlier this month it was revealed that over one hundred councils across the country had lost millions of pounds, which they had invested in the Icelandic banks, which then went bust. There was outrage amongst consumers, who wanted to know why the council had been putting money into these [...]
Following recent hearings in the next stage of the overdraft bank charge High Court case, many of the UK’s banks have received a clean bill of health from the presiding judge, who has said that most customers will not be able to use the law to challenge the terms that the banks in question have [...]
The Prime Minister recently called a press conference where he not only announced a surprise 0.5% cut in interest rates a day ahead of the scheduled Monetary Policy Committee meeting, but also unveiled a package of measures aimed at rescuing the British banking system. It is thought that around £400 billion will have to be [...]
Amidst all of the financial chaos that has been taking place over recent days, the Chancellor of the Exchequer, Alistair Darling, has issued some good news to consumers that had money saved with the collapsed Icelandic Internet bank, Icesave. Darling has announced that savers with money with Icesave will receive a 100% guarantee on all [...]
The government has recently announced that saving guarantee safety net in the UK is to be increased to £50,000. Previously the 100% guarantee on savings applied to only the first £35,000 of savings with most financial institutions, and this compensation comes from the Financial Services Compensation Scheme. Prior to the Northern Rock fiasco last year [...]
According to recently released figures the level of inflation in the UK has now reached a sixteen year high, with inflation for September registering at 5.2%. The high cost of food, oil, and energy has been blamed for pushing inflation levels up to such a high figure, and the level of inflation is now way [...]
According to a recent report warnings that were issued about Icelandic banks were ignored by the UK government, resulting in officials being accused of complacency. It is alleges that warnings over the possible collapse of Icelandic banks were given as far back as July, but the government paid no heed to these warnings. The issue [...]
Following the collapse of Icelandic banks a number of charities that had money invested in these banks because of the high rates of interest being offered have come forward with concerns that they may have lost millions of pounds. The UK government has given a 100% guarantee on UK consumer savings in these banks after [...]
A declaration that internet access should be made available to every home in the UK was made back in September by Gordon Brown. As part of this new government scheme to connect everyone in the country the first two sites to benefit have now been announced. Free access to the internet and computers in their [...]
Over the past six months things have become more and more difficult financially for households in the UK, with a range of soaring costs making it harder and harder to make ends meet. Amongst the rising costs that consumers have had to put up with are rising energy bills, soaring food prices, and rocketing petrol [...]
According to recent reports around 25% of charities in the UK have seen the level of money coming in from consumers drop over the past twelve months, as cash strapped households rein in their spending in a bid to try and weather the effects of the global credit crunch. Many people are apparently unable to [...]
Just a day ahead of the scheduled Monetary Policy Committee meeting, the Bank of England followed other global central banks by slashing the base interest rate by 0.5% in an unprecedented move. The interest rate in the UK has dropped from 5%, where is has stood since April, to 4.5%. Many lenders also reduced their [...]
According to recent reports many of the UK savers that tried to transfer their money from the collapsed Icelandic banks, Icesave and Kaupthing Edge, have discovered that the money has not hit the accounts into which it was transferred. Many consumers who had put savings into the Icelandic banks due to the high rates of [...]
As a result of changes to the Irish banking system some savers in the UK, including those with Post Office savings accounts, will see their savings guarantee almost double compared to that of savers with other financial institutions. Post Office savers will be offered a safety net of up to almost £80,000 on their savings. [...]
Following a change in the Irish banking industry it seems that many consumers in the UK could be looking at shifting their savings into UK branches of Irish banks or into the Post Office in order to increase the security of their heard earned money. Earlier this month the Irish government changed regulations so that [...]
Just a year ago Northern Rock was being branded the victim of the first run on a British bank in almost 150 years, and customers were flocking to get to the bank and take out their cash amidst rumours that the bank was on the verge of collapse. However, since this time the bank has [...]
According to recent reports industry officials were pleasantly surprised recently when data showed that there had been an unexpected surge in retail sales levels for the month of August. The rise in retail sales levels was not a huge one, but many industry experts had been expecting sales levels to fall by around 0.5%, so [...]
Earlier this year the financial headlines were filled with news about the government taking over the stricken bank Northern Rock. Over the past few days the government has used the same legislation that was used in the Northern Rock takeover to rush through the nationalisation of another troubled bank, Bradford & Bingley. According to reports [...]
Earlier this year the financial headlines were filled with news about the government taking over the stricken bank Northern Rock. Over the past few days the government has used the same legislation that was used in the Northern Rock takeover to rush through the nationalisation of another troubled bank, Bradford & Bingley.
According to officials from the Council of Mortgage Lenders mortgage lending levels fell in August, with the value of mortgage lending having fallen by 12 percent compared to July and by 36 percent compared to August of the previous year. The total amount of new mortgage lending for the month came to just £21.8 billion. [...]
Potential property purchasers that want to take their chances on properties that go up for sale at auction could benefit according to a recent report, which suggests that auctions are cutting the prices of their properties. Auctioneers are being forced to cut the prices on properties going under the hammer due to the housing slump, [...]
Recent figures have shown that inflation levels in the UK have soared even further out of control, rising from 4.4% to 4.7% for August. The government target for inflation is just 2% so the current rate of inflation is way beyond the target. The jump to 4.7% was higher than many industry officials had anticipated, [...]
Over the past year households have been facing a tough time in relation to their finances, with soaring inflation and bills coupled with tighter credit conditions impacting hugely on household budgets. Amongst the products that have seen prices rocket are food products, and for many households the cost of the weekly or monthly shop has [...]
According to a recent report a huge rise in the level of complaints being received in relation to PPI, or payment protection insurance, has resulted in calls for further investigation into the sale of this type of insurance cover. This cover is commonly sold alongside credit such as loans and credit cards, and the purpose [...]
According to a recent report there was a rise in the amount of money deposited into building society savings accounts in the first half of this year. The figures were recently released by the Building Societies’ Association, and indicated that the level of deposits being made into building society savings accounts had risen by almost [...]
This time last year Northern Rock was fast becoming known as one of the first major victims of the global credit crunch in the UK, with rumours that it was on the verge of collapse and savers rushing to withdraw billions of pounds in savings within a few days. The bank became the victim of [...]
According to an industry official the financial downturn that the nation is experiencing at the moment could last for another eighteen months until the property slump in the United States sorts itself out. Andrew Hornby, the chief executive of HBOS, said that it could take until 2010 for house prices in the United States to [...]
The latest interest rate cut, which was announced after the February 2008 Monetary Policy Committee meeting, could benefit many homeowners according to recent reports. This comes after nine out of the ten top mortgage providers in the UK announced that they would be passing on the full 0.25% rate cut to consumers. Many lenders rushed [...]
Over recent months getting a mortgage has become increasingly difficult and expensive, with many lenders reserving their best deals and lowest interest rates for those that are able to put down a sizeable deposit as opposed to the traditional 5% deposit. The changes in mortgage lending and costs have come about as a result of [...]
Insurance giant Norwich Union has recently announced that it is pulling out of placing deals on price comparison sites. Many insurance providers allow their deals and packages to be viewed on one of a range of price comparison sites that have come into play over the past couple of years. A large number of consumers [...]
The Royal Bank of Scotland, which also owns NatWest, has recently announced that there will be a greater number of branches for both RBS and NatWest opening on a Saturday, which will provide consumers with increased ease and convenience if they need to visit their bank. Officials from RBS said that the decision to increase [...]
This year’s High Court test case into bank charges saw round one go to the Office of Fair Trading, with the regulatory body being given permission to assess banks# terms and conditions, including overdraft charges, for fairness. According to the contents of a leaked memo that was sent to senior staff members at RBS and [...]
Early last week the government announced that it was suspending stamp duty for twelve months on homes up to the value of £175,000. Stamp duty is not applicable on homes up to £125,000 anyway, but the recent move increased the threshold by £50,000 for twelve months in order to try and ease affordability issues for [...]
Earlier this year the UK’s big six energy firms increased the cost of gas and electricity usage, stating that the rising cost of wholesale energy was forcing them to increase costs for customers. With household budgets already suffering the rises came as a blow to many. However, the situation was made worse by the fact [...]
Following the Monetary Policy Committee meeting that was held last week the Bank of England has announced that the base rate is to be kept on hold at 5% for yet another month. This signifies the fifth month in a row where the base rate has remained unchanged, as the central bank and members of [...]
Earlier this week Lloyds TSB, the high street banking giant, announced that it was taking over HBOS in a £12.2 billion rescue operation. The takeover has been rushed through, and officials have said that the government has all but ripped up the rule book with regards to competition so that the takeover could go ahead. [...]
Over recent weeks a number of industry professionals and groups have said that Britain will slide into recession by the end of the year. The latest warning comes from the European Union, which has warned that a number of countries face recession by the end of this year. There was also a stark warning from [...]
Over recent months the housing market in the UK has experienced a real slump, with house prices falling and property sales falling to their lowest level in many years. Property sales and housing transactions have been affected in a number of ways over recent months and for a number of reasons. The tight credit conditions [...]
According to an insider from the Royal Bank of Scotland employees at the bank are being trained to lie in order to stop customers from cancelling the Payment Protection Insurance on their credit cards. The whistleblower is apparently from the bank’s Customer Loyalty Team, and said that employees are trained to use a number of [...]
A recent report from the Ernst and Young ITEM club claims that despite the various factors affecting the economy and the financial climate in the UK, the risk of a recession occurring is still pretty low. The economy has suffered a slow down over recent months, and this is expected to continue over the course [...]
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 [...]
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 [...]
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 [...]
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 [...]