Elderly plan to cut back on heating the home

As winter approaches many consumers – particularly the elderly and those on low incomes – are thinking about how they will be able to afford to heat their homes, with energy bills at sky high levels. It is thought that millions will resort to heating just one room in the home in order to cut back their bills, as energy firms have failed to reduce their prices even thought the price of crude oil has fallen dramatically since the summer, plummeting by almost 50%. Read more

Tags: Energy economics, single day, energy, fuel costs, elderly, Elderly plan, Energy conservation, bit

Drivers breathe sigh of relief over petrol prices

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 prices. However, there is a little bit of good news on the horizon for drivers, and this is that petrol prices are at last starting to come down. Read more

Tags: tough time, past year, petrol prices, relief, bit

Mortgage perks are ‘few and far between’

With banks tightening their lending criteria due to the current turmoil in the financial markets, borrowers should not expect to find many extra perks in their mortgage deals, according to Moneyfacts. Read more

Tags: Mortgages, gimmicks, head of mortgages, additional 50 air, bit

Check your home this Fire Safety Week

Bonfire night may have been and gone but there are plenty of fireworks still going off every night, and fire hazards remain a major risk.

According to figures from the Association of British Insurers (ABI), 200 homes a day are damaged by fires.

For that reason, November 14 to 21 has been declared as Fire Safety Week.

Organised by the Fire Protection Association and first held in 1975, Fire Safety Week is aimed at drawing attention to fire risks by bringing local fire brigades and the communities they serve together.

Halifax Home Insurance is joining in, by urging householders to conduct a fire safety check on their homes.

Measures people can take to cut their risk of a fire breaking out or being harmed if a fire does occur through simple measures like leaving internal doors closed at night, ensuring exits are clear, making sure all electrical wiring is in good condition and not smoking in bed.

Vicky Emmott of Halifax Home Insurance said: “With 200 house fires happening every day, there’s definitely more that could be being done to protect people’s homes and families from the risks of fire. We are urging all householders to spend a bit of time during Fire Safety Week checking their homes and improving fire safety measures.”

Tags: bit, Fire safety, time, fire safety measures, Fireworks, fire protection association, vicky, home insurance

Brits still love cheques

Although they are seemingly becoming a thing of the past, cheques remain extremely popular among Britons.

New research, carried out by Which? magazine, shows that 57 per cent of people over the age of 16 find them “really useful” for carrying out banking.

In addition, cheques are still widely used, with 55 per cent saying that they had used one as a form of payment in the last month.

The findings come as firms such as Boots and Shell are announcing that they plan to phase out the use of cheques.

Although the research may cause these stores to have a bit of a rethink about when to ban cheques, Which? found that they are correct to note that the method of payment is slowly dying out.

Of the 1,003 people survey, 72 per cent said that they use cheques less now than they did five years ago, while almost 25 per cent found it “annoying” to receive one.

Boots will no longer accept cheques in its stores from this month, while Shell has already phased them out at all of its 586 UK forecourts.

Tags: payment, Credit card, rethink, Brits, shows, shell

Where Is The Best Place To Get Car Insurance?

The world of car insurance is almost as vast as financial services in general. Everywhere you look there are companies advertising insurance. So where do you go to find the best deals? Read more

Tags: car insurance, larger excesses, Other retailers, insure, world, Insurance, broker, bit