Consumer protection laws could fail to protect travellers

Over the past couple of years many people that have booked flights and holidays have been shocked to hear that the holiday firm or airline that they booked through has gone bust, leaving them wondering whether they are entitled to a refund in addition to ruining their holiday plans. Read more

Tags: travel insurance, couple, consumer protection, Package holiday, firm goes bust, Brits

Is chancellor too optimistic about recovery of the nation?

Most people in the UK are now well aware that the UK is going through a very rocky period, with the global financial crisis still taking effect and the recession further impacting on the economy. Read more

Tags: credit crunch, chancellor, couple, uk, growth, opposition party members, chancellor of the exchequer, course

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

Falling living standards in store for nation

The new deputy governor of the Bank of England, Charlie Bean, has warned the nation that it needs to brace itself for a year of hardship, stating that they will have to face falling living standards over the next twelve months. Mr Bean said that soaring inflation levels and rising oil prices were set to cause further financial misery for consumers, and he added that the nation was facing the toughest time since the early 1990s and perhaps even earlier. Inflation levels have now soared to 3.8%, which is nearly double the government target. Read more

Tags: extra sources, pay, mr bean, governor, couple, early 2000s

Single consumers better off than those in a couple

Single consumers are richer than those spenders in relationships to the tune of almost £4 million according to new research.

Findings from Fool.co.uk show that the average single Brit is better off by £255.42 per month.

The average Brit not in a couple spends £281 a month on rent and bills, compared with the £500 paid out by someone in a relationship – meaning £2,600 saving per year on rent alone.

David Kuo, head of personal finance at Fool.co.uk, said: ” Money can’t buy you love, but it can help to ease the burden as pay day gets further away and the bills start rolling in.”

He added that the firm were not suggesting that money will ever replace the warm glow felt from loved ones, “but if you can’t be with the one you love, then learn to love your wallet”.

The average Brit in a relationship spends £39.50 per month when dining with friends – compared with just £22.85 forked out by singletons.

Meanwhile, UK payments association APACS has said that changes to processes on cashing cheques mean they offer “more certainty” than before.

Tags: wallet".the average brit, Numismatics, United Kingdom, burden, Relationships, couple

Lloyds TSB: Islamic mortgage demands ‘through the roof’

The amount of people taking out Sharia-compliant mortgages has risen dramatically in recent years, according to Lloyds TSB.

Islamic mortgages are designed for Muslims who would not want to take out a regular mortgage due to Sharia law restrictions.

According to media relations manager at Lloyds, Emile Abu-Shakra, up until recently, many Muslims have been obliged to rent “their whole lives”.

He said: “In the last couple of years, we’ve gone from offering services just in five branches – in Luton, Birmingham and London – to now offering them in every single branch around the country.

“So you can see that demand really has gone through the roof.”

Sharia Islamic Law states that making money from money is not permitted, therefore all forms of interest are forbidden.

Risk sharing is the basis of the Islamic financial model, whereby the bank and customer share any risk involved in an investment in an agreement that sees any profit divided between them.

The latest statistics from Datamonitor show the Islamic mortgage market will grow by 47 per cent per year and may be worth £1.4 billion by 2009.

Tags: year, couple, country, Islamic, Islam

CAB recommends teen finance lessons

Financial lessons for Britain’s teenagers have received strong support from the Citizen’s Advice Bureau (CAB).

With debt levels now outweighing national GDP, the bureau said that teaching young people how to budget more effectively was “fundamental”.

The CAB issued the statements in reaction to the government’s announcement last month that a new subject covering financial issues is to be introduced into the secondary school curriculum.

A spokesperson said: “We very much welcome the move to improve people’s skills in personal finance, because what we know that a lot of debt problems are caused, at least in part, by a lack of understanding and a lack of confidence in dealing with money matters.

“There are a whole variety of ways of engaging young people of that age with the issues,” they added. “There are many different methods, ranging from drama to a whole load of other things. So I think that there is no shortage of good ways of making this a subject that young people want to know more about.”

Also supporting the new lessons is recent research from the Institute for Public Policy Research, which suggested that a couple with two children could be as much as £32,000 wealthier due to sound decisions made stemming from an improved financial education.

Tags: lack, Institute, Financial lessons, Citizen's Advice Bureau, variety, Britain's teenagers, couple

Negative equity from 110 per cent mortgages

So-called ‘110 per cent’ mortgages, which do not require an initial deposit from holders, are becoming an increasingly popular option among home buyers, with house prices in the UK growing fast.

First-time buyers in particular, who tend to be younger and have little or no savings, find them particularly appealing.

However, industry experts, including those at Baronworth Investment Services, counsel against seeing taking out such a mortgage as a risk-free endeavour.

Michael Brill, a director at the company, said that the ideal 110 per cent buyer was “The young professional… who hasn’t got a deposit and knows they are going to have a nice increase in salary in a couple of years time.”

However, he warned that “if we have a crash in property with a negative equity from a 110 per cent mortgage”, holders “could end up with further negative equity.

“That is one of the big disadvantages”, Mr Brill surmised.

The Council of Mortgage Lenders (CML) recently revealed that the proportion of first-time buyers in the UK rose from 48 per cent to 56 per cent in 2006.

Tags: proportion, increase, house prices, Economic history, couple, professional, salary, first time buyer