Jail for crash for cash insurance scammer

Insurance fraud has been soaring over recent years, and one of the scams that some fraudsters have developed is to have accidents on purpose, making them the fault of the other driver, and then claiming tens of thousands of pounds in insurance money. Read more

Tags: driver's insurance company, crash, car insurance fraud, Mohammed Patel, car insurance claims, course

First-timer buyers ’should listen to Bank’s warning’

First-time buyers who have taken out interest-only mortgages should reduce their loans following the Bank of England’s (BoE’s) prediction of economic depression, one financial expert has claimed.

According to Fool.co.uk, those who have taken out interest-free mortgages to get a first foot on the property ladder could face bleak financial times ahead, as lenders tighten their financial belts.

David Kuo, head of personal finance with Fool.co.uk, said that the BoE’s Inflation report should set “alarms ringing” in the ears of first-time buyers.

“In future, lenders may tighten the credit-scoring criteria and choose to reduce the maximum loan to value (LTV),” he warned

Mr Kuo added that: “This will put borrowers who have taken out 90 per cent mortgages at risk, especially if the value of their homes decline sharply when they remortgage.”

Fool recommended that making overpayments as, according to its calculations, every £1,000 of those will reduce the loan by the same amount and reduced the interest bill by £1,500 over 25 years.

Meanwhile, according to the Royal Institute of Chartered Surveyors, house prices have reached their lowest point since the crash during the 1990s.

Tags: financial belts, GBP, Chartered, inflation, foot, lenders, Business Finance

Consumers warned not to take rates ‘at face value’

Consumers looking for savings accounts need to be wary of taking the headline rate at face value, one financial expert has claimed.

According to the Halifax bank, the headline rate does not give you all the information you require as it does not tell the consumer how to access it and what the limits to the account are.

Jason Clarke, spokesperson for Halifax, said: “The highest rates are going to be the ones with quite a few limitations in there”, citing withdrawals not being allowed through ATMs or taking place over a certain amount of time.

He added that those consumers who are looking for a savings account should decide what it is they want from their savings before committing to an account.

According to findings from the Buildings Society Association (BSA), building societies attracted a record £16.1 billion of savings inflows in 2007, almost double the amount saved with them during 2006.

The BSA revealed that the previous record was in 1988, when £13.6 billion was deposited following in the wake of the stock market crash of October 1987.
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Tags: bank, face, spokesperson, technorati, stock market crash, face value, crash, headline rate

Is a house price crash on its way?

According to some experts in the UK there could be a housing market crash around the corner, similar to that seen in the 1990s.

The predictions come from industry professionals at the Royal Institute of Chartered Surveyors. Over the coming year expectation for house prices in the UK have been lowered by the RICS. According to one senior official from the institute the predictions are perfectly ‘legitimate’ and have not been made irresponsibly.

Over the coming year officials from RICS are predicting that there is a 20% chance that house prices will fall by 10% in the London area. In a similar housing market crash in the 1990s, house prices plummeted on average by around 35%. However, despite these predictions from RICS officials there are other industry professionals that disagree and feel that the chances of a housing market crash are very slim.

One industry expert stated that although interest rates have gone up by a total of 1.25% over the past year in
a series of 0.25% rises, there has been no sharp rise in interest rates. This, along with other factors, made the chances of a housing market crash very unlikely, he stated. Banks and building societies in the UK have been reporting a slowdown in the housing market, and independent research has indicated that both consumer interest and agreed sales have been slowing down over the past few months.

If the housing market does crash, as it did a decade ago, many could see the equity levels in their homes plummet, and for those that have recently taken out 100% loan to value mortgages this could leave them in negative equity, which means that they will owe more on their mortgage than the value of their property.

However, for first time buyers who are looking to get onto the property ladder a housing market crash could prove to be the ideal opportunity to increase affordability – recent reports have indicated that many first time buyers are taking a ‘wait and see’ stance rather than rushing into purchasing, amidst rumours that house prices will fall over the coming months.

Tom Smith
16th October 2007

Tags: Mortgages, price, fall, rates, crash, interest, house, cost

CML chief: Housing market to come off boil

The director general of the Council of Mortgage Lenders (CML), Michael Coogan, has claimed that house price inflation will cool off dramatically next year.

Speaking to Reuters, he said that prices seem likely to record their smallest increase in a decade, at maybe just two to three per cent, partially due to rises in interest rates.

The Bank of England set the new base rate at 5.75 per cent two weeks ago – the fifth rise in a year – and many analysts predict further increases in coming months.

Mr Coogan counselled against fears of a slump in prices: “I don’t believe there will be a crash. But clearly a slowdown is more likely”, he said, pointing to the still robust economy as a bulwark against forced house sales.

He added that “we’ve already seen on the consumer credit side that loans have been reduced and people are looking to repay their credit card and other debts… That trend is likely to continue.”

The prospect of a dramatic slowdown seems distant, however: Figures released by the Department of Communities and Local Government today show still-strong inflation, with annual house price rises remaining in the double percentage figures: inflation in prices stood at 10.9 per cent in May, against 11.3 per cent the previous month.

The figures also showed regional variations – with inflation particularly strong in London, Scotland and Northern Ireland.

http://uk.reuters.com/article/personalFinanceNews/idUKNOA64267220070716?rpc=401&
http://business.timesonline.co.uk/tol/business/economics/article2083427.ece

Tags: price inflation, ece, crash, consumer, price

Millions suffer from Crashback

Having a car crash may have more of an effect on us than we think it will.

New research has highlighted a condition which has been labelled ‘Crashback’ and sees 85,000 people failing to get back behind the wheel six months after the accident.

More Than highlights that many drivers suffer from nightmares, panic attacks and flashbacks following a crash and this affects their future driving.

It could have a negative impact on insurance claims as well, as sufferers tend to lose confidence, become nervous motorists and are more prone to driving erratically – increasing the chances of having another accident.

The effects of Crashback can be felt for some time, with More Than discovering that almost 170,000 British motorists take more than six months to drive again.

An additional 85,000 people say they have not returned to their car since crashing and over three million admitted that they still thin about their accident every time they drive.

Marcia Chambers, from accident councillors FirstAssist Services, said help is at hand.

“Crashback is a very common condition amongst drivers who have been involved in an accident,” she commented. “Any car crash, no matter how small, can be traumatic, and there’s nothing unusual in feeling upset or anxious after a crash.

“An important part of the recovery process is talking about how you feel. Partners, family and friends are often willing to help, but there is also the option of speaking to a professional counselling service.”

Keeping an accident to yourself can prolong the recovery period, yet 1.5 million of those asked said that they have never told anyone about their crash.

Tags: Than, counselling service, recovery period, matter, panic