Social networking sites being targeted by debt collectors

Whilst we all consider social networking sites like Facebook and Twitter to be associated with the entertainment, communicating with friends, or simply making comments to let others know your thoughts, there are some people that use them for strictly business purposes. This includes those that want to find out information or try and make contact with people for something more than just adding them as friends!

It has been revealed that in some cases debt collectors have been targeting people that owe money through the use of social networking sites, posting messages on these popular sites. However, officials are concerned that people could soon find embarrassing and confidential details about their debts and finances making their way onto the Internet if this practise continues. There are concerns that messages posted on these social networking sites by debt collection firms could be seen by friend, family and even work colleagues of the person that the message has been left for.

With this in mind the Office of Fair Trading has now warned the debt collecting industry about using these social networking sites to contact people that owe them money. The OFT has now updated its guidelines with regards to debt collecting firms, which were last updated in 2006. The debt collection industry has also been warned about contacting people at locations that are deemed inappropriate such as hospitals.

An official from the OFT said: ‘In the present economic climate, with many people, including those who may be particularly vulnerable, in financial difficulties, it is crucial they are treated fairly by companies recovering their debts. This updated guidance makes clear the standards the OFT expects of all businesses involved in debt recovery, including debt collectors, banks and law firms.’

Tags: whilst, office of fair trading, mind, debt collection firms, Technology Internet, twitter

Grandparents struggle so they can help the grandkids

It has been reported that millions of grandparents in the UK are prepared to struggle financially so that they can use their money to provide for their grandchildren. Read more

Tags: cutbacks, official, family, Grandparent, spoilt, retirement, clothes, quarter

Consumers’ hopes were falsely raised over assistance with mortgages

According to officials from the Conservative Party, the hopes of consumers across the UK were falsely raised by the Prime Minister, Gordon Brown, due to the delay with the Homeowner’s Support Scheme. Read more

Tags: family, homeowner, Homeowner Mortgage Support Scheme, leader, officials, shadow housing minister

With rents falling is this the time to rent your home?

Over the past year a large number of people have been pushed into renting a home rather than buying one, and this is largely because lenders have become far more stringent over giving out mortgage loans, which has made it difficult for many people to get the finance that they need to purchase a home. Read more

Tags: family, negative equity, rents, order, Mortgage loan, stabilise, chelsea, right time

Where should you head on your holidays?

Whilst most of us are trying to make cutbacks wherever possible in the current difficult financial situation, most of us do not want to give up our annual treat of some time away on holiday. Read more

Tags: advice, whilst, family, recession, financial situation, shorter period, holidays, bank

Survey shown AA low down in breakdown rankings

Many people class the AA as a household name when it comes to breakdown services, and many may think that the AA provides one of the best breakdown services. However, according to a recent survey the AA actually came pretty low down the list in terms of its breakdown services, with a survey that involved interviewing over 32,000 drivers showing that the motoring giant only came eleventh. Read more

Tags: line, breakdown cover, family, Reorganization, interest, RAC, bottom of the list, motoring giant

First-time buyers turn to families for help

First-time buyers are increasingly being forced to ask family members for help in raising a deposit as the mortgage market tightens under the global credit crunch. Read more

Tags: First-time, mortgage lenders, first time buyers, ladder, housing ladder, income, family, business

Having mortgage protection insurance puts homeowners in an “ideal situation”

Homeowners should subscribe to mortgage protection insurance, particularly if they have a family to look after, according to Legal & General.

Mortgage protection insurance is often not a priority, with the insurance provider estimating that more people have mobile phone insurance.

In 2006, around 20 per cent of households had Mortgage Payment Protection Insurance (MPPI), according to research by the Association of British Insurers.

However, PR manager for protection at Legal & General Joe Wiggins advised that anyone with a mortgage should consider MPPI, which provides a monthly payment if people are unable to work due to an accident, unemployment or illness.

“Most people don’t fully appreciate that sick pay from an employer does not last that long,” Mr Wiggins said, adding that people could soon find themselves struggling to meet mortgage payments in the event of illness or unemployment.

Last week moneysupermarket.com advised homeowners to protect themselves against the effects of the credit crunch by taking out mortgage insurance.

Tags: general mortgage, Mortgage loan, moneysupermarket, Association, MPPI, family, mortgage payment protection insurance, Joe

Parents make sacrifices for children

Parents are making considerable financial cut-backs in order to afford what their children want, according to new research.

Findings from Engage Mutual reveal that up to 49 per cent of parents with children under 18 say that they have given in to their children’s pleading in the last 12 months.

A further 68 per cent said they would make financial sacrifices to be able to afford gifts that their children ask for.

Karl Elliott, spokesperson for Engage Mutual said: “With kids being spoilt for choice for toys, technology and games, many feel pressure from their peers to keep up with the latest gadgets and labels.”

He added that the research gives a new perspective into family finance with some children ‘wearing the trousers’ when it comes to family spending.

The survey found that up to 44 per cent of parents with children under 18 say that they cannot always afford what their children want or need, with 81 per cent of these parents being more likely to make sacrifices.

Meanwhile, the child poverty action group has welcomed the proposals in the budget stipulating that £1 billion will be put aside to help child poverty.

Tags: family, pressure, order, survey found that, Childhood, Parent

One in 20 do not tell the truth in insurance applications

One in 20 consumers admit to having lied when filling out a life insurance application, according to new research.

Findings from a survey by Friends Provident showed that 95 per cent of people said they always tell the truth when completing forms for insurance.

Mark Jones, protection products and actuarial manager at Friends Provident, said: “It’s good to see many people recognise the importance of advice when buying insurance, and they take the time to answer all questions truthfully when applying for insurance.”

Over half of the respondents said that those who did not tell the truth deliberately on the forms should be punished by not being allowed any benefits

Under half said they would do research online before taking out insurance while 20 per cent would take advice from a financial expert and a further 15 per cent would rely on information from family and friends.

A further one in five admit to not reading the terms and conditions in a policy before signing up.

Meanwhile, research from Nationwide has revealed that a fifth of homeowners do not have buildings insurance.

Tags: Types of insurance, actuarial manager, family, Provident, respondents, benefitsUnder half, policy

Borrowing from friends affects both young and old

Both young and old are liable to borrow money from other people says a financial expert.

Research from online company Paypal reveals that “the person we turn to most for borrowing money is our mother”, while 16 per cent of UK consumers have fallen out with family members after lending money to them.

The findings also showed that there is “a huge chunk of us” that go to our friends to borrow money. This means the closer a person is to someone the more likely they are to borrow from them, claims Paypal.

Cristina Hoole, a spokesperson for PayPal, said: “The key thing is that if you do borrow money or if you lend money, that shouldn’t affect the relationship that you have with that person.”

“So make sure you don’t create a risk, especially over money, it’s not really worth it,” she concluded.

Research from YouGov showed that the average amount people in the UK have lent to friends and family in the last 12 months is £898.52.

Tags: bank account, spokesperson, cristina, thing, 12 months, family, Paypal, huge chunk

Forgotten about money ‘can be reclaimed’

People who with lost or forgotten about funds should reclaim them by contacting their bank, an industry expert has said.

According to Jason Clarke, a spokesperson for Halifax, many people have money they have forgotten about or lost the details of when changing address, for example.

However, he advised that reclaiming the money is simple, as account holders can simply notify their bank of any changes to their personal details and they will be giving help in locating their money.

“Loss happens for a lot of different reasons. The majority of these accounts will have very little money in them – the overwhelming majority will have small amounts, £100 or less,” said Mr Clarke.

He added that occasionally the amount of lost money is “sizeable”, but that there is usually a “good reason” for this such as the death of someone with no will, or in some cases no surviving family.

The British Bankers’ Association states that, this year, the number of people looking on their dormant account search pages has risen to around a quarter of a million, with 20,000 consumers having made claims.

Tags: Forgotten, personal details, money loss, family, account holders, surviving family, address

Life insurance with mortgage ‘good for parents’

People with dependants are advised of the benefits of getting life insurance when taking out a mortgage.

According to Key Financial Consultants Ltd, many first time buyers neglect to take out life insurance due to other expenses.

It advised that, as life insurance is cheaper the younger the applicant, it would be beneficial for people to take it out when getting a first mortgage.

Managing director of the independent financial advisory firm, Dominic Mansley, commented: “If it’s a single person looking to buy a flat by themselves, and they’ve got no dependants, then we wouldn’t really worry about a lack of life cover.

“However, if it’s a young family with children then we would very much make them aware of the need for [life insurance].”

Furthermore, he said, if people fail to take out life insurance along with their mortgage, they do not tend to take it out later.

The Association of British Insurers states that as many as one in every three Britons does not have life insurance.

Tags: family, first time buyers, person, life, Consultants, three britons

Families reign in their borrowing

Families with mortgages are taking measures to limit their debt, according to one industry expert.

Alliance and Leicester said that this demographic group is reducing the amount they spend on credit cards and cutting back on savings in order to take control of their debts.

The company puts this to consistent rises in the interest rate which now stands at 5.75 per cent and does not look like increasing further.

Sean Murphy, director of strategic planning at Alliance & Leicester, said: “Even though average interest rates on unsecured borrowings have actually fallen over the last 12 months, that has not been enough to tempt mortgage borrowers to take on more unsecured debt.

“Their family budgets have been under pressure and they have cut their cloth accordingly.”

Alliance and Leicester’s Borrowing Monitor showed that it is mortgage borrowers in particular that made cuts to borrowing with their rates falling while other groups’ borrowing rates saw “modest growth”.

Mr Murphy concluded that the base rate likely to see downward movements in the future, “some welcome comfort” would come to families with mortgages.

Tags: rate, Monitor, reign, credit, order, industry expert.Alliance, base

Don’t bail out friends and family with loans

A debt advice agency in the UK has warned that lending money to friends and family could have an adverse effect on both the lender and the borrower.

Officials from the Debt Advice Bureau claim that it is better to offer family and friends advice and support when they run into financial problems rather than throwing money at them by way of loans. In many cases these loans are not fully repaid and can put a strain on the relationship, and often this type of action results in people becoming reliant on loans from family and friends to bail them out if they get into financial difficulties.

Officials from the Debt Advice Bureau state that consumers should help family and friends to overcome debt and finance related problems rather than encouraging them to rely on others to help them out financially, as this can simply lead to a cycle of debt, and could even lead to the borrower getting themselves into debt in order to help out the family member of friend, which can make matters even worse.

One official from the bureau said that by lending money to friends and family consumers could be making the problem worse for all concerned.

He stated: “You don’t want to be laying the groundwork that every time they have a slight cashflow problem, you come to the rescue.”

Official figures show that in many cases the money that is lent to friends and family members is not received back in full, and in some cases is not repaid at all.

According to the results of a recent survey, only around 58% of 70% of consumers that had loaned money to family member had been fully repaid. Of the 59% that had lent money to a friend only 27% had been fully repaid. 

Tom Smith
6th October 2007

Tags: family, Loans, owe, friends, pay, debt, back, cost

Bank paid out saver’s money to wrong family

A bank has faced major embarrassment after paying out the savings of a pensioner to another customer’s family – under the assumption that the customer was dead.

The pensioner, who had £3000 in savings with the Abbey, discovered when she visited the bank that her savings had been paid out and her account closed because her records stated that she was dead.

The 77 year old customer stated that she visited the bank after her statements stopped arriving in the post. She stated: ‘I took the matter up with my local branch in Telford and they asked me if my husband had perhaps closed it.

I replied it was unlikely because he passed away 25 years ago. The young lady serving me began typing away on her computer but all of a sudden looked puzzled and told me that according to their records, I was dead. She went a bit pale, either because she was embarrassed at such a mistake or she thought she was seeing a ghost.’

After investigating the bank discovered that a customer with a similar name and of the same age had died. However, in error the wrong account had been closed and the £3000 had been paid out to the family of the deceased customer. The customer has been told that she will be getting back her money along with some compensation.

She stated: ‘Abbey have told me they have reclaimed my savings and have pledged to give me some compensation as a result of all the fuss caused. But I’m 77 and a widow, so it doesn’t do my health any good when I’m told my £3,000 has disappeared because I’m dead. It has taken a lot of time, effort and money, what with phone bills and bus fares to Abbey and my local library to process all the paperwork.’

Tom Smith
3rd July 2007

Tags: mistake, money, family, funds, dead

‘Review home insurance after wedding’

The British Insurance Brokers’ Association (Biba) has today revealed that re-thinking home insurance after a wedding is vital.

According to Biba, couples are putting many items at risk by not ensuring that they are properly covered and that newlyweds should consider getting in touch with an independent financial advisor.

Wedding presents are becoming more and more valuable and friends and family lavish gifts on their loved ones – making it all the more vital to ensure items have home insurance policies.

Graeme Trudgill, manager of technical services at Biba, said: “The key thing here is to make sure that all your items are covered.

“Before you got married, you probably had £20,000 worth of stuff and one toaster. But after you get married you receive lots of wedding presents, jewellery, and seven toasters, so it’s very likely that you’ll just need to review what cover you have.”

His comment come as research from Direct Line Home Insurance has revealed that same-sex couples have paid out more than £62 million on civil partnership ceremonies in the UK since they became available in December 2005.

Tags: same-sex couples, home, british insurance, family, Financial services

Pet Insurance

It’s a Dog’s Life

Whether you have received a cute kitten or a puppy as a present or been out and bought one for yourself, vets bills and care of the animal are all part and parcel of being a pet owner. Insurance is there to help with the unexpected or even expected bills. Read more

Tags: premium, vet, treatment, plan, dogs