Elderly and indebted to be targeted by scammer

According to a recent report 2009 is a year that will see both the elderly and those with high levels of debt get targeted by scammers. Read more

Tags: financial difficulty, truth, office of fair trading, incomes, elderly scams, lottery scams, Lottery

‘Disappointing Budget’ does not encourage savers to use Isas

The new Budget from Alistair Darling is “disappointing” as it does not encourage savers to use Individual Savings Accounts (Isas), one financial expert has claimed.

According to Nationwide, the Chancellor could have gone further in promoting the product to consumers by ensuring that they were more flexible, and index-linking them to inflation.

A spokesman for the company said: “Additionally, we would have liked to have seen the Chancellor introduce a withdrawal buffer that allows savers to make withdrawals and replenish their Isa within the same tax year, as this would particularly help people on lower incomes.”

The firm said it hoped that Mr Darling would do more to re-evaluate the Isa system in future budgets to try and encourage consumers to make full use of their Isa allowance and embrace the tax-efficient benefits they bring.

Meanwhile, according to the Daily Telegraph, recent research from Lloyds TSB revealed millions of savers are missing out on tax-free interest as nine in ten Brits fail to make the most of their individual Isa allowances.

Tags: nationwide, Brits, tax-efficient benefits, United Kingdom, Telegraph, withdrawal buffer, Product Recall, incomes

Both parents forced to work

As the cost of running a home continues to grow, new research shows that millions of mothers are being forced to return to work so that they can keep up with bill payments.

Scottish Widows has revealed that 11 million households in the UK are dependent on two salaries to keep up repayments, while the average household with two children is £100,000 in debt.

That figure stands at £20,000 more than a household without children and it is forcing both mother and father to go out and work.

“This reliance on two incomes to buy and run the family home means millions of households are effectively doubling the risk of financial hardship should one of bread winners become unable to work,” said Richard Jones, Scottish Widows’ interim protection market director.

Figures from the research show that many families are struggling due to the levels of consumer debt they have, with a rise in the number of children being linked to the size of the debt.

Almost half (47 per cent) of families have a mortgage, with the debt from this rising from an average of £66,600 for a couple with no children, to £80,200 for a couple with three.

Around 63 per cent have a store or credit card, with the debt for a childless couple standing at £4,300 and growing for those with three children to £6,510.

Parents and prospective parents are advised to set up a savings fund to protect themselves and their children should their circumstances change.

Tags: payments.scottish widows, child, bread winners, incomes, Scottish, GBP, debt, new research

New project to get affordable credit to everyone

A new project has been launched with the intention of helping people on low incomes to find affordable credit.

Citizens Advice (CAB) has linked up with the Association of British Credit Unions Limited (ABCUL) to launch the Financial Inclusion Partnership Project.

It is hoped that the establishment of the project will lead to a greater working relationship between the CAB and credit unions and help to establish benefits for the clients and the agencies involved.

“This is an exciting new project which will help people who are financially excluded,” commented Teresa Perhard from the CAB.

“People on low incomes often struggle to find affordable credit and feel forced into taking out loans with sky-high interest rates, sometimes through unscrupulous loan sharks.

“Credit unions give them an affordable, safe and dependable alternative. We look forward to developing local partnerships through the scheme,” she added.

The project is being supported by Barclays Bank and the Abbey Charitable Trust, with the latter providing small grants to individual participating bureauxs.

If you are in financial difficulties it may be worth contacting the CAB for advice. You should not seek to borrow money from a loan shark who will charge you crippling rates of interest.

Tags: incomes, exciting new project, Barclays Bank, individual participating bureauxs, relationship, agencies involved."This, financial

Credit card borrowing falling among homeowners

Rising base rates are causing a drop in borrowing by householders, according to a new report.

Homeowners who are already paying a mortgage on their home are becoming less willing to take up any more unsecured debt as they are beginning to feel the squeeze, a study by Alliance & Leicester suggests.

Commenting on the report, Chris Rhodes, director of retail banking at Alliance & Leicester, said: “Consumers have shown an unprecedented appetite to reduce their unsecured borrowing while their incomes have continued to grow and interest costs on their unsecured borrowings have fallen.

“This will have taken some of the sting out of the latest increase in base rates.”

Despite that increase, Alliance & Leicester’s report suggests that warnings of a return to 1990 levels of strain on UK consumers’ finances would be premature as the base rate would have to be hiked to 8.5 per cent before people would experience similar problems.

However, conclusions of the report are that, while UK consumers are still in the “comfortable” zone of debt, this position could be damaged if there are any more rises in the base rates of interest.

Other findings of the monthly report show that this unwillingness to take on more credit card or personal loan debt only applies to those with mortgages.

In contrast to a drop in debt of an average £197 among mortgage holders, those without a mortgage increased what they owe by £97.

Tags: zone, conclusions, Unsecured debt, study, mortgage holders, rate, Leicester's report, incomes