Customers not getting the full value of their jewellery from cash for gold companies

It has been claimed in a recent report that companies that offer cash for gold jewellery are not giving consumers the full value of their jewellery. In fact, the report claims that quite often consumers are only receiving a fraction of the worth of the jewellery from the firms. According to the consumer campaign group Which? consumers are getting ’shockingly bad value’ on their gold jewellery given how the value of gold has increased. Read more

Tags: Precious metals, Valuation, gold advertisements, consumer campaign group, cash for gold, which, Jewellery, Gold, Pawnbroker

Over a £1bn spent on Valentine’s day

Over a £1 billion is expected to be spent on Valentine’s day, despite over half of consumers saying the day has become ‘over-commercialised’, according to new research.

Findings from research by Alliance & Leicester covering customer activity on the Valentine weekend last year indicate that debit card spending on flowers, restaurants and jewellery rose by 60 per cent compared with the previous week.

Last year men spent more than 36 per cent the normal amount in florists on Valentine’s day

Emma Walkley, senior current account manager at Alliance & Leicester, said: “Although people say Valentine’s day has been spoilt by over-commercialisation, spending patterns show that we still make an effort to celebrate it in some way.”

She added that consumer figures from last year reveal a ’spending rush’ on the day and those preceding February 14th in 2007, a trend expected to be repeated again this year.

Meanwhile, research from Halifax has shown that the average male spender is expected to pay £42 on flowers and £82 on eating out during February.

Tags: Flower, trend, Valentine weekend, alliance, Jewellery, week, research, customer activity

Holidaymakers ‘lie on insurance claims’

A significant number of people from the UK confess that they give false information when making a holiday insurance claim.

According to research by Direct Line, 11 per cent of British holidaymakers increase the overall value of a claim.

Another five per cent admit that they have added extra items to an insurance claim. Of the 13 per cent to have made a travel cover claim, 15 per cent admit to lying.

“The telling of a ‘little white lie’ is fraud however they chose to justify it,” said Chris Price from Direct Line. “Contemplating committing fraud is a serious matter and we would urge anyone about to claim on their travel insurance not to take this lightly.”

The study revealed that jewellery was the most popular item for which to make a false claim, with 25 per cent seeking money back for such items.

A recent report from Sainsbury’s Bank showed that 8.8 million people from the UK booked a last-minute summer holiday this year – but in their haste to get away 19 per cent forgot to arrange travel insurance.

Tags: Mill, value, travel, year, cover, haste, Jewellery, Chris Price

Safe packing ahead of holiday

The holiday season is fast approaching and many of us will soon be packing our bags and heading off to warmer climates.

However, travellers are being warned that they must take out insurance before setting off or potentially face a disaster.

As more and more people can afford to fly and more flights are taking to the air than ever before, Swiftcover.com says that the chances of an airline loosing your luggage have increased.

Figures from the insurer show that around 22 per cent of UK holidaymakers have arrived at their destination only to find that their luggage has not made it.

Over half of these people have had to wait over 24 hours for their bags to be returned, while six per cent did not see their possessions again during the trip.

Travellers are being warned that they should pack valuables such as travellers cheques, cash and jewellery in their hand luggage as these items are often not covered if they are checked into the hold.

“As long as you have adequate travel insurance, losing your suitcase should not hit you in the pocket, but, for the majority of people, it’s often the sentimental value of personal belongings and the lost time on holiday trying to locate your bags that cannot be replaced,” said Craig Staniland from Swiftcover.com.

Tags: disaster, Jewellery, UK holidaymakers, Business and Economy, cash, cent, Hand luggage, season