Getting Married? Do You Have Wedding Insurance?

Having a wedding insurance policy in place can avoid huge financial losses if something goes wrong in your home one or before the big say or even shortly after. This is something that all engage couples should consider as they plan the events of their wedding day, but the fact is that not many people know that this insurance cover even exists. Read more

Tags: weddings, wedding gifts, home insurance division, couples, wedding insurance, large cost, loss, home insurance

Many jobs to be affected by credit crunch

Most people are sick of hearing the term ‘global credit crunch’, but sadly this is s term that many of us have had to get used to over the past year. Read more

Tags: job sectors, job losses, loss, doubt, little access, Credit card, credit crunch, negative equity

MPs state loss of personal data should be classed as an offence

Instances of data loss and security breaches by banks, financial institutions and even government agencies have been at the forefront of the financial headlines over recent months, with one of the most major instances of sensitive data loss resulting from the loss of two discs containing the banks details of 25 million customers, which was lost by HM Revenue and Customs last year. Read more

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Housewives ‘need life insurance too’

Housewives are equally as likely to need life insurance as men, a report claims.

Industry experts have said that the insurance needed for a housewife can be estimated by compiling the costs incurred through her absence, according to the Economic Times.

Debashis Sarkar, director of marketing at Max New York Life Insurance, told the newspaper: “Life insurance is all about replacement of financial loss on the death or disability of an individual, so that the life can go on as earlier in financial terms.

“Housewives may not be working but they do take up multiple responsibilities that can be translated into financial value.”

The Economic Times claims that nearly 60 per cent of married women are spending all their time attending to mothering duties and housework, but many assume that by being in the house, they are not putting themselves at risk.

Legal and General recently released research revealing that more Britons insure their possessions than their own life.

While 66 per cent of those asked in a survey said they had house insurance, just 44 per cent had taken out life cover.

Tags: britons, value."the economic times, Max New York Life, New York Life Insurance Company, Debashis Sarkar, financial terms, term life insurance, loss

FTBs benefit from landlords selling up

First-time buyers (FTBs) in the UK are benefiting from a trend which is seeing landlords selling their properties.

Statistics from Alliance and Leicester show that buy-to-let mortgage holders are beginning to sell some of their properties, with most making big profits.

According to the firm, ten per cent of landlords sold one property in the last two years, while 42 per cent of FTBs snapped up a landlord-owned house.

Head of specialist mortgages at Alliance and Leicester, Jeremy Claridge, is pleased that FTBs are taking their chance to get onto the property ladder.

“It is heartening to see that first time buyers are benefiting the most from the sale of buy-to-let properties with nearly half having bought from a landlord,” he said.

“With many believing the boom in buy-to-let has priced first time buyers out of the property market, the research highlights it is not all doom and gloom for first-time buyers. Instead, they are the group gaining the most.”

A quarter of landlords who sold their property in the last two years made a return of more than 30 per cent, with only two per cent reporting a loss.

This bodes well for the future of the buy-to-let market as does the fact that 29 per cent of landlord-owned properties sold since 2005 went to existing or new landlords.

Tags: Head of specialist, United Kingdom, benefit, loss, landlord, group, cent, half

1m drivers on brink of ban

More than one million Brits are very close to losing their driving licence as the UK’s roads become more closely monitored.

Research by Direct Line Car Insurance shows that 4.5 million drivers have points of their licence for speeding, with 21 per cent of these being just one conviction away from a ban.

That is a four per cent increase compared to 12 months ago and the insurance firm is concerned that many people risk losing their livelihood as a result.

Direct Line claims that 14 per cent of drivers could see their livelihood seriously affected by a driving ban and with 6,000 speed cameras currently monitoring the UK’s roads this is a real issue.

Around 92 per cent of motoring convictions handed out in the last two years were for speeding, with a collective £300 million being paid out in speeding fines in the last three years.

“With the advent of speed cameras and the introduction of points for being caught for driving using a mobile phone, we urge motorists not to break the law as they could face numerous consequences such as killing or injuring themselves or others, disqualification, job loss and financial loss,” commented Emma Holyer, Direct Line’s motor spokesperson.

The government has proposed a new law which will see drivers who are caught travelling at 10mph or less over the speed limit receiving a less severe penalty.

This has received widespread support from drivers and motoring bodies, with Direct Line saying that it gives the proposals its full support.

Tags: issue, speed limit, UK's roads, loss, insurance firm

Custom Built Car Insurance

When you phone your motor insurance company to insure your car you tell them you drive a standard 1.8 Mitsubishi Lancer. True enough. However, what you have failed to tell them is that you have made one or two minor modifications to your car so that it now has alloy wheels, a spoiler and flashy strips down the side. Later you need to make a claim on your motor insurance and the car insurance company sends an insurance adjuster around to see your car. Guess what? In all likelihood the insurance adjuster is going to inform your car insurance company to invalidate your policy. The reason – you have a custom built car! Read more

Tags: custom car insurance, custom cars, loss, miles a-year driver, minor modifications, insurance policy, job

Credit card charges likely to rise

Credit card customers are likely to feel the squeeze as companies try to recover the £1 billion per year which will be lost as a result of a cap being introduced for penalty charges.

The Office of Fair Trading introduced the £12 cap, leaving a £1 billion shortfall for card companies which PricewaterhouseCoopers (PWC) says will be made up through increased charges and fewer zero per cent deals.

A report, released by PWC, says card companies are likely to make up the shortfall in this way, although there is disagreement over what effect an annual charge will have on consumers.

Some firms are not concerned that they may lose the custom of non-profitable card holders, while others do not want to anger these customers as they see an opportunity to sell other financial products to them.

Richard Thompson, one of the report’s authors, said he finds it difficult to see how the firms will be able to recoup the lost revenue.

“We are likely to see a waterbed effect, whereby charges pushed down in one area pop up somewhere else,” he said.

“Card issuers would have to levy annual fees costing the average credit card user £35 a year to recoup the potential £1bn loss.

“If lenders tried to recoup this through interest rates alone, we would see APRs increase by two percentage points on average,” added Mr Thompson.

Tags: card, cent, credit card user, loss, cent deals.A report, area, richard thompson, lenders