Massive fine for insurance broker over cancelled policies

A well known insurance company has been accused of treating customers unfairly, and as a result has been fined £735,000 by the Financial Services Authority, the UK’s financial regulatory body. The insurance firm, Hastings Insurance Services Ltd, was found to have cancelled the policies of customers after finding that the cover had been sold to the customers too cheaply due to a computer error. Read more

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Benefits to paying off debts with personal loans

The main reason people take out personal loans is for debt consolidation, which is no harm, an industry expert has said.

Steve Baillie, head of loans at Sainsbury’s Bank, explained that doing so can be a positive way for someone to start to bring their finances under control.

He said that there are three big financial issues for people, getting out of debt, paying for a new car, and home improvements.

“What you’ll probably find is, anybody that’s doing debt consolidation will probably be doing an element of a purchase at the same time,” he added.

“So there’s a trigger to sorting things out, whether they’re sorting out the house, or putting a new bathroom in or whether they’re getting a second car for the family et cetera.”

Total lending was up by £11.2 billion in September this year, according to research by Credit Action. Meanwhile secured lending saw growth of £9.8 billion during the month.

Tags: finance, home, house, personal loans, harm, Credit Action, new car, main reason people