Are you covered for bonfire night?

Homeowners are being advised to make sure that they check their home insurance policies and plans before the festivities of Bonfire Night, as they need to make sure that they have the right level of cover for their needs and to ensure that they have adequate cover in place in the event of accidents or injuries. Many people do not even think about the fact that they may not have adequate cover in place and therefore any incidents that take place could end up costing them a fortune.

Whilst households may have insurance cover in place there is a chance that certain things are not covered on their policies, and this is what officials are urging households to check before Bonfire Night comes around. For example, if you are having fireworks and a bonfire in your garden your insurance cover may not offer any public liability protection in the event that someone is inured or worse on your property, which would effectively be your responsibility.

Officials have said that every year thousands of people are injured at bonfires and fireworks parties and households that do not have the right level of protection in place could find themselves in very hot water in the event of an injury occurring on their property. A quick phone call or just checking your policy could enable you to determine whether you have the right level of cover in place and if not you can upgrade your cover before November 5^th.

One home insurance expert said: “For those hosting a fireworks party at home, it is essential to ensure your home insurance policy is up to date and that you have adequate personal liability cover. In the event of an accident such as someone getting burnt on the bonfire, you could find yourself liable for any injury or damage if you are not covered by insurance.”

Tags: adequate cover, place, phone, home insurance, public liability protection, chance, bonfires

Bank account options for consumers

Although the banking industry in the UK has taken quite a bit of flack over recent years the various High Street banks do offer plenty of choice when it comes to bank accounts to suit different needs. There are many different consumers with banking needs, and their different circumstances and statuses determine which bank account is going to be best suited to their needs.

One of the accounts that most High Street banks offer are basic bank accounts, and these are ideal for some people such as those on low incomes or with bad credit ratings who might otherwise struggle to get a current account. Whilst there are some restrictions with basic bank accounts, such as no debit cards or cheque books with many as well as no overdraft facility, they do offer the ability for accountholders to effectively manage and run their finances, pay bills, get money paid in, and other basic banking functions.

Standard current accounts are what most people have, and these are accounts that enable consumers to run their day to day finances. They are very similar to basic bank accounts in that you can set up standing orders and direct debits, transfer money, pay money in, make withdrawals, etc. However, many bank accounts also come with additional perks such as debit cards and overdraft facilities.

Another type of bank account that is available from many banks these days is the packaged bank account, and these accounts are fee charging accounts with fees that vary from one bank to another. The reason for the fee on these packages accounts is that they offer a package of benefits to the accountholder, which could save them money depending on how many of the services they use. Some of the benefits that come with the package include travel insurance, pet insurance, mobile phone cover, breakdown cover, and more. However, consumers should ensure that they are getting value for money and would not be better off paying for the benefits that they use on the open market rather than paying a fee for the account.

By choosing the right bank account and the right bank for your needs you can ensure that you can manage your finances more easily and conveniently, and with so many different banks and account to choose from it should be relatively easy to find one that is going to suit your needs and circumstances.

Tags: direct debits, bank accounts, bank, Banking, that enable consumers

Text message banking makes balance checking easier

New banking systems using mobile phones are helping in the fight against debt, it was claimed this week.

First Direct said that its more recently introduced services such as mobile phone and internet banking were proving popular with customers.

According to the company’s own figures, almost 400,000 of its 1.2 million clients use the text message service, with about 2.6 million messages sent out every month.

Customers can set up alerts for when they become overdrawn or when their salaries are paid, as well as using the service to check their balance.

Spokesman for the company Rob Skinner said that the service helps customers “manage their money a little better”.

“The mobile phone is something which we carry around with us, it’s almost a remote control for our lives”, he added.

However, Mr Skinner maintained that telephone banking remains popular with some First Direct customers, who “still like to speak to a real person at the end of the phone.

“Ultimately it’s up to the customer to choose the method which suits them best.”

Tags: phone, Telecommunications, mobile banking, Electronic commerce, IPhone, week, spokesman, fight

Britons underestimate debt levels

People might owe twice as much as they think they do, eyecatching new research from Mintel claims.

Using Bank of England figures, it found that Britons owe a total of £100 billion more than they are aware of, with each person on an average of £10,300.

However, their average estimate of debt was around half this figure at £5,251. The situation was likened by the market researcher to customers “burying their heads in the sand”.

Furthermore, a total of just one in five polled said that they worried about their debt level.

Finance analyst at Mintel Toby Clark said that Britons are “wildly under-estimating the amount of money they owe on credit cards and loans.

“Without a detailed understanding of exactly how much they owe and what rates they are paying, it is easy to see how the situation could spiral out of control”, he added.

Less surprisingly, Mintel also found that debt problems were far more acute in lower-income households, with unsecured loans being taken out to meet the costs of everyday living:

As an example of this, the report stated that around 11 per cent of those on low incomes used loans to pay for basic phone bills, compared to just 4 per cent of higher earners.

Tags: unsecured loans, living, phone, everyday living, sand, Mintel

Apology from Lloyds over call centre problems

Lloyds TSB has made an apology over problem with their call centre number, where customers calling the 0845 number were left hanging on the line to listen to a recorded message for up to ten minutes whilst being informed by an automated message that their enquiry would be dealt with as soon as possible.

The calls cost consumers three pence per minute, and around half of the cost of the call goes to the bank, which means that Lloyds was raking in a tidy profit from all the people that were left hanging on the telephone.

Lloyds recently announced that it was looking into systems that would ensure that customers of the bank received a more efficient and faster service, which made this situation all the more embarrassing for the bank. Its Bombay call centre was closed last month, after the bank claimed that the automated system could handle most enquiries. The 0845 number would also enable customer to get the telephone number of their local branch according to Lloyds, which previously customers could not do.

However, according to staff agencies the bank has failed to ensure that there are adequate staffing levels to deal with the new system, and Lloyds TSB has been accused of misleading employees, media, and customer with its claims about the automated service. Angry customers have been left holding on and paying a small fortune each time they call, the bank – which made over three billion in profits last year – has been raking in a fortune from the calls, and staff have been left to deal with the changes with no additional resources.

Over two hundred staff members lost their jobs when the Bombay centre was closed, and Lloyds have claimed that the efficiency of the automated system meant that staff members could be reduced.

Tom Smith
25th April 2007

Tags: centre, line, lloyds, india, bank, bombay, cheap, phone

How Are Car Insurance Premiums Calculated?

At times trying to determine how car insurance companies calculate your car insurance premiums can seem nonsensical – after all, phone 3 different car insurance companies and they’ll give you 3 different quotes for agreeing to insure your car! So, if you have ever wondered how the premiums on your car are calculated, wonder no more! Read more

Tags: car insurance, engine, value of car, how to calculate insurance, law

More UK people using online banking than phone banking

The power and popularity of the Internet has been reflected in the figures of a recent survey that show more people in the UK are now using online banking than telephone banking, despite the many concerns that keep being raised with regards to the security and safety of online banking. Most savvy consumers are now well aware of the various online banking scams in circulation, and are aware of what to look out for and what they should and shouldn’t be doing in order to keep their personal and financial data safe when it comes to online banking.

According to the latest figures around seventeen million adults in the UK now have online bank accounts, and two thirds of these online bank account holders tend to go online at least once each week in order to check financial data or make transactions. There were nearly one and a half million fewer people using telephone banking in 2006 than there were using online banking, and 2006 has been the first year where online banking has proven more popular than telephone banking, reflecting rising consumer confidence in this method of banking.

Data shows that the number of people using telephone banking over recent years has fallen, whereas those using online banking have rocketed, rising from seven and a half million four years ago to nearly seventeen million in 2006.

Sandra Quinn, director of communications at Apacs stated:  “Our research shows that increasingly, if you are under 35, you are more than likely to be turning to the internet rather than the phone to manage your finances.” The research that was conducted also showed that ninety percent of those using online banking also shopped online, again proving the rise in consumer confidence in terms of financial transactions over the Internet.

Tags: accounts, phone, personal, consumers, Banking, online