Hikes in ISA limits result from budget

It was announced at the recent budget by Alistair Darling, the Chancellor, that ISA limits in the UK were being hikes, although savers will not see the benefits straight away. Read more

Tags: investment, interest rates, cash isas, ISA, individual savings account, isa limit, society

Building society admits to mistake over mortgage email

The Skipton Building Society has recently admitted that it made a mistake after sending out an email relating to mortgage lending. The lender described the email as a ‘mistaken communication’. Read more

Tags: housing, skipton building society, Business Finance, American Home Mortgage, loan, Mortgages, society, bed

‘Fixed-rates offer peace of mind’

The Newcastle Building Society has said that savers looking for “peace of mind” when they open a savings account should opt for fixed-rates, as they can be sure of the returns on these types of products.

Steve Urwin, senior marketing executive at the building society, said accounts with building societies not only give savers good returns on their money, they also act as a “safe” because they have additional protection.

Mr Urwin commented: “Savings are protected by the investor protection scheme, in addition to housing their money in a trusted institution.”

The number of people opening accounts with building societies reached record levels last September, according to reports.

It was also found that savings accounts and cash Isas were the most popular products, with the demand for Isas up by almost a fifth.

Mr Urwin said that people should take advantage of Isas because most other types of savings are subject to tax.

Tags: money, Financial services, Banking, Marketing, Business Finance, investor protection, society, building

Housing boom an ‘unmitigated disaster’

The housing boom has been an “unmitigated disaster” for the UK’s economy and society, Firstrung has said. Read more

Tags: housing boom, first time buyers, Mortgages, society, home, month, housing, UK's economy

Yorkshire Building Society opens 133rd branch

The Yorkshire Building Society is planning to increase its High Street presence by 10% over the next three years, and has recently made progress towards this goal by opening its 133rd branch in Chester.

The branch was opened amidst celebrations, with everything from champagne and white roses to town criers. Customers have already flocked to the branch to open accounts, and in light of the record number of deposits made in building societies across the UK over recent weeks officials have high hopes for the success of this newest branch.

A spokesman from the Yorkshire Building Society stated: ‘As a society, we have never veered from our main objective: to raise funds from the public via savings products that we can then lend on to those who want to buy their own homes. ‘The best way to raise those funds is through a healthy branch network. The public like this setup and I see no reason to change it. It’s not sexy, but in light of recent events at Northern Rock, it has huge customer appeal.’

The crisis with Northern Rock led to building societies enjoying huge rises in deposit levels over a matter of weeks, with worries savers taking their money out of Northern Rock and depositing it elsewhere. According to figures from the Building Societies Association there was a rise of nearly £1 billion in the number of savings deposits made in building societies following the Northern Rock crisis.

One of the customers that turned up for the opening of the new branch stated: ‘I find building societies more approachable and friendly than banks. ‘Although Chester is well banked and has its fair share of building society branches, it’s good to see Yorkshire offering more choice.’

Tom Smith
11th November 2007

Tags: yorkshire, bank, savings, building, open

Consumer confidence in banking falls

According to a recent survey the levels of consumer confidence in banking have fallen recently, and experts state that much of this reduction in confidence has been fuelled by the recent turmoil and chaos faced by Northern Rock.

The survey was carried out by Teamspirit, and showed that levels of confidence in banking and the finance industry as a whole have taken a real knock over recent weeks, affecting many sectors of the finance and banking industry.

Almost 2500 people were polled as part of the survey, and the results showed that only 46% of consumers now had trust in high street banks. A slightly higher number of consumers expressed confidence in building societies, with 48% stating that they trusted building societies. Online banking also took a hit, with just 25% of consumers stating that they trusted inline banking – experts state that this could be partly due to severe problems that Northern Rock customers experienced over the past couple of weeks.

One official that was involved in the survey stated that the whole Northern Rock situation had resulted in a damaging effect in terms of consumer confidence in finance and financial institutions.

She said: “The Northern Rock situation has contributed to the low levels of trust that the British public has in companies that look after their money.”

Another factor that has also affected levels of consumer confidence according to many experts is the turmoil that has hit the financial markets over the past month, which was sparked by the credit crunch in the United States. This has had global repercussions, affecting many areas of the financial sector in the UK as well as in other countries.

Tom Smith
25th October 2007

Tags: Banking, accounts, building, finance, society, personal, confidence, high st, bank

Consumers have ‘misconceptions’ about building societies

Most consumers prefer building societies to banks, a new survey by Fool.co.uk has suggested, in spite of at least a third of respondents not even knowing what the different between them is.

Results from the study showed that building societies consistently scored higher than banks in consumer’s eyes. Six out of ten people preferred to take out mortgages with building societies and a similar proportion felt more comfortable discussing personal finances with one.

Four out of ten people even professed to a belief that building societies have their best interests at heart – a notion that David Kuo, Head of Personal Finance at Fool.co.uk, described as “schmaltzy”.

Whereas banks are public companies owned by their shareholders, building societies are owned by their members, but Mr Kuo warned that does not necessarily mean they provide a superior service.

“Best-buy tables have indicated that banks provide better products than building societies in three key products areas, namely credit card, savings accounts and mortgages,” he said.

The new survey also revealed a degree of ignorance among consumers. A third of respondents could not explain the different between a building society and a bank, while a quarter were unaware that Alliance & Leicester is now one of the latter.

Tags: society, latter, new survey, consumer, best buy, belief that building

Woman furious over overdraft fees

A twenty year old university student recently expressed her anger over her building society’s failure to contact her about a tiny overdraft balance that went on to accrue months of expensive fees.

The woman stated that her account with the Nationwide Building Society was just 95p overdrawn after she wrote a cheque. However, whilst she was away studying at university the building society added charges to the overdraft on a monthly basis. When she arrived back from university some months later, the customer stated that she discovered that £250 in fees had been added to her student account.

According to the customer the Nationwide had been adding £20 each month to the account because of the outstanding 95 pence, but had made no attempt to contact her to let her know the situation.

She stated: ‘I had no idea the account, which I had not used in ages, was overdrawn. I was away at university for long periods of time.’

She added:  ‘When I returned I found a massive pile of letters from the Nationwide waiting for me and an overall overdraft of almost £250. I was pretty angry with them because they had not tried to contact me by phone and it was quite obvious the account was not being used. They said my credit rating could have been affected which would have been bad so I decided to do something about it.’

The customer stated that she contacted Nationwide regarding the fees, but the building society said it was only prepared to waive fifty percent of the fees that had been charged. The customer then went to her local MP about the situation, and as a result of this the total fee was finally waived but the building society also closed her account.

Tom Smith
4th July 2007

Tags: account, fee, accrue, bank, charge, building, tiny

Savers could benefit from another interest rate rise

Over the past year the UK has seen interest rates rise three times, shooting up from 4.5% in August last year to 5.25% by January of this year.

And with experts predicting that another rise of at least 0.25% will be enforced in May, and possible a further rise in the summer, borrowers on variable interest rates are dreading dealing with their finances, as this means that repayments will go up yet again. However, for some savers the story is quite different.

According to information from Moneyfacts interest rates on fixed rate savings accounts have been climbing, and another interest rate rise could spell good news for savers. According to one expert from Moneyfacts a number of banks and building societies have been raising fixed rate interest rates by up to 0.55%. This has created stiff competition between those offering these savings accounts, and at present the Nottingham Building Society offers the highest rate at 6.2%.

According to Moneyfacts’ Rachel Thrussell: “While rates in excess of six percent are currently very competitive, instant access rates are not far short of this mark, making the reward for tying up your money relatively low. So while these rates will offer a great return and piece of mind, perhaps the market has not yet reached its peak and better rates may still be yet to come.”

In a related report from Sainsbury’s Bank, some experts were concerned that savers were being short-changed in terms on interest on their savings, with many account failing to keep up with inflation and interest rate rises. Consumers that are saving in a low interest account are urged to shop around and look for an account that offers a higher rate of interest, as this could really bump up the amount if interest earned each year.

Tom Smith
28th May 2007

More Information:

• Savings Accounts – Are They Worth It?
• Internet Bank Accounts – The Benefits and Drawbacks

Tags: bank, earn, fixed, accounts, society, savings, amount

Burglaries, vandalism on the rise

The latest figures show that overall crime in Britain has fallen by two per cent but homeowners will be concerned that burglary and vandalism rates are up.

Home Office statistics reveal that burglaries rose by eight per cent, while vandalism increased by 11 per cent in the final quarter of 2006.

These figures have led to a leading insurance firm carrying out its own research in which it found that one in ten Brits have had their property vandalised.

According to research by Lloyds TSB, half of the population believe that vandalism is one of the biggest problems currently facing modern British society, while 22 per cent are concerned that they will become a victim.

The most common form of vandalism is the ransacking of homes, while smashing windows, damaging fences, putting graffiti on walls and smashing garden ornaments are also popular.

“Prevention is always better than cure when it comes to crime and it is great to see evidence that crime appears to be falling in some areas,” commented Phil Loney from Lloyds.

“However our own research backs up today’s crime survey figures which show that vandalism is a problem on the rise. Insurance is vital in this equation and home owners can’t afford to cut back on their cover.”

The perceived causes of vandalism are varied with many Brits blaming a lack of discipline at home (79 per cent), boredom (74 per cent), alcohol and drug abuse (70 per cent) and the lack of a deterrent (44 per cent).

A further nine per cent even blame modern music for the rising crime.

Tags: insurance firm, society, Law Crime, modern british society, percentage, burglaries, deterrent, research

Young drivers offered premium break

A leading car insurance firm is offering young drivers a financial break if they sign up to its Safe Driving Agreement.

NFU Mutual is offering youngsters a £100 discount on premiums if they sign the document which requires them to take care on the roads.

As part of the deal, drivers will promise to adhere to the rules of the road, only drive at certain times and avoid eating and smoking at the wheel.

“They must promise to confirm their destination in advance, to drive only between agreed times of the day, to ensure they and their passengers always wear seat belts, never drink or take drugs and drive… not use a mobile phone whilst driving and avoid being distracted through fiddling with the stereo,” said NFU Mutual’s Laura Wood.

The deal has been drawn up in conjunction with the Royal Society for the Prevention of Accidents and follows a speech by the Association of British Insurers (ABI) which called for more action from the government.

Ms Wood added: “Young drivers are more likely to crash than older more experienced drivers, in part due to their lack of driving experience but also due to their attitude to the road and being unaware of potential dangers.”

Young drivers generally pay higher insurance premiums as they are deemed to be more likely to be involved in an accident.

Tags: NFU, Traffic collision, advance, care, whilst, document, society