Consumers becoming more comfortable with shopping online

A recent report has suggested that a rising number of consumers in the UK are becoming more comfortable with shopping online, and this is set to result in a huge boost in the number of businesses running their operations online. Read more

Tags: surprise, internet, woman, shopping, online shopping, huge boost

Economy benefits from an additional cash injection

The economy is to benefit from an additional £50 billion, which is to be ploughed into the economy through the government’s quantitative easing programme. Read more

Tags: bank of england, better surveys, output, uk economy, money, surprise, recession

Bank employees confused about cheque clearance

Many consumers in the UK are confused over the issue of how long it takes for a cheque to clear, and a recent survey has shown that this comes as no surprise given that employees of banks themselves are also confused about cheque clearance times. Read more

Tags: cheque clearance times, time for cheques to clear, cheques, surprise, cheques clear

Increase in burst pipe claims due to colder weather

Recent reports have shown that the colder weather that has been seen in areas of the UK over recent weeks is resulting in a double whammy for many consumers. Read more

Tags: insurance claims, Heating, level, insurance providers, cold weather, insurance official, surprise

Is HSBC favouring its richer customers?

A recent report has suggested that High Street bank, HSBC, is giving more favourable treatment to its better off customers with its Internet arm First Direct than to its poorer HSBC customers. Officials claim that the customers of First Direct, who tend to be better off due to changes that were made by the bank a couple of years ago, are getting a far better deal than customers with its parent company, HSBC. Read more

Tags: Debit cards, hsbc, rate cut, better deal, cheque, monthly paper statement, better-off customers, surprise

Unexpected bills catching us out

We are regularly being hit with a bill or expense that we have not budgeted for.

That is according to new research by Abbey which shows that in the last 12 months, 79 per cent of us have had to fork out an average of £1,375 on an unexpected outgoing.

Abbey calculates that we have spent a combined £48.7 billion in this way in the past year and says that home repairs are the most expensive unexpected cost.

Around 36 per cent of Brits spent £1,206 on home repairs, 42 per cent had to stump up for surprise bills and 29 per cent spent £447 in the last year on unanticipated travel expenses.

Most of us might feel pretty hard done by if we were hit by an unexpected cost but Abbey points out that if we kept control of our banking situation, we would be prepared to deal with the surprise expenses.

“You never know what life is going to throw at you. However, you can prepare for the unexpected through building up a ‘buffer savings fund’ to help deal with these shock events,” said Reza Attar-Zadeh, head of savings at Abbey.

“Most experts recommend that you build up a fund of at least three months salary in an instant access cash account.”

The research also found that people living in Wales were the best budgeters, while those in the south-east were the worst.

Tags: Building Types, Banking, shock events, salary, money, surprise, travel, Business Finance

£300m cost of severe weather

The extreme weather we have been experiencing here in the UK in recent months is estimated to have cost us a whopping £300 million.

Damage suffered by our homes during the severe storms has left many people counting the cost of repairs, particularly if they do not have home insurance.

Barclays Insurance has revealed that the number of households suffering storm damage increased by 158 per cent in January 2007, compared to the same period last year.

The bank has revealed that 60 per cent of all home insurance claims currently being logged are weather-related, with the average claim being for around £500.

Although people with insurance have to endure going through the process of having their house repaired, the real victims are those who are not insured and must fork out for repairs themselves.

“This [storm damage] is devastating enough for a family so it is some comfort to know that they have adequate insurance and will get the assistance they need to get things repaired and back to normal as quickly as possible,” said Mark Till from Barclays Insurance.

“The extremes we have experienced in the last two months have kept everyone on their toes. From an unseasonably mild Christmas to snow across the country in the last few weeks and everything in between… it’s no surprise that we have seen a huge increase in the number of claims being made for weather-related damage.”

It seems that the severe weather we have been seeing lately may become a part of life in the UK in future years so taking out a home insurance policy may be a wise move.

Tags: betweenâ, Vehicle insurance, policy, country, surprise, Mark, Mark Till, barclays