Consumers want warmer approach from insurance firms

According to a recent report insurance customers in the UK are looking for a warmer, friendlier approach from insurance companies, with many stating that they would show more loyalty to insurance firms who demonstrated that they knew who they were and knew something of their insurance related history.

The survey was carried out by YouGov and was performed on behalf of Pegasystems. A number of areas of insurance were looked at as part of the survey including how consumers felt about their insurance companies and how consumers tended to contact insurance firms. The results of the survey showed that many insurance customers were looking for what was described as a ‘corner shop’ approach from their insurance providers, making them feel more like a valued customer rather than another number on a long list of clients.

The results also showed that the most common and popular way for consumers to contact their insurance firm was to contact them by telephone. The figures showed that 42 percent contacted their insurance providers by telephone. The survey also showed that there appeared to be growing confidence in using the internet to make contact with such firms, with 22 percent stating that they used email to contact their insurance provider, making this the second most popular method of contact.

The third popular means of contacting an insurance company amongst consumers in the UK was to go and see someone at the insurance firm face to face, but the results showed that most people prefer phone or email to communicate with these companies.

Jeremy Payne, senior director of international marketing at Pegasystems, said: “The Pegasystems research confirms the view that, in a world of increasing commoditisation and mass marketing, many consumers want a return to a ‘corner shop’ approach in which the provider knows who they are, the challenges they face and can provide an individualised solution that demonstrably meets their needs.”

Tags: insurance providers, Pegasystems, insurance customers, consumers, loyalty, Insurance, Business and Economy

Savers should act quickly to secure good interest rate on savings

According to many industry officials savers in the UK need to take action as soon as possible in order to secure a good rate of interest on their savings, as – whilst interest rates on many savings accounts is high at present – many lenders may start cutting savings interest rates as a result of anticipated cuts in the Bank of England base rate. Read more

Tags: past couple, saving, view, suitable fixed rate, number

Mortgage lenders ‘targeting better qualified people’

The mortgage crunch has prompted mortgage lenders to target “better qualified people and lower risk people”, according to industry experts.

FirstRungNow.com said that products such as guarantor, professional, joint and graduate mortgages are now “coming to the fore”, as market conditions has made lenders keen to use these services.

Helen Adams, director of FirstRungNow.com, said: “The lenders aren’t necessarily put off by people being credit averse or being in debt despite the market conditions.”

Lenders have confidence that graduates and professionals will be able to pay their mortgages off, she said.

Ms Adams stated that lenders take a “holistic view” about earning versus debts and “won’t lend unless they think that the risk is reasonable to them.”

Scottish Widows, one of the leading banks in the graduate mortgage market, currently offers a 102 per cent mortgage to graduates.

This is open to all graduates of recognized universities under the age of 40.

Tags: mortgage, credit averse, guarantor, averse, graduate mortgage, age, debt, view

CML: Bridging loans “useful” despite reputation

Despite their bad reputation, bridging loans remain the “obvious choice”, said the Council of Mortgage Lenders (CML) today.

Loans used to cover the period between buying a new property and selling your old one are not well respected due to their expensive entry and exit fees and high interest rates.

However, a spokesperson for CML explained that, while they do not offer long term solutions, bridging loans are the “main and obvious route where there is a mismatch”.

She added: “Because bridging is an expensive form of property finance, it is ideally the case that the borrower and the finance company should have a clear view as to what the exit strategy from that bridging finance deal is.

“It shouldn’t necessarily be seen as a long term solution to any property-related transaction.”

Additionally, she warned that entering this type of agreement “does not make any sense” for people who do not know what their “subsequent rollover strategy” will be.

The CML is the trade body for mortgage lenders. Members make up 98 per cent of total mortgage lending in Britain.

Tags: Britain, view, Loans, spokesperson, finance, reputation, trade body, cml

Car insurance savings through shopping around

Motorists ought to be “shopping around” to get the best deal, an insurance company said today.

Sainsbury’s Car Insurance said that those drivers who are “not bothering” to check out and compare several different insurance providers were missing out on savings.

According to research released by the company, one-in-five of poll respondents obtained just one quote for the last time they took out cover.

Correspondingly, 37 per cent of those who had been with their insurance provider for three years or more claimed that their premiums had gone up, with ten per cent claiming that their premiums had gone up by over one-tenth.

Car insurance manager at Sainsbury’s Lucy Hunter said: “Only obtaining one or two quotes won’t give you a clear view of the varying price comparisons out there. We recommend getting at least four quotes so that you can compare against price and level of cover and make an informed decision on what you’re prepared to spend.

“These days you can get online quotes in minutes, so it doesn’t have to be an arduous exercise.”

Tags: insurance manager, price comparisons, Admiral Group, Sainsbury, clear view, shopping, time, view

Halifax launches new fixed-rate deal

Mortgage provider Halifax made its new 25-year fixed-rate deal available today.

This represents a response from lenders to Gordon Brown’s call for long-term fixed-rate mortgages as a way of alleviating home buyers being priced out of the market. Halifax’s new deal will lock in the holder’s interest rate until 2032.

The provider will be counting on customers gambling on further interest rate rises, as its rate of 6.39 per cent is much higher than the majority of variable rate deals, which are in line with the current base rate of 5.75 per cent.

A spokesman for Halifax said that the new mortgage “means homeowners can balance the security of a fixed interest rate with a range of flexible features built into the product”.

The provider added that it hoped to “radically change the consumer’s view of longer-term products”.

The Bank of England decided today to leave the base rate as it is for this month.

It has risen five times since last August, however, and most industry analysts predict further rises before the year is out.

Tags: Floating interest rate, longer-term products, spokesman, view, response, month, consumer, range

John Charcol unveils buy-to-let mortgage brace

Mortgage broker John Charcol has launched two new tracker mortgages for buy-to-let investors, with rental cover requirements which are “not too onerous”.

One of the John Charcol mortgages possesses a 90 per cent loan-to-value (LTV) rate and will track the Bank of England base rate at plus 0.74 per cent for the term.

No early repayment charges apply and rental cover of 100 per cent is also applicable to the deal.

The group’s other package has a maximum LTV rate of 85 per cent and is available to both new purchasers and remortgagers.

Its rate is set at the Bank of England base rate plus 0.39 per cent, with the fee for the package set at £999.

Ray Boulger, senior technical manager at the broker, said that with gross rental yields on many other packages seriously restricting choice, the two mortgages “have been designed with rental cover requirements that are not too onerous”.

He added: “For most buy-to-let investors the choice for the best value mortgage tracker is now primarily between taking out a cheaper two-year tracker, with a view to continuing to take up a new deal every two years, or securing the convenience of a lifetime tracker at a slighter higher rate.”

Tags: group, LTV, package, view, manager, cent, Loan to value, base