Many homeowners may not benefit from base rate cuts
January 22, 2009
Over the past few months the Bank of England has cut the base interest rate a number of times, and these aggressive rate cuts have seen the base rate come down from 5.75 percent in November 2007 to just 2 percent at the start of this December. Many homeowners were relieved because this meant far [...]
Lenders wary about forecasting house prices for 2009
January 22, 2009
A couple of lenders that have become well known for producing annual house price forecasts that have been widely followed over the years have recently announced that this year they will not be producing any forecasts on house prices. The forecasts from the Halifax and Nationwide have been widely followed for some years.
The Halifax has [...]
Preparing Financially for Retirement
January 21, 2009
Once you start to get closer to your middle age years, your thoughts start to turn to retiring when you can look forward to spending your day engaging in your hobbies, travelling about the world or just doing nothing if that is what you want.
You look forward to not have to answer to the demands [...]
Lenders told to meet fairness deadline
January 21, 2009
UK lenders that deal with borrowers taking out home loans have been issued with a warning from the UK’s financial regulator with regards to how they treat customers that have arrears or may be facing repossession. The FSA has contacted lenders that deal with these loans, stating that they have a deadline by which they [...]
Inflation dropped due to fuel costs
January 21, 2009
According to a recent report the fact that fuel costs have been falling has helped to bring inflation levels down over the past few weeks, with inflation falling to 4.1 percent towards the end of the year having soared earlier this year. The government’s target for inflation is 2 percent but it has been at [...]
Increase in insurance related lies
January 16, 2009
Recent reports have shown that there has been an increase in the number of insurance related lies that are being told by consumers looking to get cover at a lower price. Consumers are telling lies on their applications for cover so that they do not have to pay as much for their insurance, according to [...]
Holidaymakers avoiding Europe
January 16, 2009
Recent reports have shown that many holidaymakers from the UK are now steering clear of European destinations for their holidays because of the plummeting value of sterling against the euro. According to the Association of British Travel Agents many tourists from the UK are now opting for holiday destinations such as Mexico and Turkey.
A survey [...]
Will 2009 be a better year?
January 16, 2009
There is little doubt that this year has been extremely challenging financially, and households all around the country have suffered financial difficulties for a variety of reasons. Households have seen a range of rising costs that have impacted upon their finances, and this has been made much worse by the global credit crunch and tight [...]
FSA fines Egg over PPI
January 15, 2009
The UK’s finance regulator, the Financial Services Authority, has fined the Internet financial giant Egg over what has been described as serious failing in relation to the sale of Payment Protection Insurance, which is said to have occurred between 2005 and 2007.
The PPI sales were made alongside Egg credit cards, and employees of the firm [...]
Improvement in consumer confidence levels
January 15, 2009
Recent reports have shown that there have been improvements in consumer confidence levels for the second month in a row. It is thought that action such as aggressive interest rate cuts from the Bank of England and a cut in VAT from the government may have helped to restore some level of consumer confidence.
Over the [...]
