Mobile phone use while driving can increase insurance premiums

Shelter reveals repossession hotspots

Homeowners in the London Borough of Barking and Dagenham are most at risk of having their home repossessed, according to housing charity Shelter. There were around eight possession claims per 1,000 homes in Barking and Dagenham in 2011/12, twice as high as the average for the UK as a whole. Shelter’s latest “Repossession Risk Hotspots” [...]

Barclays, RBS and LLoyds could face criminal investigations

Barclays, which has been fined £290m for misconduct by regulators in the UK and the US, could face criminal investigations, along with Royal Bank of Scotland and Lloyds Banking Group. Barclays received the record fine for allegedly manipulating Libor, the London interbank lending rate, and Euribor, the European interbank lening rate. The bank is believed [...]

Mortgage approvals and lending fall

Borrowers were more cautious in May according to figures from the British Bankers Association (BBA) which showed an increased focus on reducing debt. Mortgage repayments were higher than lending for the first time, according to the BBA’s figures. Net mortgage lending fell by £73 million in May, the first time it has gone into reverse [...]

99% of RBS and NatWest accounts now updated

Most RBS and NatWest customers should now find that their accounts are up to date, although Ulster Bank customers may still be experiencing difficulties following the computer problems which started more than a week ago. With 99% of RBS and NatWest accounts updated, the banking group will turn its attention to Ulster Bank, whose customers [...]

Economic recovery could take until 2017

Sir Mervyn King, the governor of the Bank of England, does not expect the UK economy to recover until 2017, three years later than his earlier estimate. The Governor made his gloomy prediction to MPs at a meeting of the Treasury Select Committee (TSC). “When this crisis began in 2007, most people did not believe [...]

Catalogue customers warned to avoid debt spiral

With household incomes stretched to breaking point many consumers are turning to catalogues to spread the cost of goods such as clothes and furniture, but this could lead to a spiral of debt, a debt charity warns. The Money Advice Trust is receiving around 100 calls a day about catalogue debts, more than it receives [...]

One in five people have no savings

New research by Santander has found that eleven million adults in the UK have no savings to fall back on in times of crisis. This equates to one in five adults, and those who are saving, are saving less than they used to, Santander found. Over the past year, the average amount saved each month [...]

Government proposes housing benefit cuts

Prime Minister David Cameron has suggested cutting housing benefit for people under the age of 25, in an interview with the Mail on Sunday. Housing benefit is paid to adults on a low income, to help them pay their rent, either to the local council, a private landlord or to a hostel. It is currently [...]

NatWest customers still facing problems

Last week’s computer error is expected to continue causing problems for customers of Royal Bank of Scotland, NatWest and Ulster Bank until Tuesday, the bank said yesterday. The problems started after a software update was carried out on Tuesday. The update stopped transactions going in and out of customers’ accounts during the night, leaving customers [...]

Mortgage lending 24% higher in May

Mortgage lending increased by 24 per cent to £12.2 billion in May, after a fall in April, according to the Council of Mortgage Lenders (CML). The figure was 13 per cent higher than a year ago. However, when the effect of the end of the stamp duty holiday on first-time buyer properties is excluded, the [...]