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July 27, 2007
by Gill Montia
Fool.co.uk, the personal finance website, believes that UK mortgage lenders have been taking advantage of millions of homeowners over recent years.
According to Fool, Halifax, which is the UK’s largest mortgage lender, has used historically low interest rates to increase margins to very attractive levels. Many other lenders have followed suit.
Figures from the Bank of England and Halifax illustrate that during the housing ...
July 26, 2007
by Brian Turner
It's six weeks now since Morgan Stanley issued a stark pronouncement - European equities markets were about to take a big hit, predicting as much as 15% wiped out from equity value.
World markets were already aware that the days of cheap loans were over, and even before the warning we saw the US market slumping, warnings of over-valuation ...
by Elaine Frei
Most Asia-Pacific equities markets lower again on Thursday. The Shanghai Composite was again an exception as it added 0.52 percent to 4,346.46. The Sensex was also higher, up 0.49 percent to 15,776.31 in India. South Korea’s Kospi index, however, dropped 2.03 percent to 1,963.54 on profit-taking. Other decliners included the Hang Seng index in ...
by Kay Murchie
The Association of British Insurers (ABI) estimate that the June flood bill stands at £1.5 billion and this, together with the damaged caused by the floods in July, is likely to make 2007 the worst for the insurance industry for nearly 17 years, when it paid out £2 billion in claims.
The insurance industry is now ...
by Kay Murchie
Seatwave, the UK’s largest fan to fan ticket exchange and Mondial, the provider of travel insurance third party administration, have joined forces to provide a new service for people buying tickets for live events.
Seatwave has selected Mondial as its partner because of the company’s commitment to customer care and for Mondial, the agreement is proof of its capability to utilise its expertise ...
by Kay Murchie
A new Visa card has been introduced by the Alliance & Leicester and could appeal to those who run their own business.
It is a pre-paid card and can be used by employers to provide expenses for staff travelling in their jobs or undertaking purchases on behalf of their employer. The card can be loaded with either US dollars, pounds ...
by Gill Montia
Research by GE Money Home Lending offers encouragement to those wanting to move to a larger home but unable to meet the rising costs involved.
According to GE Money, a loft conversion can increase the value of a property by between £22,000 and £45,000, depending upon the location.
The Loft Shop, which operates a number of loft conversion showrooms, reckons that a one-room loft ...
by Gill Montia
A government green paper published earlier this week includes a number of measures aimed at tackling housing affordability and providing more first-time buyers with shared ownership schemes.
The wide-ranging proposals include plans to expand shared ownership through the New Build HomeBuy scheme.
Also to be extended is the Open Market HomeBuy scheme, which is focused on helping key public workers, such as those in ...
July 25, 2007
by Elaine Frei
Equities markets in the Asia-Pacific region were mostly lower on Wednesday, but there were a couple of notable exceptions to the declining trend. In South Korea, the Kospi index added 0.6 percent to 2,004.22, the first time it has closed above the 2,000 level. In China the Shanghai Composite adding 2.7 percent to 4,323.97.
On the other hand, Australian ...
by Kay Murchie
The holiday season is well and truly here and it is crucial to ensure that you tell your insurer everything to avoid a dispute should you need to claim. Medical information accounts for 50% of all travel insurance complaints to the Financial Ombudsman Service so non-disclosure of certain information could be a problem.
Not only do insurers need to be aware of ...
by Kay Murchie
Account holders have been triumphant in recovering thousands of pounds in penalty charges that have been believed unfair under consumer contract law because they do not reflect the costs incurred by the account provider. A study by Credit Suisse has estimated that UK banks repaid £200 million during the first 6 months of 2007.
Many banks were charging approximately £35 without ...
by Kay Murchie
Interest rates have risen again recently to 5.75% resulting in those with a variable mortgage rate struggling to meet their repayments but if you are a saver, rising interest rates should bring good news.
Investec Private Bank has established that interest rates on some of the most attractive savings accounts have increased by less than the Bank of England base rate. ...
by Gill Montia
Halifax Estate Agents is advising vendors selling properties with garages or off-road parking to make sure their garages are cleared of junk and that driveways are sound and weed-free.
In a recent study, the estate agent found that 68% of potential buyers would be prepared to pay a premium for a home that has a garage, driveway or designated parking space.
According ...
by Gill Montia
The Government has released figures illustrating the dominance of the housing market in the UK economy.
According to the Office for National Statistics' (ONS) annual round up of UK's financial and non-financial assets, 60% of the country's £6.5 trillion in wealth is tied up in property.
The 5% increase in the country's wealth since 2005 takes into account the increased value of ...
July 24, 2007
by Elaine Frei
Asia-Pacific region equities markets were mostly higher on Tuesday. The exception was the Shanghai Composite, which dropped 0.07 percent to 4,210.33 on the session. In India, the Sensex added 0.4 percent to 15,794.92. The Hang Seng index in Hong Kong was 0.46 percent higher to 23,472.88, while in Singapore the Straits Times index gained 0.64 percent to 3,665.13. ...
by Kay Murchie
According to research by Deloitte & Touche LLP, Direct Line is declaring that it is the UK's most competitive major insurer. However, Confused.com, the online comparison site, is questioning this as the research shows that Direct Line’s premiums fall outside the top 3 cheapest quotes for 75% of consumers.
The recently published Deloitte Quarterly Motor Insurance Market Report shows that across a range of ...
by Kay Murchie
Friends Provident, the UK’s 4th largest insurer and Resolution Life, the UK’s biggest manager of closed life funds, are said to be in the early discussions on a merger that could form an £8.3 billion organisation.
The two companies are seen as good contenders for such a merge as cash generated from Resolution’s book of life policies could be used ...
by Kay Murchie
Reports have arisen that Barclays are in talks with China and Singapore governments to raise around £10 billion to finance its takeover of the Dutch bank, ABN Amro.
The money raised could allow Barclays to increase its takeover bid for ABN to around £50 billion, should the talks prove successful.
The agreement under negotiation would give the Government of China around ...
by Kay Murchie
A study from moneysupermarket.com, the online comparison site, has established that over 2 million working Britons are permanently overdrawn and those who do come out of the red when they have been paid tend to slip straight back into their overdrafts.
In addition, 10 million people admitted to being in the red at least once over the last 12 months.
A spokesperson ...
by Gill Montia
Ernst & Young ITEM Club, the leading forecasting group, has issued its latest quarterly report which contains a strong warning about overvaluation in the UK housing market.
It believes that by the end of 2008 the effects of higher interest rates will slow house price inflation from the current level of 10%, to less than 1%.
ITEM expects the base rate to ...
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Fool.co.uk, the personal finance website, believes that UK mortgage lenders have been taking advantage of millions of homeowners over recent years.
According to Fool, Halifax, which is the UK’s largest mortgage lender, has used historically low interest rates to increase margins to very attractive levels. Many other lenders have followed suit.
Figures from the Bank of England and Halifax illustrate that during the housing ...
It's six weeks now since Morgan Stanley issued a stark pronouncement - European equities markets were about to take a big hit, predicting as much as 15% wiped out from equity value.
World markets were already aware that the days of cheap loans were over, and even before the warning we saw the US market slumping, warnings of over-valuation ...
Equities markets in the Asia-Pacific region were mostly lower on Wednesday, but there were a couple of notable exceptions to the declining trend. In South Korea, the Kospi index added 0.6 percent to 2,004.22, the first time it has closed above the 2,000 level. In China the Shanghai Composite adding 2.7 percent to 4,323.97.
On the other hand, Australian ...
Asia-Pacific region equities markets were mostly higher on Tuesday. The exception was the Shanghai Composite, which dropped 0.07 percent to 4,210.33 on the session. In India, the Sensex added 0.4 percent to 15,794.92. The Hang Seng index in Hong Kong was 0.46 percent higher to 23,472.88, while in Singapore the Straits Times index gained 0.64 percent to 3,665.13. ...
