European equities were higher on Tuesday. The pan-European FTSE Eurofirst 300 was up 1.41 percent to 1,361.18. The Paris CAC-40 was 1.09 percent higher while the Dax added 1.5 percent to 6,985.97 and the IBEX gained 2.13 percent to 13,436.6. In London, the FTSE 100 was up 1.47 percent to 6,087.4 while the FTSE 250 [...]
The Post Office is gaining notoriety for its mortgage products and has just made a further cut in the interest rate on its three-year fixed-rate mortgage, down to 5.34%. The loan is part of a range of mortgages that has been trialled by the Post Office at selected branches across the North of England. That [...]
One of the UK’s largest housebuilders, Persimmon, has reported a sharp fall in demand for new homes. The company’s forward order book has fallen 19% on this time last year, to £1.05 billion compared with £1.3 billion. The number of people visiting its development sites has fallen 13% on last year, while cancellations have risen [...]
The British Bankers’ Association (BBA) has reported a rise in the number of mortgage approvals in January. The value of approved mortgage loans rose 4.6% on January 2007, to £19.6 billion; by monthly comparison, the December figure stood at £17.3 billion. However, the value of approved house purchase loans fell 27% year-on-year in January, leaving [...]
Shepherds Friendly, the Manchester-based friendly society, is launching a new Mortgage Payment Protection Insurance (MPPI) policy that can provide cover for the term of an individual mortgage product. The policy can be extended to a maximum of five years, compared with the more usual 12 months, so that policyholders are covered for the full-term of [...]
According to the latest Car Insurance Index by Sainsbury’s Bank, car insurance premiums have risen by 5.24% in the last 12 months. Currently, the average motor insurance premium is £497.26, compared with £474.52 twelve months ago. Drivers aged between 40 and 50 experienced the largest increase with an average of 7% while motorists aged 65 [...]
French insurer, Groupama, has announced 3.6% growth in its personal lines business to £221.7 million in its 2007 results, boosted by continuing growth in the company’s home and car insurance portfolios. However, profits for the year were £23.1 million, a decline of more than £10 million compared to 2007, it is believed the summer floods [...]
A survey conducted by MoneyExtra, the financial services comparison service, has revealed that many people are worried about their growing levels of debt. MoneyExtra established that 27% of consumers have increased the amount of money they have borrowed in the last 3 months. In addition, one in three adults with debt said they were concerned [...]
Gender directive could slash men’s annuity payouts
The EU Gender Directive, which came into force today, could see men losing up to £10,000 from their annuity payouts, according to research by PricewaterhouseCoopers. Under the new rules insurers are no longer allowed to take gender into account when setting annuity rates and premiums on insurance products. Men previously enjoyed higher annuity rates than [...]
Home rental costs down in November
The cost of renting a house in England and Wales fell by 0.4 per cent in November, its first dip since March, according to a survey by LSL Property Services. Average rent was £741m during the month, returning to the level seen in September. However, it was 3.4 per higher than in November last year. [...]
Lloyds TSB halts sale of packaged accounts in branches
Lloyds TSB will stop selling packaged account in its branches from 1 January 2013, until its sales procedures are brought into line with those operated by sister bank The Halifax. Lloyds TSB is one of the main providers of packaged accounts in Britain, with around one in three of its customers choosing to pay fees [...]
Housing market recovery to continue next year
Recent improvements in the housing market should continue into next year, according to the Council of Mortgage Lenders (CML) Gross lending is estimated to have increased to £12.9 billion in November, helped by the Funding for Lending scheme which provides banks and building societies with lower-cost funding, which they are then supposed to pass on [...]
Newcastle Building Society exits interest-only mortgages
Newcastle Building Society has stopped offering interest-only mortgages to new borrowers, following the lead of the Royal Bank of Scotland, Nationwide, Co-operative bank and Coventry Building Society. The decision will not affect existing Newcastle customers and applications for interest-only mortgages received before 14 December will still be processed. Prior to the credit crunch, interest-only mortgages [...]
Less than half of Brits considered creditworthy
Fifty-seven per cent of UK adults are at risk of having an application for credit turned down by a mainstream lender according to a new report. The ‘Mind the Credit Gap‘ report commissioned by aqua credit cards suggests that even people with a good credit rating and earning more than £50,000 could have a credit [...]
Monthly incomes £22 lower in 2012
The average monthly income of UK households fell by £22 in real terms compared with last year, according to a survey carried out for the Bank of England (BoE) by NMG Consulting. People on lower incomes have seen their income eroded more than higher earners and households still have high levels of debt the BoE [...]
Savers dig deep to fund Christmas
New research from the Halifax suggests that savers are funding their Christmas spending with money set aside for other purposes. Thirty-seven per cent of 2,138 savers surveyed by the bank at the end of November had withdrawn savings in the last three months. The average amount withdrawn was £1,186, more than double the average savings [...]
Financial data at risk from unsafe passwords
According to a survey by the Payments Council the problem of having to remember a different password for several accounts means that many internet users are compromising the security of their financial data. Internet users have 22 password-protected accounts on average and many use the same log-in details for more than one account, even though [...]
Wonga launches Paylater loans on retailer website
Payday loan company Wonga has launched a new Paylater service on furniture firm Cotswold Company’s website. The service, which allows customers to “buy now, pay later” will be introduced on other retailers’ sites in the near future. Although the Paylater branding is similar to Wonga’s, the Wonga name only appears in the small print. A [...]
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