Lloyds chief exec to waive annual bonus

HBOS adds £8m to Farepak distress fund

HBOS has agreed to pay an additional £8m into a fund set up to help former customers of Farepak, who lost their savings with the company when it collapsed. HBOS increased its contribution to the compensation fund to £10m following criticism from a High Court judge over its “hardball approach” to Farepak’s difficulties. Mr Justice [...]

Growth in mortgage market at two-year low

Growth in the mortgage market has slowed to its lowest level since July 2010, according to Connells Survey and Valuations’ latest Housing Market Activity Report. Although the total number of residential valuations increased by 16 per cent last month, this represents an increase of just 2 per cent on a year-on-year basis. The number of [...]

Airlines to make card charges more transparent

Airlines will make debit and credit card charges clearer for customers, following an investigation by the Office of Fair Trading (OFT). The investigation was launched in March following a supercomplaint from the independent consumer body Which? Twelve airlines have agreed to include debit card surcharges in the headline price rather than add them on at [...]

Bank expands quantitative easing to £375 billion

The Bank of England (BoE) is injecting another £50 billion into the economy, increasing its quantitative easing programme to £375 billion in total. The BoE decided to increase the bond buying programme due to slowing growth in export markets and the ongoing recession. The Bank has also decided that interest rate will remain at the [...]

Shopacheck fined £150,000 for losing customer data

Welcome Financial Services has been fined £150,000 for losing tapes containing details of loans made to 510,000 customers of its Shopacheck service. Shopacheck offers loans to people with a low credit rating, often at an APR as high as 399.7 per cent. The lost tapes also held bank account details and CV information for 20,000 [...]

Personal injury claims soar despite fewer accidents

The number of road accidents fell by 11 per cent in 2011 and yet the number of personal injury claims increased by 18 per cent. The figures were revealed in a report by the Institute And Faculty Of Actuaries. The study found that more personal injury claims are made in areas which are well supplied [...]

£50,000 ‘lost’ following RBS computer glitch

Consumers and businesses are still suffering from the aftermath of the software failure which hit the RBS group two weeks ago. NIAVAC, a small Belfast-based firm claims that £50,000 in electronic payments has disappeared from its account with Ulster Bank. It was also revealed this week that some RBS and NatWest customers had duplicate debits [...]

Number of tenants with rent arrears up 24%

The number of tenants more than two months behind on their rent has increased by nearly a quarter over the past year, according to chartered surveyors Templeton LPA, The number if tenants in serious arrears increased by 8 per cent in the second quarter of 2012 to 100,400, its highest level since tenant arrears tracker [...]

Bank of England reports increase in personal debt

Bank of England figures for May show an increase in consumer debt, with new unsecured borrowing £732m higher than repayments. This represents a substantial increase from the average of the past six months of £403m. Borrowing through loans and overdrafts increased sharply in May according to the Bank’s figures. However credit card borrowing increased by [...]

House prices stall and could fall

House price growth stalled in June according to new figures from property analyst Hometrack. New buyer registrations were 0.5 per cent lower in June, the first time they have fallen on a month-on-month basis, for the past five months. Supply continued to increase, causing prices to fall even further. The only place which saw an [...]