Euro zone inflation exceeds ECB target

Uninsured young driver numbers halved

A new law allowing the Motor Insurers’ Bureau (MIB) to cross-check its database against DVLA records has led to a substantial fall in the number of young people driving without insurance. The Continuous Insurance Enforcement (CIE) law allows MIB to check which vehicles are registered with the DVLA. If a registered vehicle is not listed [...]

Barclays site slow to load during upgrade

The BBC today reported that around 10 per cent of Barclays’ customers are experiencing delays when they try to access online banking. The bank has been phasing in improvements to its site since January and the rebuilt site is proving slow to load today, which is one of the busiest days of the month for [...]

OECD says UK falling back into recession

The UK economy is expected to contract by 0.4 per cent on an annualised basis in the first three months of 2012, according to the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD). This represents a contraction of 0.1 per cent compared with the final quarter of 2011 and means that the UK is returning to [...]

House prices and mortgage approvals fall

House prices have fallen for the first time in six months, with the decline attributed to changes in stamp duty. The average house price in March was £163,327, 0.9 per cent lower than in February. It was the largest fall in house prices since June last year. Nationwide’s figures showed a fall in nearly every [...]

Interest gap narrows between ISAs and standard accounts

There are just a few days left for savers to use their Isa allowance for the current tax year, which ends on 5 April. However, savers who miss out on this year’s allowance may get almost as good a deal from an ordinary savings account according to new research by consumer group Which? Isas have [...]

Halifax life-long policy misled pet insurance customers

The Halifax has been found by the Financial Ombudsman Service to have misled customers by offering life-long pet insurance. Halifax, which is part of Lloyds Banking Group, announced its decision to withdraw from the pet insurance market at the end of last year. The Ombudsman’s ruling follows a complaint by the owners of a dog [...]

Barclay’s contactless cards open to fraud

An investigation by Channel 4 has found that Barclays’ contactless credit and debit cards, which are used by up to 13 million customers, are at risk of fraud. In collaboration with mobile phone security company ViaForensics, Channel 4 discovered that smartphones integrated with near field communication (NFC) technology can steal data from the cards with [...]

Auto-enrolment aligned with tax and NI

The government revealed today that automatic enrolment rates for the tax year to April 2013 will be aligned with tax and National Insurance thresholds to make implementation simple for firms. Auto-enrolment is being phased in from 1 October, starting with the largest firms, and should be in full effect by the middle of 2017. It [...]

Government in talks with Abu Dhabi over RBS

The UK government is negotiating with Abu Dhabi sovereign wealth funds over the sale of a stake in Royal Bank of Scotland (RBS), the BBC reported yesterday. It is believed that Abu Dhabi, which is part of the oil-rich United Arab Emirates, could buy up to a third of the government’s 82% stake in the [...]

Bank of England calls for culture change in banking

Michael Cohrs, a member of the Bank of England’s new financial policy committee (FPC) has warned of the danger of another financial crisis unless the ‘toxic culture’ inside banks is eradicated. Changes should include a reform of banks’ bonus systems, he said. The FPC was established to regulate UK banks, but Mr Cohrs suggested that [...]