Scope launches £20m bond programme

Banks and insurers failing victims of PPI mis-selling

The Financial Ombudsman Service (FOS) has criticised banks and insurance companies for their slow response to payment protection insurance (PPI) compensation claims. The huge numbers of PPI claims are overwhelming UK banks, with the result that customers are becoming tired of waiting and are taking their cases to the FOS. The FOS says that number [...]

House prices down 1.3% in 2011

Mortgage lender the Halifax claims that house prices fell by 1.3 per cent last year to an average of £160,063, their lowest level since July 2009. According to the Halifax House Price Index, house prices fell 0.9 per cent in December, compared with the previous month. Although prices rose in the third quarter of 2010, [...]

Virgin Money introduces charge for current accounts

Virgin Money, the new owner of Northern Rock, is to begin charging all new customers for current accounts, even if the account remains in credit. Virgin Money’s chief executive Jayne-Anne Gadhia “Most people know there is no such thing as free banking. “Banks have to cover the cost of free current accounts with hidden charges [...]

Public sector pension reforms ineffective

An independent pensions consultant claims that the government’s proposed reforms to public sector pensions will result in no cost savings whatsoever. John Ralfe says that the savings which will be made by increasing the public sector pension age to 67 will be cancelled out by the faster build up of pensions in the new schemes. [...]

Personal loan rates on downward trend

Marks & Spencer Money is offering borrowers a personal loan at a rate of just 6 per cent. This represents the lowest rate since 2008 when Moneyback Bank was offering 5.8 per cent, while just one year ago Tesco Bank offered the lowest loan rate, of 8.4 per cent. Marks & Spencer Money’s 6% deal [...]

Housebuyers using payday loans to pay mortgages

In the last year around seven million UK house buyers have been forced to use payday loans or unauthorised overdrafts to meet their mortgage repayments, according to housing charity Shelter. With both of these sources of finance potentially carrying extremely high interest rates, this represents one in seven Britons who could be at risk of [...]

Bank of England reports static mortgage lending

52,854 mortgage loans were agreed in principle in November according to the latest figures from the Bank of England, just 68 higher than the previous month. Although mortgage lending in November 2011 was 12% higher than in November 2010, there has been no significant improvement for four months. Mortgage approvals remain at half their 2007 [...]

Austerity plans will hit families hardest

The Family and Parenting Institute (FPI) today warned that families with children will be worst affected by the Government’s proposed changes to tax and benefits. A study by the Institute for Fiscal Studies on behalf of the FPI suggests that the average income of families with children will fall by 4.2 per cent by 2015-16, [...]

CBI outlines plans to re-balance economy

In its New Year report the CBI has called on UK businesses to increase their export activity to help the UK re-balance its economy. The CBI believes that this could boost the UK’s economy by £20 billion over the next eight years. The organisation is also calling on the private sector to invest £140 billion [...]

ACA warns of private-sector pensions collapse

The private pension sector has suffered a ‘seismic collapse’ according to a survey by the Association of Consulting Actuaries (ACA). The ACA revealed today that nine out of 10 private sector defined benefit schemes, which promise a pre-determined monthly benefit on retirement, have been closed to new entrants and four out of 10 are closed [...]