David Ward, the Liberal Democrat MP for Bradford East, has launched a campaign to save the chequebook. The campaign comes after the UK Payments Council voted to phase out cheques on 31 October 2018, but stated that cheques will not be phased out until an “accessible and acceptable” alternative payment system is introduced. Cheque usage [...]
Three-quarters of mortgage holders don’t know how an interest rate rise of 1% would affect their monthly outgoings, according to new research from the Consumer Financial Education Body (CFEB). The study also found that over half of home owners questioned expect rates to change in the next nine months, although one in seven had no [...]
The Conservative party is continuing with its election campaign by proposing to make four million married couples and civil partners £150 a year better off. The tax break would apply to basic rate taxpayers earning under £44,000 where one partner does not use their full personal tax-free income allowance. Speaking about the married couples allowance, [...]
Bill Nighy has pledged his support for a campaign to impose a “Robin Hood tax” on speculative financial transactions between banks. The actor, famous for his roles in Pirates of the Caribbean and Love Actually, has joined forces with director Richard Curtis to make a three-minute film explaining how the tax would work. In the [...]
The finance arm of the Church of England has said it will withdraw its £2.5 million investment from Vedanta, an India-based mining project, over concerns about human rights abuses by the company. In a statement released Friday, the church said Vedanta has not done enough to improve its respect for human rights. Campaigners who believe [...]
A report by the National Audit Office (NAO) has revealed that around 1.5 million pensioners have made overpayments in income tax due to processing errors. Furthermore, the NAO revealed that around 3.2 million were neglecting to take up their allowance entitlements. The watchdog also estimated that half a million pensions have underpaid tax, by an [...]
The Motor Insurers’ Bureau (MIB) has revealed that London has the highest number of uninsured drivers after a report discovered that more than 1.7 million people drove without cover last year. Thirteen percent of vehicles in Greater London were found to be driven illegally – the highest proportion for any region. The Bureau, which compensates [...]
The Government is to target areas of England with high levels of repossession with a new advertising campaign, the BBC has reported. Hotspots include: Barking and Dagenham, Corby, Knowsley, Salford, Newham, Walsall, Redditch, Halton, Sandwell, Wolverhampton, Bolton, Reading, Swindon, Northampton, and Cannock Chase. Nottingham, Birmingham, Manchester, Liverpool, Sunderland, Wigan, and Kingston-upon-Hull are some of the [...]
The Chancellor of the Exchequer is set for a run-in with the UK’s bailed-out banks this week, over lending to small businesses. The BBC has reported that Alistair Darling is “extremely concerned” that banks are charging high rates to small and medium sized enterprises (SMEs), despite pledges made on commercial lending in return for taxpayer [...]
The National Housing Federation (NHF) has launched its “Save our Villages” campaign. The body, which represents not-for-profit housing associations in England, asserts that housing in rural areas is more expensive than in cities and towns, and often way beyond the means of many local residents. It warns that rural England is becoming “the preserve of [...]
HM Revenue & Customs (HMRC) has embarked on a new campaign in order to get millions of pounds of unpaid tax from offshore bank accounts and has used the 2009 Budget to introduce the new “offshore disclosure opportunity” which will run until March 2010. It is an invitation to people with offshore accounts to disclose [...]
Independent financial advisors (IFAs) should make pension reviews a priority and, if possible, conduct them ahead of schedule, Zurich said this week. Good pension planning is vital following the economic crisis, Zurich said, and advisers should encourage their clients to undertake pension reviews now in light of the credit crunch. Many people saving for retirement [...]
Lloyds Banking Group launched a new campaign this week to reunite customers with £100 million held in dormant bank accounts. The banking group – created this month by a merger between Lloyds TSB and Halifax Bank of Scotland – said it is paying for a national advertising drive that will encourage customers to check if [...]
Following the Government’s announcement last month that billions of pounds of taxpayers’ money will be pumped into the UK’s struggling banks, consumer group, Which? says now is the time for banks to help out consumers. The group, which has introduced a new campaign to reform banking, said the Government must ensure that the banks are [...]
M&S Money launches 3% cash ISA
M&S Money has launched an Advantage Cash ISA paying 3 per cent, and which allows transfers in from other ISAs. It can be opened with a minimum deposit of £100 lump sum followed by minimum monthly deposits of £25. The 3% rate is variable, but there is no short-term bonus so the return won’t plummet [...]
Google suspends UK Compare Mortgages site
Google has closed its UK mortgage comparison site which it launched in July last year, after it proved to be less popular than expected. Mortgage comparison sites are designed to allow visitors to compare mortgages quickly and easily without having to visit each lender’s individual site. Google was competing with several well-established comparison sites, including [...]
AA launches ‘black-box’ policy for young drivers
The AA is launching an innovative car insurance policy called Drivesafe which could help younger drivers save up to £850 a year. Younger drivers already pay substantially higher premiums than other motorists and these costs are increasing. A new study by Confused.com suggests insurance costs for younger driver have gone up by 5.7 per cent [...]
ATOL scheme updated to protect online bookers
ATOL, a financial protection scheme managed by the Civil Aviation Authority, is being extended to protect up to six million more holidays a year. The scheme ensures that holiday makers do not lose out financially if a travel company collapses, and that they are not stranded abroad. An increase in the number of holidays booked [...]
Home repossessions lowest for four years
The number of UK homes repossessed fell to 36,200 in 2011, significantly below the Council of Mortgage Lenders’ forecast of 40,000, and lower than 2010 when 37,100 homes were repossessed. With interest rates remaining low and lenders adopting a sympathetic attitude to customers in financial difficulty, repossessions fell to their lowest level since 2007. However, [...]
Monthly pay lasting just 17 days
Workers are running out of money just 17 days after receiving their monthly pay, according to new research by the Halifax bank. This means that the average UK worker spends half the month worrying about money. The study, based on the responses of more than 2,000 adults, found that 10 per cent of workers start [...]
Women disadvantaged by auto-enrolment changes
Government proposals to increase the auto-enrolment threshold to £10,000 could put 1.8 million women at risk of missing out on a pension, the TUC has warned. Under the auto-enrolment scheme, which will be phased in from October, private sector employers will automatically enrol workers between the age of 22 years and the state pension age, [...]
Emergency household repairs company Homeserve is taking longer than expected to get back on track after its operations were suspended last October. The company expected customer numbers to fall by 5% this year but it has increased this estimate to 8% and announced the loss of 200 jobs. It estimates that renewal revenue in 2013 [...]
Sale rumoured for Yorkshire and Clydesdale banks
There is growing speculation that National Australia Bank (NAB) may sell Yorkshire Bank and Clydesdale Bank after the Australian parent company announced a strategic review of the two banks’ operations. The Australian economy is performing well and NAB reported strong profits for the final quarter of 2011 but with the UK economy at a virtual [...]
More women experiencing debt difficulties
Women in Debt, which offers female-focused debt advice, has warned that the number of UK women facing serious debt has grown significantly over recent years. The organisation believes that more women will need advice on solving debt problems in the future because they are building up an unsustainable level of indebtedness. Women in Debt’s director, [...]
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