Shares in Royal Bank of Scotland (RBS) lost 10% today after it emerged that the bank is being sued by America’s Federal Housing Finance Agency (FHFA) over the sale of residential mortgage-backed securities (RMBSs). The FHFA was established in July 2008 when Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac had to be rescued which, at the time, [...]
Banking giant Barclays has today announced it will pay compensation to customers who were mis-sold payment protection insurance (PPI). The bank said it will reimburse those who made a complaint before 20 April the total value of all premiums plus 8% interest. It highlighted that it was the first bank to pay out PPI compensation [...]
Speculation has been mounting that Portugal is under pressure to seek a bailout from the EU rescue fund – however, the country continues to strongly deny the claims. European Commission President, Jose Manuel Barroso, has today also denied reports that the country is looking for a financial rescue package. Mr Barroso said the reports were [...]
Crown Currency Exchange, which was last month placed into administration, is not expected to pay out all the cash its customers lost, since it was not covered by any of the Financial Services Authority compensation schemes. The company‘s administrators have received around 8,000 claims totalling £16.5 million but it has been revealed that customers are [...]
There is speculation that Ireland is looking to its banks for emergency funding – the Irish Independent reported on Monday. The report comes as Ireland’s Government continues to reject claims that it is seeking emergency financial support via the EU rescue fund – established by European Governments and the International Monetary Fund after the Greek [...]
Ireland’s Government continues to reject claims that it is seeking emergency financial support via the EU rescue fund – established by European Governments and the International Monetary Fund after the Greek debt crisis earlier this year. There have been reports over the weekend that Irish officials have already held discussions with the European Financial Stability [...]
Michael Fallon, a member of the Treasury Select Committee and the Tories’ deputy chairman, has dismissed the claim from the Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development (CIPD) that more than a million jobs will be lost due to spending cuts. Yesterday, Dr John Philpott, CIPD chief economic adviser, said the private sector will be hit [...]
The Irish Central Statistics Office (CSO) has today revealed the jobless rate dipped to 13.7% in September, down from 13.8% in August. However, the rate remains a concern and compares with a rate of 10% for the euro zone and 7.8% for the UK. In the meantime, the CSO said there was a fall in [...]
The Lloyd’s of London insurance market today reported a massive fall in profits, due to a series of catastrophes, including the Chilean earthquake and BP’s oil spill. The market reported pre-tax profits of £628 million for the first six months of 2010, compared with £1.32 billion a year earlier – a significant fall of 50%. [...]
Norwich & Peterborough Building Society has been hit with claims of mis-selling of investments between 2006 and 2009. The building society, which is Britain’s tenth largest, is expected to receive letters tomorrow from solicitors acting on behalf of 250 customers, demanding compensation for investment advice they received in the society’s branches about its Keydata products. [...]
Wen Jiabao, China’s Premier, has denied his Government is keeping the yuan undervalued after lawmakers and economists said it is hampering a global recovery. Mr Wen argued keeping the yuan stable was “an important contribution” to global recovery and said: “We oppose countries pointing fingers at each other and even forcing a country to appreciate [...]
The Association of British Insurers (ABI) today reported the heavy snowfall earlier in the year cost insurers £650 million in weather-related claims. Between December 18 and January 13, when snow and plummeting temperatures swept the country, there were around 335,000 claims, said the ABI. The majority of the claims came from motorists as a result [...]
Leading think tank, the Centre for Economic and Business Research (CEBR), has today claimed that the recession and unemployment would have been much worse if Britain had joined the euro. According to the think tank, if Britain had dropped the pound, the unemployment rate would be at 15% (double what it is now) and GDP [...]
Last week, the Supreme Court ruled in favour of the banks over the fairness of unauthorised overdraft charges. The legal battle, which has been ongoing since July 2007, came as a devastating blow to consumer groups who have been campaigning for many years about the charges, which they deem to be unfair. Since the ruling, [...]
Official figures show that the number of US workers filing new claims for jobless benefits last week fell for the second consecutive week to the lowest level since January. The figures show that claims for state unemployment insurance fell to 502,000 in the week ended November 7, down from the revised 514,000 the previous week. [...]
The Office for National Statistics (ONS) has today revealed that unemployment grew by 210,000 to 2.47 million in the three months to July – the highest level since 1995. The latest figures take the unemployment rate to 7.9%, up from 7.8%, according to the ONS. Meanwhile, the number of people claiming jobseekers allowance increased 24,400 [...]
The Commerce Department has today revealed that the US economy contracted at an annual rate of 1% during the second quarter – unchanged from an initial estimate released in July, and better than market expectations for a 1.5% contraction. The data is almost certain to back up the fact that the economy is starting to [...]
Government figures released today revealed a shock rise in the number of US workers filing new claims for jobless benefits. The Labor Department said initial claims for state unemployment insurance benefits rose 15,000 to a seasonally adjusted 576,000 in the week ending August 15, up from 561,000 the previous week. Linda Duessel, market strategist at [...]
Groupama plans to catch out motor insurance fraudsters using psychological trickery by bolstering its anti-fraud department with a cognitive interviewing team. Claims believed to be fraudulent will be put through a cognitive interviewing process under which claimants will be asked a specific set of questions that help determine whether or not their claim is genuine. [...]
The world’s largest economy received some good news today after the Commerce Department revealed that gross domestic product (GDP) fell by an annualised rate of 5.5% in the first three months of 2009. The figures were much better than previously thought and follow a 6.3% fall in the final quarter of 2008 and a fall [...]
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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