Norwich & Peterborough Building Society (N&P) has today confirmed it has received an approach about a possible merger. The building society, which is Britain’s tenth largest, said it had received “a number of expressions of interest,” as well as the possibility for the injection of fresh capital. In a statement, the firm said: “Like other [...]
Savers are missing out on billions of pounds in interest payments, according to a report by consumer group, Which? According to the report, by leaving money in low interest accounts, savers are missing out on a possible £12 billion. According to the consumer association, interest rates are not made clear to consumers on their bank [...]
According to research by watchdog Consumer Focus, the number of people taking out a payday loan has quadrupled in the last 4 years. The consumer group said 1.2 million people are now taking out a payday loan every year – borrowing more than £1 billion. Payday loans are becoming more popular and are seen as [...]
Brits effectively spend 50 days earnings a year paying off interest on their debts, according to research by unbiased.co.uk. “As a nation we will spend the first 50 days of 2010 just to earn enough money to pay off the interest on our debts,” the financial advice site said. That means it took until Saturday [...]
Moneyfacts.co.uk has revealed that the average interest rate on a two-year fix has fallen below 5% for the first time since June. Rates peaked at 5.21% in July but despite declining swap rates have only now come down to a typical 4.99% because banks and building societies, fearful of risk, have been upping their margins. [...]
Brits are handing over £144 million to the government in taxes they don’t need to pay by failing to put their savings in a tax-free account. Research by Unbiased.co.uk found £109 million is being wasted by 6.2 million savers who don’t keep their savings in a tax-free cash ISA account. Some 1.7 million shareholders are [...]
Scottish Widows Bank this week launched a fixed-rate deposit account paying 5.25% interest over a five year period. Customers can invest between £10,000 and £5 million in the account, and choose to have interest paid monthly, quarterly, or annually. “We are delighted to be bringing a strong 5 year fixed rate savings account to the [...]
Moneysupermarket.com has warned of a dark shadow lurking behind the high interest rates offered by current accounts with a minimum funding clause. Attractive interest rates and 0% overdrafts are drawing consumers to these accounts, the price comparison website said, but many are unaware that they need to pay a minimum amount each month into the [...]
Abbey has launched a new range of fixed-rate mortgage products which it claims are the best it has offered in a decade. The Santander-owned bank said interest rates on three of its new mortgages are the lowest in ten years. Available at a maximum 75% loan-to-value (LTV), the new products include a 3-year fix at [...]
Deflation has occurred for the first time in the UK since the 1960s and the Retail Prices Index (RPI) figure has been used to track the interest rate payments on student loans. However there has always been much speculation as to what would happen if the RPI would turn negative and yet last month, this [...]
Leeds Building Society announced this week that its Regular Saver account offers an interest rate of more than six times the Bank of England’s base rate. The account pays 3.05% gross p.a. APR, with a minimum monthly investment of £20. Maximum investment allowed is £500 per month. Savers can make one penalty free withdrawal every [...]
It may seem a lifetime ago that politicians were advocating the 25-year fixed-rate mortgage but it was only in July of 2007 that Prime Minister Gordon Brown put forward a plan to provide more long-term fixed-rate loans as a means of controlling soaring house prices. Chancellor of the Exchequer Alistair Darling reinforced the value of [...]
Ahead of today’s expected cut in the Bank of England’s base rate, the Association of Mortgage Intermediaries (AMI) has warned that any reduction in interest rates will not address the real issues in the UK economy. While mortgage borrowers on base rate trackers and some on lenders’ standard variable rates will benefit from a further [...]
The Government is improving the help available for homeowners facing mortgage arrears, and ultimately repossession, because they have lost their jobs. Changes to Support for Mortgage Interest (SMI) were outlined last year and due to take effect from April 2009 but the worsening of the credit crisis and rising unemployment have prompted ministers to bring [...]
Nationwide Building Society has announced that it will no longer pass on cuts in the Bank of England’s base rate to the majority of its tracker mortgage customers. Despite Government pressure to keep the cost of borrowing in line with reductions in the base rate, the lender is invoking a clause that allows it not [...]
During the past 12 months, lenders have steadily increased their margins on fixed and tracker rate mortgages, according to research by financial website, Moneyfacts. Over the past year, the Bank of England’s base rate has fallen from 5.5% to 2%. In addition the cost of borrowing on the money markets has decreased: three month sterling [...]
Halifax has announced a new current account that will charge overdrawn customers up to £2 per day. The Halifax Reward Account offers fixed cash payments for customers in credit, and fixed daily charges for overdrawn accounts. Customers who deposit more than £1,000 into their account at least once per month will be rewarded with a [...]
The Government yesterday announced further help for mortgage borrowers who are falling behind with repayments. The new measures should mean that middle-income homeowners who lose their jobs or part of their income are less likely to face repossession. In a scheme guaranteed by the state, borrowers will be able to approach their lenders to request [...]
The pre-budget report presented yesterday by Chancellor of the Exchequer, Alistair Darling, contained good news for homeowners who are falling behind with their mortgage repayments. Lenders have agreed to delay action against borrowers who are in arrears and will not begin repossession proceedings for at least three months. The undertaking comes alongside an existing agreement [...]
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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