Consumers who have tightened their belts due to the recession should keep up the habit when the economy starts to grow again, uSwitch.com said this week. The price comparison site said people forced to cut costs due to unemployment or a reduced salary should continue being money conscious when the recession is over. “We really [...]
Householders have been advised that paying for energy bills by direct debit is the cheapest option. Price comparison site uSwitch.com issued the advice after it discovered a 7.3% drop in the number of people choosing to pay by direct debit. The number of customers signing up for fixed monthly direct debit payments when changing their [...]
As the recession continues through the summer many British holidaymakers are choosing to stay in the UK rather than travel overseas. Research by insurance provider LV= found that Brits choosing UK holidays are planning to save an average £247 per person by ditching their trip abroad. A quarter of the working population will take their [...]
Credit crunched Brits tempted to save cash by buying counterfeit goods could end up being “ripped off”, an industry expert warned this week. Susie Winter, director of the Alliance Against IP Theft, raised concern that a desire to save money could push Brits into opting for illegal vendors. Winter said its “quite understandable” for people [...]
Many Brits, conscious of a lighter wallet since the onset of the credit crunch, are choosing to haggle in high street stores. Nearly three quarters of those polled in a uSwitch.com survey said they have started haggling for consumer goods. One in ten (9%) will always haggle wherever they are making a purchase, whilst the [...]
Looking for the best available car insurance deal is more cost effective than investing savings in a Cash ISA, price comparison site GoCompare.com claimed yesterday. British motorists are wasting up to £1 billion per year on unnecessary insurance costs by not taking the time to compare prices, GoCompare.com’s research found. One in five (19%) drivers [...]
Spending cut-backs because of the credit crunch are helping Brits reduce their carbon footprint, new research from internet bank cahoot has revealed. In a survey by the online arm of Abbey, 72% said they are trying to reduce their energy bills by turning off electrical items such as PCs, DVD players and TVs when not [...]
Gender directive could slash men’s annuity payouts
The EU Gender Directive, which came into force today, could see men losing up to £10,000 from their annuity payouts, according to research by PricewaterhouseCoopers. Under the new rules insurers are no longer allowed to take gender into account when setting annuity rates and premiums on insurance products. Men previously enjoyed higher annuity rates than [...]
Home rental costs down in November
The cost of renting a house in England and Wales fell by 0.4 per cent in November, its first dip since March, according to a survey by LSL Property Services. Average rent was £741m during the month, returning to the level seen in September. However, it was 3.4 per higher than in November last year. [...]
Lloyds TSB halts sale of packaged accounts in branches
Lloyds TSB will stop selling packaged account in its branches from 1 January 2013, until its sales procedures are brought into line with those operated by sister bank The Halifax. Lloyds TSB is one of the main providers of packaged accounts in Britain, with around one in three of its customers choosing to pay fees [...]
Housing market recovery to continue next year
Recent improvements in the housing market should continue into next year, according to the Council of Mortgage Lenders (CML) Gross lending is estimated to have increased to £12.9 billion in November, helped by the Funding for Lending scheme which provides banks and building societies with lower-cost funding, which they are then supposed to pass on [...]
Newcastle Building Society exits interest-only mortgages
Newcastle Building Society has stopped offering interest-only mortgages to new borrowers, following the lead of the Royal Bank of Scotland, Nationwide, Co-operative bank and Coventry Building Society. The decision will not affect existing Newcastle customers and applications for interest-only mortgages received before 14 December will still be processed. Prior to the credit crunch, interest-only mortgages [...]
Less than half of Brits considered creditworthy
Fifty-seven per cent of UK adults are at risk of having an application for credit turned down by a mainstream lender according to a new report. The ‘Mind the Credit Gap‘ report commissioned by aqua credit cards suggests that even people with a good credit rating and earning more than £50,000 could have a credit [...]
Monthly incomes £22 lower in 2012
The average monthly income of UK households fell by £22 in real terms compared with last year, according to a survey carried out for the Bank of England (BoE) by NMG Consulting. People on lower incomes have seen their income eroded more than higher earners and households still have high levels of debt the BoE [...]
Savers dig deep to fund Christmas
New research from the Halifax suggests that savers are funding their Christmas spending with money set aside for other purposes. Thirty-seven per cent of 2,138 savers surveyed by the bank at the end of November had withdrawn savings in the last three months. The average amount withdrawn was £1,186, more than double the average savings [...]
Financial data at risk from unsafe passwords
According to a survey by the Payments Council the problem of having to remember a different password for several accounts means that many internet users are compromising the security of their financial data. Internet users have 22 password-protected accounts on average and many use the same log-in details for more than one account, even though [...]
Wonga launches Paylater loans on retailer website
Payday loan company Wonga has launched a new Paylater service on furniture firm Cotswold Company’s website. The service, which allows customers to “buy now, pay later” will be introduced on other retailers’ sites in the near future. Although the Paylater branding is similar to Wonga’s, the Wonga name only appears in the small print. A [...]
About | Privacy | Disclaimer | Resources | XML Feeds | Press Releases | Directory | Contact us
