Borrowers seeking fixed and tracker rate mortgages are in for a pleasant surprise because arrangement fees have fallen by around 25% in the past 12 months. Research by moneysupermarket.com has revealed that the average two year fixed-rate deal now comes with a typical fee of £957, down 30% the £1,243 average charge this time last [...]
Consumers taking out a personal loan are “paying through the nose” due to soaring interest rates. Banks are now charging an average APR of 10.32% on personal loans even though the Bank of England’s base rate has been held at a record low of 0.5%. This compares to an average personal loan APR of 8.71% [...]
New research from moneysupermarket.com shows that the number of mortgage products available in the UK has plummeted to a record low. According to the price comparison website, borrowers have just 2,282 deals to choose from, or less than half the number of loans available a year ago. Compared to the height of the property boom [...]
The half of Brits who currently can’t afford to save would have to earn an extra £500 per month before they’d consider putting anything aside for the piggy bank, new research has discovered. The poll by moneysupermarket.com found that 52% of UK adults don’t have enough cash to save on a regular basis. On average, [...]
The plight of would-be first-time buyers is highlighted by new research from Moneysupermarket.com. According to the price comparison website, home loans requiring a 10% deposit have all but disappeared in the credit crisis with only 102 available today, compared with 3,124 in January 2007, a decline of 97%. First-time buyers are also being penalised on [...]
With the summer festival season approaching fast, moneysupermarket.com has urged festival-goers to check if their home insurance covers possessions stored in a tent. “Tents can be left unguarded for hours at a time, so while it’s essential not to leave valuables lying around, it is also important to check your insurance will cover you if [...]
Consumers should carefully check credit providers’ criteria before applying for a credit card or risk finding their “ credit records fouled with a litany of failed attempts to secure credit,” a price comparison site warned this week. With a number of providers, including MBNA, Barclaycard, and RBS, now openly publishing their eligibility criteria, potential applicants [...]
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 [...]
Travel insurers dramatically increase premiums ‘overnight’ when customers reach their 66th birthday. Research by Moneysupermarket.com found that the average price of annual multitrip travel insurance is more than double for a 66 year old compared to a 65 year old. Annual multitrip policies cost an average of 106% more for 66 year olds compared to [...]
Motor insurance firms are guilty of age discrimination, according to new research by Moneysupermarket.com. The price comparison site found that an average 17-year-old male will pay over £3,000 for a motor insurance policy – twice as much as an 18-year-old male driver. Young women drivers are subject to the same discrimination, with a 17-year-old female [...]
Government plans to help elderly savers by increasing the limit on tax-free savings will have little effect, a financial expert has warned. Kevin Mountford, savings expert at Moneysupermarket.com, said the increased limit on cash ISAs – from £3,600 to £5,100 – is worth a paltry £1.89 in tax savings on interest payments. The £1,500 increase [...]
Two in five UK consumers were ‘shocked’ at the price of their energy bill this winter, whilst a tenth of consumers cannot afford to pay it, new research by moneysupermarket.com has revealed. The coldest winter in a decade, coupled with soaring energy prices, left many householder a gasp when they opened their heating bill. A [...]
Figures published by the Building Societies Association (BSA) revealed a record in net receipts for February after savers sought a safe haven for their cash. The BSA said net receipts into building societies were £1.6 billion in February 2009 – which represents an increase of 18% compared with February 2008. Brian Morris, Head of Savings [...]
Britain is engulfed in a ‘savings crisis’ with one in four adults having saved nothing in the past two years, new research by moneysupermarket.com has discovered. The poll also found that over a third (36%) of Brits now have less money in their savings than they did in 2007. Of those who are saving, just [...]
The interest paid on fixed-rate bonds is improving, according to new research by Moneysupermarket.com. The price comparison site found that the top five fixed-rate bond products pay an average interest rate of 3.89%, despite the Bank of England’s 0.5% base rate. In the past 12 months, the margin between the base rate and the best [...]
ISAs are best for savings despite falling interest rates Savers should make the most of their money by saving in a tax free ISA, moenysupermarket.com said on Wednesday. Calculations by the price comparison site found that savers who have used their full ISA allowance for the past 10 years will be £2,700 better off than [...]
The resistance of mortgage lenders to pass on cuts in the base rate is illustrated by new research from Moneyfacts.co.uk. The financial website found that Standard Variable Rates (SVRs) are down by an average one-third of the total amount shaved off the base rate in recent months. The firm’s analyst, Michelle Slade, points out that [...]
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 [...]
Savings account interest rates continue to plummet following the Bank of England’s base rate cut to a new record low of 1%. In the 48 hours before the Bank of England announced its decision, 34 providers had already cut interest on their savings accounts, according to price comparison site uSwitch.com. Fixed rate accounts were the [...]
Moneysupermarket.com is warning homeowners that margins on tracker mortgages are rising. With the Bank of England base rate at an all-time low, tracker deals have become increasingly popular. However, lenders have been busy upping their margins on trackers; according to the price comparison website, margins have more than tripled in the past three months. Research [...]
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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