It has been announced today that cheques will not be phased out after the Payments Council announced it would abolish them in 2018. The Council has now decided to keep them after criticism from MPs and charities and was forced to make the u-turn after pressure from the public. Richard North, the chairman of the [...]
Barclays chief executive, Bob Diamond, faced a grilling from MPs today over his reported £8 million bonus. The Treasury Select Committee, who questioned Mr Diamond, asked whether he would waive his bonus for a third year. Mr Diamond responded: “I haven’t been offered a bonus, that’s a decision that will be taken by the remuneration [...]
Barclays chief executive, Bob Diamond, will today face questions from MPs over his reported £8 million bonus. Bonuses have been a major issue for some time now and have sparked public outrage since many argued that excessive bankers’ bonuses reward the risk-taking culture that led to the financial crisis. The Treasury Select Committee, who will [...]
US food giant, Kraft, has been criticised by a group of MPs today after the company pledged to keep open Cadbury’s Somerdale factory in Keynsham, but later decided to close the site following its takeover of the British confectioner. Kraft, which made several hostile bids for Cadbury before shareholders finally agreed to a deal, initially [...]
MPs are calling for a radical reform of the UK banking system so that taxpayers are not footing the bill for future bail-outs. In its latest report into the banking crisis, published today, the Treasury Select Committee said taxpayers would not stand for another bail-out of the banks and is urging ministers not to rule [...]
Marc Firestone, vice-president of US food giant, Kraft, has today appeared before MPs on the Business Select Committee and has apologised for the firm’s pledge to keep open Cadbury’s Keynsham factory. Mr Firestone was questioned by MP’s over the company’s takeover of Cadbury. Kraft completed its takeover of the 186-year-old iconic British confectioner on 2 [...]
Unfair credit rating practices could be called to a halt by MPs following a parliamentary investigation. Currently consumers have to apply for a loan or credit card to find out the interest rate they’ll be offered. However, each application lowers their credit score – so the more a consumer searches around for the best deal, [...]
MPs are not the only ones fiddling their expenses according to new research by uSwitch.com. British employees exaggerate their expense claims by half a billion pounds a year, a poll by the price comparison site discovered. Sixteen percent of employees confessed to stretching their expense claims for financial gain. Nearly three million UK workers claim [...]
The Government has announced an inquiry into the UK mortgage market, focusing on arrears, repossession and access to mortgage finance. The Treasury Select Committee will undertake the study which will look at the impact of the recession on existing and potential homeowners. MPs will collect lenders’ statistics on current arrears and their forecasts for medium-term [...]
Forcing MPs and Lords to rent London accommodation rather than buy second homes would save the taxpayer over £1 million a year. Research by SmartLandlord.co.uk found that renting a studio flat in Westminster costs an average of £177 less per month compared to buying. With 1,372 tenants from the House of Parliament and the House [...]
MPs have slammed the government department that has responsibility for UK housing issues. In a newly published report, a committee reviewing the work of the Department for Communities and Local Government (DCLG) has concluded that the government body lacks the skills needed to formulate the policies for which it is responsible. The taxpayer has been [...]
Last month, in a co-ordinated move with other banks, the Bank of England’s Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) slashed UK interest rates from 5% to 4.5%. Central banks in the US, Japan and China have all cut interest rates in the last week in a bid to fight off a recession. Many analysts believe that the [...]
A Professor of Finance from Imperial College Business School in London is predicting that UK house prices could fall by a further 5% to 10% before the market bottoms out. Addressing a committee of MP’s, Professor David Miles proposed that the property market should stabilise once house prices are 20% below their peak of summer [...]
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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