Consumer advice sites Moneyfacts and uSwitch.com have reacted with cynicism to the Royal Bank of Scotland’s (RBS) decision to lower overdraft fees. RBS and sister bank NatWest cut unauthorised overdraft fees in half to £15 earlier this week. Charges for bounced cheques were reduced from £38 to £5. The changes come ahead of a ruling [...]
Royal Bank of Scotland (RBS), which is 70% owned by the Government, has slashed its overdraft charges – ahead of the decision by the Supreme Court over whether or not the Office of Fair Trading (OFT) can regulate these charges. The changes, which come into effect on October 1, will also affect NatWest customers and [...]
The Office of Fair Trading (OFT) has launched an online version of its register of dodgy estate agents. Firm’s listed have been given warnings or been banned from estate agency work and the list can be viewed at www.oft.gov.uk/estateagentregister The register can be browsed alphabetically or by date and also provides information on how to [...]
The Office of Fair Trading (OFT) has declared that “time is up” for vehicle matching rogue traders who cost UK consumers an estimated £3 million a year. Last year, Consumer Direct, OFT’s advice service, received 1,600 complaints about vehicle matching scams, although the real number of victims is believed to be far higher. Victims are [...]
A report from the Office of Fair Trading (OFT) has revealed that the new Faster Payments service is not as efficient as it could be. The Faster Payments service was launched to speed up the time taken for electronic bank payments to clear but the report revealed that the service is only running at 69% [...]
The Office of Fair Trading (OFT) has shut down thirteen websites for misleading consumers. The watchdog said these debt management companies, which have not been named, are using website addresses similar to non-profit organisations and are deliberately misleading customers. Ray Watson, OFT credit director, said “We believe they are misleading consumers by holding themselves out [...]
A ruling by the court of appeal could see millions of pounds returned to customers after the case of unauthorised overdraft charges was thrown out. The ruling follows a test case last year between the Office of Fair Trading (OFT) and eight High Street Banks with regard to charges for unauthorised borrowing and bounced cheques, [...]
Estate agents that have so far survived the housing market downturn can look forward to a review of the market by the Office of Fair Trading (OFT), in 2009. The watchdog has promised to take a comprehensive look at the sector and will be involving both consumer groups and industry bodies. In a similar study [...]
Housebuilders are to set up new schemes to protect consumers following a report from the Office of Fair Trading (OFT) which has recently completed a study of the market. While the OFT found that the sector was broadly competitive, it concluded that a code of conduct and a redress scheme are needed for customers who [...]
The Office of Fair Trading (OFT) has given the Ombudsman for Estate Agents Company Limited (OEA) approval for its estate agents’ redress scheme. The move follows the passing of the Consumer Estate Agents and Redress Act 2007, which will take effect from 1st October, when all estate agents have to be members of an approved [...]
The Office of Fair Trading (OFT) has begun a market study into property management services for common and shared residential property in Scotland. Tenements and other collective residential properties in the region use property managers, known as factors, to manage shared areas such as roofs, staircases, entrances and gardens. The study will look at how [...]
HomesMatter has requested an Office of Fair Trading investigation into Rightmove’s decision not to allow it to advertise on the property portal. The recently established estate agency charges a flat fee of £899 plus VAT to sell a property, regardless of its value. According to HomesMatter, Rightmove has declined the business because the estate agency [...]
Phone fraudsters stealing bank card pins
Fraudsters using a phone scam to trick bank card holders into revealing their pin numbers stole £750,000 in the first four months of this year. This is the same amount stolen through this scam in the whole of last year. The fraudster telephones a bank customer, often someone elderly or vulnerable, telling them that their [...]
FSA rules out ban on interest-only mortgages
Speculation that the Financial Services Authority would ban interest-only mortgages as part of its Mortgage Market Review has proved to be unfounded. However, lenders will be required to monitor the performance of the investment product taken out by the customer to repay the mortgage at the end of its term. Investments are performing poorly because [...]
Bank of England may end free in-credit banking
A director of the Bank of England has warned that official intervention could be considered to end the ‘dangerous myth of free in-credit banking’. Andrew Bailey has already spoken out against free banking in relation to the mis-selling of financial products. In a speech made available to media, he reiterated his concern, saying that it [...]
Bank of England votes against more economic stimulus
The Bank of England voted against a further round of quantitative easing, at its latest Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) meeting. Just one member, David Miles, voted for further asset purchase to encourage growth in the UK economy, while the other eight members voted to keep the Bank’s quantitative easing programme steady at £325bn. The minutes [...]
Catalogue debt growing says helpline
Calls from people concerned about their debts with mail order catalogues accounted for more than 12 per cent of all calls received by National Debtline last year, compared with just 8 per cent in 2007. More people were concerned about catalogue debt than about payday loans, mortgage or rent, according to the Money Advice Trust [...]
Homeserve faces mis-selling investigation
HomeServe, which provides emergency insurance cover and domestic repairs to households in the UK, is to be investigated by the Financial Services Authority (FSA). Issues over the possible mis-selling of household emergency policies were uncovered last October during an internal review at the Walsall-based company. Homeserve’s call centre staff were found to be selling ‘Complete [...]
OFT warns Wonga over debt collection methods
Payday loan company Wonga used aggressive and misleading methods to collect debts from customers, the Office of Fair Trading (OFT) has found. Wonga sent letter and emails to certain customers suggesting they had committed fraud and threatening to report them to the police if they did not act in the way Wonga suggested. The company [...]
NS&I re-launches investment account
National Savings & Investments (NS&I) has re-launched its Investment Account at a higher interest rate than it previously offered. The account now offers 0.75 per cent before tax, compared with between 0.2 and 0.3 per cent previously, depending on the account balance. Deposits and withdrawals on the account can no longer be made at Post [...]
Rightmove reports property downsizing trend
Two in five property owners planning to sell in the next year are planning to ‘trade down’, compared with one in four who plan to ‘trade up’. A survey by property website Rightmove found that moving to a smaller home is the main reason for moving in nine out of the ten regions in the [...]
More people failing to save for retirement
The proportion of people with no pension savings has grown from 20 per cent to 22 per cent over the past year, according to Scottish Widows’ latest survey. The pension provider surveyed 5,200 adults in the UK, aged 30 or over, and earning at least £10,000 a year, for its annual review of pensions. Ian [...]
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