According to Sir Mervyn King, the Governor of the Bank of England, a surge in home repossessions is unlikely as UK interest rates are set to remain low. Repossessions have fallen over recent times and many experts have previously argued that homeowners have been saved from repossession because of historically low interest rates, which has [...]
Housebuilder Bovis Homes issued a positive statement today after saying 2011 had started well for the company and it will resume dividend payments. According to the company, pre-tax profits for 2010 were £18.5 million – more than double the £7.5 million it reported for the 2009 year. Revenues were up 6% at £298.6 million and [...]
Research by Capita Registrars Dividend Monitor has revealed how shareholders will suffer this year due to a fall in dividend payments. Dividend payouts by London-listed companies will fall 6.5% in 2010, the company said, primarily due to the suspension of oil giant BP’s dividend. The research estimated British companies would pay £54.7 billion to shareholders [...]
Plans by the banks to phase out cheque books could prove disastrous for the Brits who rely on cheques to make day-to-day payments, consumer rights group Which? has claimed. “The fact is a lot of people still rely on cheques, especially people who are housebound or for some people it’s the only way they feel [...]
The excessive bonus culture, a subject which has dominated the news this year, rears its head again after Chancellor Alistair Darling has responded to calls for a new commission to restrict bonus payments. Bank bonuses, in particular, have sparked public anger and have been the subject of heavy criticism since it is banks that are [...]
American Express, the credit card giant, has announced that with effect from 1 July, it has suspended pension contributions for its UK employees. The move, which affects 6,000 members, will see payments stopped for a maximum of 18 months. Many firms have adopted similar measures as the global recession has forced companies to slash costs. [...]
The £300 million Faster Payments Service, developed by 13 banks, gets underway today. The 13 banks included in the scheme are Abbey, Alliance and Leicester, Barclays, Citi, Clydesdale and Yorkshire Banks (National Australia Group), Co-operative Bank, HBOS, HSBC, Lloyds TSB, Nationwide Building Society, Northern Bank (Danske Bank), Northern Rock, and Royal Bank of Scotland Group [...]
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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