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 […]
The Office of Fair Trading (OFT) is to investigate Payday lenders over concern that they may be encouraging people to take out loans without checking that they can afford to repay them. Payday lenders offer short-term loans at very high interest rates and while these can be affordable if they are paid back at the […]
By 2015 bank customers will use digital banking more than they use branches according to ‘The New Digital Tipping Point’ report from PricewaterhouseCoopers. The survey, of 3000 people in nine countries, suggests that customers are willing to pay up to £10 a month for online banking if they receive convenience and added-value services. These could […]
A report by accountants PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC) has waned that the pension age may have to rise to 70 by 2046 in order to deal with Britain’s debts. Current plans introduced by the coalition Government will see the state pension age lifted to 66 for both men and women by 2020. The pension age will then […]
A quarterly survey of the UK’s financial services sector by PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC) and the Confederation of British Industry (CBI) has revealed business volumes grew in the three months to the end of June, albeit at a slower rate. Companies were asked how their business volumes fared in the second quarter with almost half saying volumes […]
A quarterly survey of the UK’s financial services sector by PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC) and the Confederation of British Industry (CBI) has revealed that business volumes grew in the three months to the end of March. The financial services sector, which represents around 8% of GDP, has been badly affected by the credit crunch and debt crises […]
Accountancy firm BDO has joined many other leading business groups by suggesting a premature interest rate hike could derail the economic recovery. According to the latest Business Trends report, BDO said a rise in interest rates would strengthen the pound and therefore, reduce export competitiveness, having a negative impact on manufacturing. The manufacturing sector, which […]
A new report from PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC) is urging UK companies to focus on emerging markets, or join the “slow lane of history” by continuing to focus on markets in North America and Western Europe. In PwC’s latest “World in 2050″ series, the firm’s head of macroeconomics, John Hawksworth, comments: “Rapid growth in consumer markets in […]
A report by accountancy firm PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC) today revealed around one million jobs could be lost in the UK, as a result of the massive spending cuts introduced by the Government. PwC said around half a million jobs will be lost in the private sector due to the impact on firms supplying the public sector. […]
The Office for National Statistics (ONS) has today revealed UK unemployment dipped in the three months to August. The ONS said unemployment fell by 20,000 in the three month period to 2.448 million. The latest figures means the unemployment rate dipped from 7.8% to 7.7% - the lowest rate since May 2009. In the meantime, […]
With a rise in the Bank of England’s (BoE) base rate inevitable at some point in the future, accountancy firm, PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC), has been assessing the potential effect on UK homeowners of average mortgage interest rates moving back up to 2008 levels. According to BoE data, the average rate across three common types of mortgages […]
A quarterly survey of the UK’s financial services sector by PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC) and the Confederation of British Industry (CBI) has revealed that the industry is growing, albeit at a slower pace than expected. According to the survey, activity in the sector in the last three months has grown at its fastest rate since September 2007, […]
Scottish airline, Highland Airways, has gone into voluntary administration putting 100 jobs at risk. The company, which is based in Inverness and also has routes to Wales, called in administrators last night, PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC), to take over the running of the business. The Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) said operations had been suspended “with immediate effect”. […]
A report from accountants PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC) has revealed more disappointment in the jobs market despite the UK emerging from recession in the fourth quarter of 2009. The report, which is based on interviews with bosses of 70 of the country’s largest companies, found that 28% of bosses are planning redundancies over the next year. The […]
A survey by accountants PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC) revealed that many business managers are concerned that Britain is heading towards a double-dip recession (whereby the economy goes into recession twice without having undergone a full recovery in between.) Last week, official figures revealed that the UK economy grew by 0.1% between the October and December period, suggesting […]
Card-payment processing company, E-Clear, has been placed into administration. The company was responsible for online ticket sales at Scottish airline Flyglobespan, which collapsed in December. PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC), which was appointed administrator for Flyglobespan, had been investigating E-Clear to establish why the company held back £35 million owed to Globespan Group, which operated Flyglobespan. E-Clear was […]
A quarterly survey of the UK’s financial services sector by PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC) and the Confederation of British Industry (CBI) has revealed that firms remain cautious in their outlook. According to Ian McCafferty, chief economic adviser at the CBI: “The bounce in UK financial services activity over the past six months is not expected to last […]
There is more disappointment today for Christmas travellers after it emerged that Hertfordshire-based Allbury Travel Group has been placed into administration. The company, which traded as Libra Holidays, Argo Holidays and JetLife, ceased trading at midnight. It specialised in holidays to Greece and Cyprus and has left 100 customers overseas, while a further 4,000 had […]
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 […]
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