Ahead of the Conservative Party Conference in Birmingham today, Chancellor George Osborne has revealed that child benefit is to be scrapped for higher rate taxpayers from 2013. Currently, child benefit is paid at £20.30 a week for the first child and £13.40 a week for any other children. For example, a mother of three would [...]
According to the Daily Mail, the controversial takeover of HBOS by Lloyds could be scrapped if a Government investigation establishes it has damaged competition. The hasty takeover, which took place at the height of the financial crisis, created a banking giant but has been heavily criticised and has resulted in thousands of job losses because [...]
A shake-up of the retirement system will see the default retirement age scrapped in the UK from October 2011. Under new Government proposals to be unveiled later today, employers will no longer have the legal right to terminate the employment of a 65-year-old. Charities such as Age UK and activists have welcomed the new proposals [...]
The union which represents BT workers has announced a strike ballot has been scrapped due to a legal issue. The vote for strike action came as senior executives were awarded huge bonuses which angered staff. The Communication Workers Union (CWU) said it was balloting members in support of a 5% pay rise after what it [...]
Oil giant BP suffered another blow today after Moody’s credit rating agency downgraded the company’s credit rating by three notches, from A2 to Aa2. The downgrade follows similar moves from the two other major international credit ratings agencies, Fitch and Standard & Poor’s, who also downgraded the company‘s rating. In a statement today, Moody’s said [...]
BP shares have risen more than 9% this morning after it was revealed that a $20 billion (£13.5 billion) compensation fund for victims of the Gulf of Mexico oil leak is to be set up. Details of the fund emerged late yesterday following talks at the White House after BP’s chief executive Tony Hayward and [...]
A survey by business group British Chambers of Commerce (BCC) has revealed that businesses are cautious about a recovery next year with figures showing that two thirds are planning wage freezes or pay cuts next year. The survey, which questioned 260 companies, also revealed that in a bid to reduce overheads, one in five is [...]
New figures from The Conservative Party claim that around two million house sellers have so far stumped up a combined £657.6 million for Home Information Packs (HIPs). The packs were phased in during 2007, just as the UK property market began to crumble, and their usefulness has remained in question as they do not contain [...]
The announcement that US car giant General Motors (GM) abandoned plans to sell a majority stake in its European car business Opel, including its UK brand Vauxhall, has led to a protest by thousands of the 25,000 workers at Opel’s four factories. In March, GM announced plans to offload Vauxhall and sister company, Germany-based Opel, [...]
The renowned brand, Norwich Union (NU), has gone for good today after it has been replaced by Aviva. Last April, Aviva stunned the insurance sector by announcing it was to scrap the NU brand, which as been one of the country’s best-known financial services brands for over 200 years. According to Aviva’s chief executive, Andrew [...]
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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