Consumer group Which? has warned homeowners with SVR mortgages that they will be financially squeezed once interest rates are lifted. A Standard Variable Rate (SVR) is a mortgage in which the rate of interest is varied from time to time by the lender but it is usually set at about 2% above the Bank of [...]
Mortgage borrowers on Stroud & Swindon Building Society’s standard variable rate (SVR) can expect to see their monthly repayments reduced once the mutual is absorbed by the larger Coventry Building Society. In an announcement confirming the merger, Coventry says its financial strength will deliver an “immediate benefit” for many Stroud & Swindon members. The statement [...]
Lloyds Banking Group is inviting its standard variable rate (SRV) mortgage customers to increase their monthly repayments. Under a new scheme that will run for a year, borrowers can overpay by up to 20% without incurring a financial penalty. Research by the bank, which is the UK’s biggest mortgage lender, suggests over 63% of mortgage [...]
Skipton Building Society’s decision to raise its standard variable rate (SVR) has resulted in an unexpected challenge from law firm, Leon Kaye. In January, Skipton announced its intention to increase its SVR from 3.5% to 4.95% from 1st March 2010, despite the base rate remaining to an all-time low of 0.5%. The lender evoked “exceptional [...]
Skipton Building Society is increasing its standard variable rate (SVR) from 3.5% to 4.95%. The change is effective 1st March 2010 and will occur despite the base rate clinging to an all-time low of 0.5% The lender has evoked “exceptional circumstances” clauses that allow it to remove an SVR cap of 3% above base rate [...]
Homeowners will be forced to “scramble around” for good value fixed-rate mortgages in the future as interest rates “fly up”, an industry expert has warned. Jacqueline Thornton, financial planner at Re-Financial Planning, said householders that are currently happy to benefit from currently low-priced standard variable rate mortgages will struggle to find a reasonably priced fixed-rate [...]
Nationwide has announced that customers taking out fixed-rate mortgages will no longer revert to its base mortgage rate (BMR), when the fix comes to an end. The building society’s BMR, which is the equivalent to a standard variable rate (SVR), has been falling in line with reductions in the base rate and currently stands at [...]
HSBC is launching a new home loan at the astonishingly low rate of 2.99%. However, the lender’s Premier two-year discount deal is only available to its Premier customers who must hold £50,000 in savings and investments with the bank or already have a £250,000 mortgage with HSBC. They will also need a minimum income of [...]
Mortgage lenders have been ordered to pass on to customers yesterday’s 1.5% cut in the Bank of England’s base rate, to 3%. Chancellor of the Exchequer, Alistair Darling, called leading lenders to a meeting early today and Prime Minister Gordon Brown is backing up the Treasury’s actions by stating that the Government is determined to [...]
Lloyds TSB has confirmed that it will pass on today’s 1.5% cut in the base rate in full, to mortgage borrowers on its standard variable rate (SVR). The bank had previously pledged that its SVR will never be pitched more than 2% above the Bank of England’s base rate. Today’s reduction takes Lloyds TSB’s SVR [...]
Homeowners on borrowers’ standard variable rates (SVR) should not get too excited about the prospect of a base rate cut this week. Analysts are predicting that the Bank of England’s Monetary Policy Committee will vote for a cut of between 0.4% and 1% when it meets this week but a senior executive from HSBC has [...]
Financial information provider, Moneyfacts, has reported that the 0.5% cut in the Bank of England’s base rate made earlier this month has not been passed on by three quarters of UK mortgage lenders. The emergency reduction, to 4.5%, was made on 8th October in a coordinated action with other central banks. However, only one quarter [...]
Alliance & Leicester (A&L) has cut its Standard Variable Rate (SVR) from 7.19% to 6.94%. The 0.25% reduction applies from 30th October; existing customers on the lender’s SVR and those with SVR discounted loans will see their monthly payments change from 2nd November. The bank is also advising borrowers with base rate tracker loans that [...]
Latest figures from financial website, Moneyfacts.co.uk, show that 38% of the UK’s mortgage lenders have responded to the Bank of England’s cut in the base rate, made earlier this month. The majority, including Halifax, Abbey, Lloyds TSB and Nationwide, have passed on the full 0.25% reduction to customers with loans on standard variable rates (SVRs). [...]
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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