Consumer group Which? is calling for unfair overdraft charges to be stopped after finding that charges are too complicated and impossible to compare. Which? asked a number of volunteers to calculate how much an unauthorised overdraft would cost at RBS-NatWest, HSBC/First Direct, Lloyds, Barclays, Halifax, Nationwide and Santander. The volunteers, who included a maths PHD [...]
Energy tariffs are so complicated that even an accountant could not calculate how much they should be paying, according to latest research from Which?. The consumer group asked 36 people including a solicitor, an engineer and an accountant, to work out their domestic energy bill using only the information from the supplier’s website, and a [...]
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 [...]
Consumer group Which? is concerned about surcharges imposed on to consumers who pay by debit or credit cards. It has therefore asked the Office of Fair Trading (OFT) to investigate the matter – which sees retailers, local authorities, estate agents and cinemas all impose the charges. However, the “worst offenders” are said to be budget [...]
Savers are missing out on billions of pounds in interest payments, according to a report by consumer group, Which? According to the report, by leaving money in low interest accounts, savers are missing out on a possible £12 billion. According to the consumer association, interest rates are not made clear to consumers on their bank [...]
According to consumer group Which?, people without internet access are missing out on competitive rates for online financial products. A report by the group said, on average, online savers earned 37% more interest than those who only had branch-based accounts. Which? said branch-based instant access accounts paid 0.65% a year on average versus 1.14% for [...]
Banks are keeping their customers in the dark about interest rate changes on their accounts, new research has found. The study by Which? Money found most banks rely on newspaper adverts or customers popping into their local branch to keep savers informed of rate cuts Only four of the twelve banks investigated guaranteed to keep [...]
From 2 December, Lloyds TSB will reduce the overdraft fees on its current accounts. The move comes just a month after the new coalition Government said it would introduce measures that will see an end to “unfair” bank charges, as well as excessive interest rates on credit cards. The banking industry was successful in a [...]
Travel agents are selling rip-off travel insurance policies to British holidaymakers, Which? has claimed. An undercover investigation by the consumer advice group found travel agents selling policies worth just £20 for up to £80.99. Over half of the travel agents visited (17 out of 29) failed to provide basic details of the insurance policies they [...]
Which? has been examining the problem of noisy neighbours and claims that at least three million UK adults are badly affected by decibels emanating from next door. According to research by the consumer group, loud voices and arguments proved a source of aggravation to 58% of respondents, followed by playing music or watching the television [...]
The Financial Services Authority (FSA), has announced a delay on its plans to reform the Payment Protection Insurance (PPI) market. The City Watchdog said its consultation will be delayed by six weeks due to a heavy amount of criticism from the financial industry. Under a PPI policy, an agreed sum of money is paid out [...]
TV adverts offering people the chance to sell their unwanted gold by post are paying “shockingly low rates”, an investigation by consumer advice group Which? has found. Cash-for-gold firms advertising on TV pay an average of just 6% the new retail value of gold, Which? discovered. CashMyGold gave the lowest quote of all, offering £6.43 [...]
As little as 6% of the cover price of charity Christmas cards sold by high street retailers is passed on to the charity they allege to support, an investigation has uncovered. Charities earn an estimated £50 million per year from Christmas card sales, with charity cards sold by mainstream retailers making a significant contribution to [...]
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 [...]
Consumers seeking to reclaim bank charges or mis-sold PPI are better off making a claim themselves rather than using a claims management company. Research by consumer advice group Which? found claims management companies typically charge a 25% commission plus VAT if successful, and may also charge upfront fees. Which? also discovered that many claims management [...]
Nearly two thirds of Brits are still fuming at the banks for having caused the financial crisis, research has found. Three quarters of Brits believe banks are not genuinely sorry for their role in causing the recession, a study by consumer advice group Which? discovered. Three in five of those polled said banks have failed [...]
Banks are letting customers down and violating customers’ rights with opaque borrowing rules and incomprehensible fees, a European commissioner said this week. Meglena Kuneva, consumer protection commissioner, said: “Retail bankers are letting consumers down. “There is widespread evidence that basic consumer principles are being violated.” Kuneva made the comments at the launch of an EU [...]
For the first time ever, the Financial Services Authority (FSA) has published figures showing the number of complaints made to firms in the financial services industry in the 2006-2008 period. The data has revealed an enormous increase in complaints about banking and loan products, revealing a 122% increase – from 608,620 at the beginning of [...]
Which? has been investigating equity release advisers only to find that two-thirds failed to pass benchmarks for good advice. Researchers working for the consumer group visited 40 advisers, 12 of whom specialised in equity release. A disappointing five from this group passed the Which? test, compared with eight of the 28 independent financial advisers surveyed. [...]
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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