Student loan interest rates to rise
June 30, 2007
It has been a bad week for students in terms of finances this week. Earlier in the week HSBC announced that it would be scrapping its facility for students that leave university this year to pay off their overdraft over a three year period without interest.
Instead the bank plans to charge nearly ten percent on the overdraft when students graduate unless they open an upgraded account that will set them back nearly ten pounds a month, in which case the three year interest free period will still be offered. Read more
Bank charge claimants can get help from Financial Ombudsman Service
June 30, 2007
Thousands of bank customers in the UK have been contacting their banks in order to reclaim bank charges that have been applied for exceeding the overdraft limit on the account, as well as for returned direct debits and cheques.
These charges were labelled as unfair and unreasonable by financial regulators in the UK last year, and consumers were urged to contact their banks in order to try and reclaim such charges, with claims that could go back up to six years. Many bank customers have already claimed back their charges, which for some have run into thousands, and many other still have claims pending. Read more
Demand for 100% mortgages doubles
June 29, 2007
With the recent interest rate rises coupled with the cost of purchasing property in the UK, many consumers have had to find solutions to try and get onto the property ladder, and many have turned to 100 percent mortgages, where no upfront deposit is required.
Because of the hefty cost of buying a property in the UK many buyers have been unable to raise the necessary deposit. As a result of this, according to recent reports, the availability of 100 percent mortgages has doubled in the space of a year. Read more
Post office will be offering broadband delivery
June 19, 2007
The Post Office service in the UK has seen a rapid decline in custom over recent years, and figures and losses have become so dismal that even the government has now announced plans to close a fifth of post offices throughout the country by 2009.
In a bid to try and recover from a poor customer base, financial losses, and continued decline, the Post Office has now decided to enter the broadband market – although it is probably broadband and the Internet that has partly resulted in its decline. Read more
Huge profits for energy suppliers
June 19, 2007
The leading energy giants in the UK continue to reap the profits despite cutting the price of gas and electricity consumption.
Although the top energy suppliers in the UK have made significant cuts to the price of gas and electricity usage, they are still managing to rake in the profits by what they are charging consumers. British Gas has cut the cost of its gas and electricity twice since March, and other suppliers also cut the cost of energy usage following a massive reduction in the cost of wholesale energy last year. Read more
Consumers still interest in fixed rate deals
June 19, 2007
Despite the fact that interest rates on fixed rate mortgage have gone up again, consumers still seem to be registering a great deal of interest in this type of loan.
The four interest rate rises that have been enforced by the Bank of England over the past year have resulted in many homeowners and first time buyers looking at fixed rate mortgages and remortgages, and at one point there were so many people demanding these mortgages that a number of lenders have to suspend fixed rate deals and take them off the market.
Consumers getting wiser with credit cards
June 19, 2007
According to recent reports consumers in the UK are getting far wiser when it comes to using and repaying their credit cards, despite the growing concerns over rising consumer debt and bad debt levels.
Credit cards have resulted in huge levels of debt for some consumers, but this is generally in cases where the consumers loses control of their spending on the card and does not exercise sensible habits when it comes to making repayments on the balance of the credit card. Read more
Cheapest energy provider enjoys huge profits
June 19, 2007
Britain’s cheapest energy provider has seen huge profits rolling in over the past year.
Scottish and Southern Energy, which is also known as Southern Electric in the London area, has seen profits soar by 45 percent, taking the firm’s profits through the one billion pound barrier for the firs time. The company has become known as the cheapest provider of gas and electricity in the UK but has still managed to rake I record profits. Read more
BT becomes leading broadband provider in UK
June 19, 2007
Communications giant British Telecom has overtaken other leading broadband providers to become the leading provider of broadband services in the UK.
The number of people in the UK switching over the broadband has steadily risen over recent years, and the huge popularity of broadband has seen a number of providers offering very low prices, great deals on bundle packages, and high speed Internet at a fraction of the cost it was several years ago. Read more
Speeding will no longer mean higher insurance premiums
June 18, 2007
Insurance companies have surprised drivers all around the UK by stating that speeding will no longer be looked upon as a high risk offence, which means that those clocking up penalty points as a result of speeding will no longer have to pay increased premiums.
In the past vehicle insurance premiums could be up to four times as much for those with penalty points that were accrued through speeding, but this will no loner be the case. Read more