Mortgage fees have rocketed in two years
December 26, 2007
According to a recent report the upfront fees that are charged by mortgage lenders have rocketed over the past two years, with many fees actually doubling over the two year period.
The data comes from a report from Moneyfacts, and suggests that mortgage fees have close to doubles in just two years. This puts additional pressure on already struggling potential home buyers, who have seen property prices shoot up, interest rates rocket, and now mortgages fees go through the roof. Read more
Free HIPs may not be as good as it sounds
December 26, 2007
HIPs, or Home Information Packs, have caused a lot of controversy over recent months since they were introduced, with many homeowners and industry professionals, such as estate agents, claiming that they are costly and cause delays when it comes to the sale and purchase of homes. These Home Information Packs typically cost hundreds of pounds each, and since last week have applied to all residential properties being marketed for sale across England and Wales. Read more
Views on interest rate movements from economists
December 26, 2007
After the December Monetary Policy Committee meeting the Bank of England announced that interest rates would be coming down by a quarter point taking the base rate from 5.75% to 5.5%.
Since the announcement economists and analysts have been looking forward to the coming year, and speculating on where interest rates will go next. A number of interest rate cuts are expected next year, and some think that the rate may fall as low as 4% by the end of next year. Read more
Judge states lenders should stop bullying borrowers
December 26, 2007
A senior judge has recently stated that lenders should stop using bullying tactics on borrowers in order to get them to repay their mortgage arrears more quickly.
Judge Michael Tennant is the president of the Association of District Judges. According to Tennant some lenders use bullying tactics on borrowers that have fallen into arrears, and expect them to repay the arrears within an unreasonable amount of time such as within the year. However, borrowers that then go to court can actually be granted a far longer period within which to clear the mortgage arrears. Read more
How the credit crunch has affected the availability of finance
December 26, 2007
Since August of this year the UK has been seeing the effects of a global credit crunch, which has swept across this country and other countries having been sparked in the sub-prime mortgage sector of the United States. The credit crunch has affected many different areas of the financial sector, leaving a path of destruction across most areas of the money markets like a financial hurricane. Read more
What’s the future for broadband?
December 26, 2007
According to a recent report the growth of broadband has stabilised over the past year, but by 2012 the UK could still have around 21 million broadband customers. The report was compiled by Point Topic, and has shown the steadier take up of broadband services over the past couple of quarters, partly because the majority of consumers now already have this service. Over recent years the popularity of broadband services has rocketed, with an increase in the number of providers coupled with value for money on broadband packages contributing to its popularity. Read more
Tips on finding a mortgage online
December 24, 2007
Finding a mortgage isn’t always an easy process, particularly in the current financial climate, where the effects of the credit crunch have resulted in many lenders taking a large number of their mortgage products off the market. Read more
Consumers warned about bank charge reclaim companies
December 24, 2007
Consumers in the UK are being warned about rip-off bank charge reclaim companies that take hundreds of pounds of some consumers simply for filling out some simple forms that the consumers could easily complete.
Many of these companies charge a percentage of the amount being reclaimed in charges, and this amounts to hundreds of pounds in some cases. Some companies take between 15 and 40% of the amount being reclaimed, which means that the customer loses a large chunk of the amount that they claim. Read more
Abbey makes another blunder
December 24, 2007
High street bank, the Abbey, has made yet another blunder after writing to a customers to express condolences over her husband’s death, despite the fact that he was alive, fit, and well.
The Abbey has seen a flood of complaints come in over its customer service levels, and has come under fire in the past for making blunder with relation to deceased customers, where the funds have not been paid out to the next of kin, and in some cases have been paid out to the wrong people altogether. Read more
Energy customers may be paying over the odds
December 24, 2007
According to a recent report energy customers across the UK could be paying way over the odds for their energy usage simply because suppliers keep special, lower cost deals hush hush, which means that the consumer ends up paying more than they actually need to.
The report claims that consumers may be paying out over £2.5 billion a year more than they need to because energy companies are failing to properly promote their cheaper, better deals. Read more