Some savings account fall by more than base rate cut
February 20, 2008
Many savers in the UK could lose out after it was shown that some savings accounts have come down by significantly more than the base rate cut. The Bank of England cut the base rate by 0.25% last week, and many lenders announced rate cuts on both borrowing and savings. However, whilst most lenders have passed on the full 0.25% cut on borrowing some lenders have applied above and beyond the 0.25% rate cut on savings accounts. Read more
Southern Water gets fined millions
February 20, 2008
Officials from the UK’s water regulator, Ofwat, have reported that Southern Water has been fined over £20 million for mis-reporting information and providing poor service. The cost of the fine will not be passed on to customers, state Ofwat officials, but will be passed on directly to shareholders. The total fine that the water supplier has been hit with comes to £20.3 million. Read more
Egg’s actions could benefit some borrowers
February 19, 2008
The recent decision of the online lending giant Egg could actually benefit some customers according to a recent report, enabling them to prove their creditworthiness as a result of having their account closed. Egg recently announced that around 161,000 would have their credit card accounts closed, claiming that those affected were people whose credit profiles had deteriorated since they opened their credit card accounts. Read more
E.On firm raises prices
February 19, 2008
Just after the Bank of England announced the latest interest rate cut last week another of the UK’s energy giants announced that it was hiking up the cost of gas and electricity usage, which means that many homeowners that may have seen their payments reduced by the 0.25% interest rate cut will not also see their cost of their energy usage rise, counteracting the benefit that they receive from lower repayments. E.On is the latest of the energy giants to announce rises, which price hikes already having been put in place by British Gas, Npower, EDF and Scottish Power. Read more
Some customers may benefit from Egg credit card withdrawal
February 19, 2008
Officials from the UK’s credit reference agencies have stated that many customers that have been affected by lending giant Egg’s decision to withdraw over 160,000 credit cards could actually benefit in terms of their creditworthiness. According to Egg officials those having their credit cards withdrawn were consumers whose credit rating had fallen since they opened their accounts, but research has shown that many of those that were affected actually had very good credit and repaid their cards responsibly. Read more
Pet insurance cover launched by Post Office
February 19, 2008
Over recent years, with the threat of branch closures looming, the Post Office service has launched a variety of new services and products ranging from car insurance cover to broadband service. The latest service to be launched by the Post Office service is pet insurance policies, which could help many pet owners across the UK enjoy affordable protection and healthcare for their beloved pets. Read more
Judge unable to deliver verdict on bank charge case yet
February 18, 2008
The judge that has been dealing with the High Court test case into bank charges has announced that although the case has now been concluded he cannot deliver his verdict yet because he has a lot of work to do before he will be able to do this. Justice Andrew Smith stated that he had no idea when he would be able to deliver his ruling with regards to the case, which was brought by the Office of Fair Trading against the banking industry. Read more
No fines for late self assessment filing
February 18, 2008
HM Revenue and Customs has stated that taxpayers who filed their returns last weekend, several days after the 31st January deadline, will not be fined the traditional £100 penalty following problems with the website that left many people unable to file their self assessment. Many people tried to file on the last day, which was January 31st, but technical problems with the HMRC website meant that they were unable to do so. As a result the deadline for returns was extended to midnight on the following day. Read more
Thames Water brings in new billing system
February 17, 2008
Under a new billing system that has been brought in by Thames Water the amount that consumers will have to pay for their water will be determined by the size of their home. The move will affect thousands of homeowner that have no water meter, and each will be placed into a banding system in order to determine how much they will pay for their water based on the size of their property. Read more
Darling says longer term fixed rate mortgages to become the norm
February 17, 2008
Chancellor of the Exchequer Alistair Darling has stated that there is to be a radical shake up the mortgage market, which will result in longer term fixed rate mortgages for twenty five years becoming the norm. Darling has been looking for a longer term borrowing solution for homeowners in light of the level of homeowners that have struggled to keep up with their mortgage repayments following higher interest rates. Read more