Many younger consumers too optimistic about financial future
March 25, 2008
A recent report claims that many younger consumers in the UK are too optimistic about their financial futures, fuelling speculation that many are not educated enough when it comes to financial matters. The report showed that many of the consumers interviewed – aged between 11 and 19 – had very high hopes when it came to their financial future, with many expecting to be in high paid jobs with a home, car, and no debt by the time they were in their mid twenties. Read more
Young, male professional in London at highest risk of identity theft
March 25, 2008
Over recent years an increasing number of people have become more and more concerned about identity theft and fraud, and this type of criminal activity has become rife – not helped by the level of data loss blunders that have been seen over the past year. However, according to a recent report those at highest risk of becoming victims of identity theft are young, male professionals living in the London area. Read more
Thirty-somethings could face bleak financial future
March 17, 2008
According to the results of a recent poll many people in their mid-thirties could face a bleak financial future, as they spend too much, save too little, and do not put any money aside to fund their retirement. Experts are concerned that many of those aged around 35 and under may end up either retiring with little or no money or may have to work well into their 70s in order to retire comfortably with enough money to live on. Read more
Facebook members could be compromising their safety
February 27, 2008
According to a recent report from the consumer campaign group Which? consumers who have memberships on social networking sites such as Facebook could be compromising their safety and identity security. Many people have started to join up to social networking sites over the past couple of years, but Which? officials state that this could result in identity theft, fraud, and even an increased risk of burglary in some cases, as fraudsters and thieves can find out so many details through using these websites. Read more
Bank of England tries to balance concerns over rising inflation and slowing economy
February 24, 2008
Over the past couple of years the Bank of England has faced tough decisions when it comes to the base rate, with a slowing economy to consider on one hand, which has been fuelled by higher interest rates and lower spending levels, and rising inflation to consider on the other hand. Whilst the Bank of England has cut rates twice over the past three months this followed a series of five rate hikes between August 2006 and July 2007, which left many homeowners struggling to keep up with mortgage repayments. 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
HMRC had to extend deadline for returns
February 15, 2008
At one of the most crucial times of the year for HM Revenue and Customs – the time when tax returns have to be filed – a system failure has resulted in HMRC having to extend the deadline for filing returns slightly. The usual date for the filing of returns either online or by post is 31st January. However, technical problems meant that many taxpayers that were trying to file their returns online at the eleventh hour were unable to do so. Read more
Supermarket giant to stop accepting cheque payments
February 8, 2008
One of the UK’s leading supermarket chains is to stop accepting cheque payment shortly, following in the footsteps of a number of other retailers that have now stopped accepting this method of payments. Tesco recently announced that it no longer plans to accept personal cheque payments from customers, joining the ranks of other retailers when it comes to eliminating the time consumption and cost of processing and dealing with cheque payments. Read more
Brits spent far too much last year
February 4, 2008
According to a recent report Brits are becoming spendaholics, with many spending truckloads of money on unnecessary items, and some spending more than they earn, which is adding to the nation’s ever-growing mountain of debt. Over five million consumers are said to have spent more than they earned last year, and many have had to rely on finance such as credit cards and overdraft to keep them going until they get paid again. Read more
Price comparison insurance sites to come under investigation
February 1, 2008
According to a recent report price comparison sites that deal with insurance services are to come under scrutiny from the Financial Services Authority following concerns that were raised by the British Insurance Brokers’ Association. Price comparison sites have become increasingly popular over recent years, with more and more sites being launched and consumers able to compare the cost of a range of services and products through these sites. Read more