May 2007 Finance News Archive

• British Gas reduces prices but still receiving lots of complaints [30.05.07]
  One of the UK's leading energy providers, British Gas, is currently receiving floods of complaints from customers, despite cutting its unit costs for both gas and electricity twice since March of this year.
• Fixed rate popularity continues to rise [24.05.07]
  The popularity of fixed rate mortgages continues to rise amongst consumers in the UK, as past and forthcoming interest rate hikes take their toll, resulting in a flurry of interest in fixed rate deals amongst homeowners and new property purchasers.
• Energy regulator identified energy companies that offer poor value [24.05.07]
  Two leading energy suppliers have been named and shamed by an energy regulator for offering poor value for money to consumers and ripping off energy users on gas and electricity prices.
• Pensioners finding it hard to get travel insurance cover [24.05.07]
  According to a recent report from Age Concern pensioners in the UK are stuck in something of a catch 22 situation when it comes to getting travel insurance.
• Increasing interest rates and house prices result in increased rejections [23.05.07]
  Many people in the UK that were thinking of buying a property or even remortgaging have found themselves in a difficult situation, as interest rates and house prices continue to rise.
• Another price cut from British Gas [23.05.07]
  For the second time this year the energy giant British Gas has cut the cost of its energy prices, sparking yet another price war amongst energy suppliers in the UK.
• Insurance companies need to improve cold calling sales standards [15.05.07]
  The Financial Services Authority has instructed insurance companies to improve the standards when it comes to sales made through cold calling.
• Businessman wins record payout from NatWest over unfair charges [15.05.07]
  One of the leading banks in the UK, the NatWest, has been forced to payout thousands of pounds to a businessman who was hit time and time again with bank charges over the years.
• Water supplier to cut hundreds of jobs to improve efficiency [14.05.07]
  According to recent reports the second largest water supplier in the UK, Severn Trent Water, is planning to cut around six hundred jobs over the next five years in a bid to reduce costs and improve efficiency.
• Risk of unmanageable debt levels through increased mortgages [14.05.07]
  The soaring house prices in the UK have seen many people lose the chance to get on to the property ladder simply because they cannot afford to take out a loan for the amount that is needed to buy a property in the UK these days.
• BT won't be charging exit fee [13.05.07]
  British Telecom had recently announced plans to charge customers planning to leave their service a controversial administration fee of £5.
• The rising cost of insurance premiums due to fraudsters [13.05.07]
  Most adults in the UK know how frustrating it can be to cope with the rising cost of insurance premiums, and this includes cover such as medical insurance, vehicle insurance, and home insurance.
• Good news over British Gas late payment charge [12.05.07]
  Earlier this year, British Gas, one of the UK's leading energy suppliers, had announced plans to start charging customers a late payment fee of £5 whenever a bill payment was made late.
• Take the time to shop around for insurance deals [11.05.07]
  Home insurance cover is an important protective cover that is designed to protect your home and your belongings within the home.
• Fuel poverty is a problem that needs to be addressed [11.05.07]
  With the soaring prices of gas and electricity last year, many people found themselves in fuel poverty, where they were unable to afford their gas and electricity.
• Interest rates need to rocket stated economist [11.05.07]
  Many consumers in the UK have been hit hard with rising interest rates over the past year, with rates shooting up from 4.5% to 5.25% after the Bank of England raised rates three times between last August and this January.
• Lower income customers can save for Christmas with HBOS [10.05.07]
  The Halifax Bank of Scotland has recently announced its plans to help low incomes families to save for Christmas through a specialist savings scheme, which it hopes to launch in May.
• British Gas goes green [10.05.07]
  In a bid to try and win back custom, one of the UK's leading energy suppliers, British Gas, has decided to go green by offering environmentally conscious and thrifty customer the chance to take up their 'new energy' service.
• Reducing your life insurance premiums could mean reducing your weight [10.05.07]
  Life insurance cover is a very important type of insurance that can provide valuable protection, but for many people the premiums can be sky high, making it hard for them to benefit from this type of cover without paying through the nose.
• DIY disasters could cost you a fortune without the right cover [09.05.07]
  Every year many people in the UK carry out a range of DIY jobs in the home, and this is in a bid to make the home more comfortable and practical as well as to improve the value of the home.
• Lloyds call centre upsets customers [09.05.07]
  Lloyds TSB has angered a number of customers who were left hanging on the line when calling the new call centre number in order to sort out their finances.
• Contracts must be honoured by Virgin customers [09.05.07]
  Following an investigation by Ofcom over the loss of Sky channels from Virgin Media's television package, the regulatory body stated that customers had to be given a chance to leave the Virgin service without any additional penalties being imposed for doing so – this was due to the reduced service being provided through the reduction in available channels.
• Should you fix your mortgage rate before interest rates rise again? [08.05.07]
  For those looking to remortgage or take out a new mortgage, there may be a difficult decision to make.
• With dental insurance cover you can keep smiling with confidence [08.05.07]
  These days there are many different types of insurance cover policies available for consumers in the UK, offering a range of different protective benefits, from emergency treatment to financial benefits.
• One in five lenders refuse interest only mortgages [07.05.07]
  For many years consumers in the UK have had the choice of taking out either a repayment mortgage to buy their home, which is a capital and interest mortgage where repayments cover both the loan and the interest on the loan, or an interest only mortgage, where repayments cover the interest only and the loan remains untouched until the end of the term.
• Office of Fair Trading to delay decision on bank charges [07.05.07]
  Industry professionals recently warned consumers in the UK that wanted to try and reclaim their bank charges to step up the pace, as they were running out of time.
• Is supermarket medical insurance good value for money? [07.05.07]
  Medical insurance these days is available from a range of places, and not just specialist companies.
• Increase in complaints for British Gas [06.05.07]
  British Gas, one of the UK's leading energy suppliers, has seen the number of complaints from consumers relating to bill payments triple after the company introduced a payment system that over estimated the costs of energy used by consumers.
• Banks have been dumping customer details outside [06.05.07]
  Despite the growing concern of falling victim to identify theft and fraud in the UK, a number of major banks have been found dumping customer's account details in public areas
• Free UK banking being funded by customers [06.05.07]
  A man that runs a company that specializes in helping consumers in the UK to reclaim free banks charges has stated that the current free banking system in the UK is unfair, and that consumers that are being charged hefty overdraft and returned cheque or direct debit fees are ending up funding the free banking system for everyone else.
• Bank threatens to withdraw facilities over unauthorized overdraft [03.05.07]
  One of the leading Internet banks in the UK has shocked a customer by threatening to withdraw banking facilities after just eight months, simply because the customer went over her overdraft limit by around £45.
• Credit cards not as popular as secured finance [02.05.07]
  According to recent figures secured finance is becoming more popular amongst borrowers than credit cards, with savvy borrowers in the UK opting to take up lower interest rates, longer repayment periods, and set repayments rather than the high interest rates that fluctuating repayments that come with credit card borrowing.
• Review of travel insurance cover needed according to MPs [02.05.07]
  MPs in the UK have expressed concern over the travel insurance cover that many consumers are taking out, stating that it needs to be reviewed as many people are not covered for certain situations such as terrorist attacks.
• Consumers can get affordable car insurance from Uswitch [02.05.07]
  For some time now the price comparison website uswitch.com has enjoyed a solid reputation amongst those looking to cut down on the cost of certain services, such as gas and electricity providers, finance and credit, and bank account.
• First Direct unforgiving over charges [01.05.07]
  A customer that recently joined the Internet bank, First Direct, which is a part of the HSBC Group, was appalled by the way that she was treated over her account going over its limit.
• FDA insurance survey reveals some interesting facts [01.05.07]
  A recent survey that was carried out by the Financial Services Authority into insurance in the UK has revealed a number of interest facts.