Posts from October, 2008
Individuals choosing to spend on private healthcare have seen the first significant fall since the mid 1990s. Figures show that in the last year, UK spending on non-cosmetic surgery such as knees, and hips, fell by nearly £30m, to £345m.
Experts say it is probably due to the economic downturn and the shortening NHS waiting lists.
The concept of going green is all well and good - I for one would love to contribute to making our environment a better place. But is today really the time?
People are struggling, left, right and centre to cope through this economic downturn, and the government are still introducing expensive schemes, testing such things as green cars, on the streets of the UK. The average UK citizen is struggling to run their existing car, let alone taking on the added cost of a green one - despite the long term savings.
Abbey are in talks with a debt advice charity about how to deal with borrowers who are struggling to pay their mortgages. They are in discussions with the CCCS, for it to offer a free advice service for customers who are struggling to handle their repayments.
Abbey say that they have always had a low rate of repossessions because of its ongoing responsible approach to lending and treat repossession as a last resort.
Everyone seems to be suffering in some way or another from the economic slowdown, whether its just from spending a few more quid on their weekly shop, or not being able to afford their bills. But it seems that young adults are the ones who may be the hardest hit in the end. It appears as though a free spending fiscal policy and the rising risk of unemployment could force many to take out large personal loans or secured loans, to get their finances sorted - something which will affect them for years to come.
First time buyers are struggling, even though property prices have dropped massively. The banks are trying to charge higher rates and have tightened their lending criteria, and larger deposits are needed - it's almost impossible to buy your own home at the minute.
It's also been said that apprentices in the building and electrical trades have no jobs after their training - they have bills to pay and families to feed.
These really are proving to be hard times and it seems young adults are going to be the worst off.
Active job-seekers have been warned to be careful when sending their CVs to employer's websites or online recruitment agencies, because somebody may steal them.
An experiment involving a fake website lured 107 people into sending in their CVs, full of personal information which could have easily led to identity theft. 61 of these CVs contained enough info to apply for a credit card.
The fake website placed an advert for a job as an office manager, in a national newspaper and encouraged applicants to send in their CV to their website. A quick search of the website would have shown the operation to be fake, but 107 people did as the advert asked.
The most common pieces of information found, which could have been used in identify fraud, were the full address and name and also a date of birth. One application included a passport number and NI number (Why?). The most useful items for criminals, which should be left out of online CVs, are date of birth, marital status and place of birth according to iProfile. I personally don't understand why someone would put their marital status and place of birth on the CV in the first place.
This is despite their misleading ad which had to be withdrawn due to its nature.
Reader's Digest has crowned Virgin Media as Britains most trusted ISP in their survey, 'Britain's Most Trusted Brand'. The study also found O2 to be the most trusted mobile netwrok provider.
It is the speed of the boradband that caused controversy though - a recent advert was withdrawn due to false claims.
Meanwhile, the ISP have joined forces with the British Phonographic Industry (BPI) to warn consumers against illegally downloading music. They have sent letters to its customers regarding illegal file sharing.
Even though Ebay have reported profits of £286m in the 3rd quarter, they have warned that a slowing economy will hurt its business. Hard-up consumers are already reducing their online purchases and this is bound to affect the auction site during their usually strong xmas period.
Another sign that retailers are expecting a hrad time of it in the coming months, Amazon have cut its postage costs in the UK - consumers now have to spend £5 to qualify for free delivery, rather than £15 - that means that UK customers can get over 90% of Amazon products, delivered for free! Get in!
Rail passengers in England and Wales are to face more overcrowding and higher fares until the network is expanded.
According to the National Audit Office, government control of the railways has delivered better value for taxpayers, but future pressure on capacity could reverse any benefits. They said that 1,300 new train carriages have been ordered to try and tackle passenger growth, but will not be on the tracks until 2014
They have also reported that most regulated fares, such as the saver and season tickets, had risen by 1% above the RPI inflation. Non-regulated fares had also increased, by 6-7%, with some as much as 20% in 2007.
A survey published in July suggested only 40% of rail passengers felt they got value for money - however, 80% of the 25,000 people asked were satisfied with the quality of their journey - 2% up on the previous year.
Newcastle Building Society has found that there has been a 21% increase in sales of equity release plans compared to a year ago. Drawdown schemes also seem to be popular due to their flexible nature.
The amount of time between a customer enquiring about the equity release policy and actually completing the deal has reduced by 35% over the past year, reported to be due to customers becoming more informed about the benefits of such a deal.
The sector seems to be surviving the credit crunch, and in some cases, even observing growth.
There appear to be several reasons for completing equity release deals, including home improvements and holidays.
As the price of oil has fallen again to $80 a barrel, we seem to be set to see a drop in petrol prices.
It seems as though the worldwide recession will continue to see demand for oil fall in the short to medium term. It looks as though the UK will see petrol back to below £1 a litre in the short term.
Norwich Union have annoucned that they are to be the latest insurance provider to introduce a postcode lottery for pensioners. Although they claim that 70% of the population will remain on the same pension or see a rise in their income, 30% will be worse off. They have announced that they will pay out smaller pensions to those who live in more affluent areas because they are expected to live longer.
But premiums will remain unchanged for those paying into their pension scheme before retirement - only when they retire will the insurance companies check their postcode against their affluent areas UK map and decide what will happen to their pensions. Is this fair?
Councils throughout the UK are paying more in compensation to drivers than they are fixing the roads. Last year, councils spent £52.3m repairing our roads, whilst also spending £53m for compensation claims from drivers who allegedly suffered damage to their cars due to the state of the roads...
The average pothold costs £56 to repaid, which equates to 966,429 potholes for the £53m which was paid out in compensation.
Surely an investment to speed up the repaid program would make sense?
They may well be, according to several financial experts. In a poll of 12 analysts, seven stated that they expected the MPC to lower the central rate when it meets in a couple of days.
Apparently there is a good chance that the move will be made, to avoid a more prolonged recession. Others believe that the MPC will hold tight, and maintain the rate at its current level.
Any change in rates will have an effect on the cost of borrowing, such as mortgages and credit card debt.
Getting your foot on the property ladder can be a huge problem, especially in the current economic climate.
FindaProperty have said that borrowers must make sacrifices, if they wish to own their own home at the moment, with most lenders being highly unlikely to grant a mortgage to anyone unless they have a deposit of at least £17,000. It's not even as though you can raise the extra cash through secured loans until you have a home to secure it on.
So, until you get your first home by saving like crazy, you're just going to have to give up the luxuries in life - holidays, posh meals, expensive shopping trips - they all need to be curbed if you want to own, and not rent.
The Bank of England has warned that rising loan defaults are pushing consumers further into debt and leaving less money for the economy.
There has been a sharp downturn in house prices as more and more home owners look to sell to help themselves out financially and buyers push the prices down even more. There's even more concern as well, as public debts approach £50bn this year, although overall debt for the UK is in the region of £500bn.
New comments from the FSA indicate that its interventions with regards to Payment Protection Insurance will be heightening. Many complaints have been put forward regarding the cover, claiming it is mis-sold and doesn't offer good value for money.
The aim of the cover is to help with loan repayments of policy holders in the even of job loss or other major life event. But some consumer groups have complained that it is often sold as a bundle with the loan, rather than a separate cover, which often appears to be very costly.
For example, last week, Which? reported of a couple who were paying £23,000 in PPI for a £56,000 loan.
All landlords in England and Wales must now provide new tenants with a certificate showing the energy efficiency of their rented property. Rented properties must be examined and given an Energy Performance Certificate (EPC), which details the efficiency on a scale from A to G and is intended to allow potential tenants to consider energy efficiency and fuel costs.
A £200 repeatable fine can be given per property to landlords who refuse.
The Criteria:
The EPC and a recommendation report must be provided free of charge when:
An EPC does not have to be made available if:
An EPC is valid for 10 years and must be produced by an accredited energy assessor.
Barclaycard have received a massive fine, for the most serious and persistent case of silent calls ever seen by Ofcom.
They were fined £50,000 after Ofcom uncovered an extremely high number of silent calls had been made - typically occurring when call centres with automated systems dial more numbers than staff can handle. When customers answer their telephone, no agent is available to talk to them, resulting in silence on the line.
Ofcom have previously fined Abbey National, Complete Credit Management, Space Kitchens, Bracken Bay Kitchens, Carphone Warehouse and Toucan for breaches of rules on silent and abandoned calls and also say that if they weren't limited to £50,000, they would have fined Barclaycard more.
Fairinvestment.co.uk have found that it could take first time buyers 15 years to save the deposit for their first home. As the criteria tightens, and first time buyers struggle to get their foot on the first rung of the property ladder, the recent survery of 2000 people found that the average amount saved each month is £139 - an annual total of £1,668. Considering the average deposit for a FTB is 15%, no wonder it takes so long to save for it.
The research also found that women would take longer to save the amount than men, as on average, women save just £121 a month in comparison to men saving an average £185.
