- Tuesday, January 27, 2009, 13:13
- Energy
British Gas has become the first major UK energy supplier to cut their prices in response to the falling wholesale price of oil.
The move follows pressure on suppliers by industry regulator, Ofgem, to lower prices as the price of oil has plummeted over the past months.
British Gas announced that their standard tariff gas prices by 10% from 19th February 2009. This will bring the average ...
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- Wednesday, January 21, 2009, 15:20
- Household Finances, Mortgages
According to a new report from the Council of Mortgage lenders, mortgage lending during 2008 in the UK fell to the lowest level since 2002.
According to the report, mortgage lending in 2008 totalled £256.4bn last year, 30% lower than the 2007 total of £363.7bn.
The effects of the credit crunch have made it more and more difficult for borrowers to obtain mortgage finance as banks curb ...
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- Tuesday, January 20, 2009, 16:04
- Loans, Personal Finance
One of the biggest revenue streams for UK banks is under threat as the Competition Commission demands curb on selling Payment Protection Insurance (PPI).
A provisional report published by the Commission in November 2008 laid out a number of recommendations aimed at ‘cleaning up’ the PPI industry. In anticipation of a full ban, a number of leading UK financial institutions have recently announced they will stop ...
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- Wednesday, January 14, 2009, 13:12
- Personal Finance
While homeowners and borrowers have been benefiting from dramatic interest rate drops over the past months, those with savings have been suffering.
The Bank of England yesterday highlighted savers’ plight with new figures revealing that banks and building societies are paying the lowest interest rates to savers on offer since official records began in 1995.
The report showed that instant-access savings accounts, ‘notice’ savings accounts and short-term ...
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- Tuesday, January 13, 2009, 16:40
- Personal Finance
New research by Barclays today revealed that 10 million people in the United Kingdom have incorrect or out-of-date
life insurance policies.
As a result of life changing events such as becoming a homeowner or having a baby, Barclays found that as many as 42 per cent of life insurance policy holders are leaving themselves financially vulnerable by failing to update their policies.
The research also shows ...
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The Bank of England Monetary Policy Committee today voted to cut the Base Rate by half a per cent, bringing the rate to an all-time low of 1.5%.
The previous change in Bank Rate was a reduction of 1.0 per cent to 2.0% in December. Today’s move brings the total base rate cuts to 4.25 per cent since July 2007, when the global credit crunch first ...
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OK, you’ve had long enough procrastinating about putting your New Year’s resolutions into action. It’s no good pretending that it’s still the festive season, and that you can remain in hibernation indefinitely - you’re back at work, life has continued as normal (against all odds), and it’s time to get yourself in ...
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If you’re sick of hearing about the gloomy state of the economy and how basically we’ll all be on the breadlines in a few months, you’re not alone. But lo! There is some good news to shine a little cheer on the cold New Year: consumer groups are predicting a 10-15 per cent drop in energy prices over the coming months.
Hopes were raised yesterday when ...
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