Finance Matters

• 30Aug

  Scrap thieves leave a scar

  Insurance No Comments

  From This is Money:

  ‘The hall is a focus for the village, with a mums and toddlers group and the Women’s Institute meeting here regularly. We use it for events such as the panto and quiz,’ says Hilary Skaar, secretary of the hall committee.
  But in May the hall became a target for the new wave of commodity crooks. Thieves climbed on to the roof and stripped a 25ft length of lead flashing worth more than £4,000. The theft left the community saddened and the repairs form a visible white scar on the roof.
  Hilary, 54, a retired financial adviser, says: ‘There was a parish council meeting in the hall until 9.30 that night, so the theft must have happened some time after that.
  ‘But no one saw or heard a thing. It’s so frustrating that someone should attack the hall in this way.’
  As Financial Mail reported last week, Britain is suffering from a commodity crimewave.
  Rising prices for raw materials, such as metals, oils and basic foodstuffs, are encouraging thieves to turn their attention to soft t…

  Click to read the full article »
• 30Aug

  Picking up the bill for T5’s trouble

  Insurance No Comments

  From This is Money:

  Insurers are braced for a raft of claims for refunds on flights and compensation for delayed luggage caught up in the backlog of 20,000 bags.
  All travel policies provide cover for delays at the airport, cancellations and lost luggage, but monetary limits and deadlines vary.
  You are entitled to £20 per person, typically after 12 hours’ delay, to pay for refreshments. You’ll need written confirmation from BA, giving the length of the delay and reasons for it.
  Airlines have to provide food and drink, overnight accommodation and two free phone calls, e-mails or faxes, too, depending on the length of delay.
  Check how long you need to wait before you can cancel your trip altogether and recover the cost. At More Than, for instance, you can cancel after a delay of more than 24 hours. You are covered for the cost of your flight, hotel, car hire and any other expenses you’ve paid.
  Compensation from BA for cancellation ranges from £100 to £480 under EU rules.
  Since…

  Click to read the full article »
• 30Aug

  Bank of England Surprises with Base Rate Hike

  Debt No Comments

  From The Debt Advice Bureau:

  Bank of England Surprises with Base Rate Hike

  A reduced seven member Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) surprised most

  economists and market watchers as the Bank of England announced at

  midday today that the base rate was raised by a quarter point to

  4.75% from 4.50%, where it had sat since August 2005.

  The immediate reaction was for shares, Gilts and short sterling to

  sell off as the majority were caught out by the surprise move. The

  last time the MPC announced a move, when it cut rates from 4.75% to

  4.50% at the August 4th meeting of last year, the move had been well

  telegraphed. This time, there was no preparation and no hinting.

  It is not that a rate increase at some point wasn’t expected, it

  was. It is just that it hadn’t been expected this month.

  For now the higher rate will begin to feed through into peo…

  Click to read the full article »
• 30Aug

  Bad News for Bad Faith Bankrupts

  Debt No Comments

  From The Debt Advice Bureau:

  Bad News For Bad Faith Bankrupts

  A growing number of bankrupts are being targeted for Bankruptcy

  Restrictions Orders (BROs) as Official Receivers pursue those

  bankrupts who are believed to have acted in bad faith and contributed

  to their bankruptcy, according to figures released today.

  Anyone thinking they can rack up loads of debt and use bankruptcy as

  an easy way to walk away form their responsibilities needs to think

  again. “The screw is tightening on those who have been guilty of

  misconduct”, says Desmond Flynn, Inspector General and Agency

  Chief Executive of the Insolvency Service.

  In the six months to September 2005, 165 people have been made

  subject to BROs or Bankruptcy Restrictions Undertakings (BRUs) for

  periods ranging from 2 to 11 years. In addition, the Secretary of

  State has issued directions to take p…

  Click to read the full article »
• 30Aug

  Home Repossession Orders Soar 66 Percent

  Debt No Comments

  From The Debt Advice Bureau:

  Home Repossession Orders Soar 66 Percent

  19,687 mortgage repossession orders were issued in England and Wales

  in the three months ending September, a massive 66% increase on the

  same quarter last year, according to figures released by the

  Department for Constitutional Affairs.

  The figure is the highest since the third quarter of 1993, back in

  the dark days of the property recession and is far removed from the

  low of 9,616 experienced in the first quarter of 2003, just 30 months earlier.

  The number of possession orders being issued has been increasing

  since the early part of 2004 and the trend is expected to continue

  with the expectation that the 25,000-orders-issued mark could be

  breached by the end of March 2006.

   

  Don’t Panic Just Yet

  Things may be getting worse, but it…

  Click to read the full article »
• 30Aug

  Flexi-rate credit card rewards faster repayment with lower interest rate

  Debt No Comments

  From The Debt Advice Bureau:

  Flexi-rate credit card rewards faster repayment with lower interest rate

  Barclaycard is testing a new credit card with a flexible interest

  rate, Repayment Rewards, designed specifically to encourage customers

  to repay their debts faster. It does so by lowering the interest rate

  the more of the debt you repay each month.

  The interest rate charged reduces the greater the proportion you pay

  off, meaning those who are constructively making efforts to get debt

  free can do so even faster.

  In the current trial, those customers repaying at least 10% of their

  balance are charged a 9.9% interest rate, but paying just the minimum

  2.5% payment will mean you receive a 16.9% interest rate. Those

  paying between 5% and 10% of the balance incur a 12.9% rate.

  The key premise to the card is that both borrower and lender are

  re…

  Click to read the full article »
• 30Aug

  Six Top Credit Score Killers

  Debt No Comments

  From The Debt Advice Bureau:

  Six Top Credit Score Killers

  Being declined for a loan, overdraft, credit card or mobile phone can

  be frustrating, particularly when all the lender will tell you is

  that you have failed their credit score and nothing else.

  Whilst each lender will ultimately score applications based on the

  services they offer and their own criteria, there are a number of

  factors which will impact your credit score and could lead to your

  application being accepted or declined. Knowing what those criteria

  are can help you improve your ability to get the credit you want.

  These are the Six Top Credit Score Killers . . .

   

  Not on the Electoral Roll

  If you are not on the electoral roll at the address on the

  application there is a high probability of rejection.

   …

  Click to read the full article »
• 30Aug

  Correcting Errors on Your Credit File

  Debt No Comments

  From The Debt Advice Bureau:

  Correcting Errors on Your Credit File

  There is a variety of information held on your

  credit report from a variety of sources. If any of it is wrong, it

  could affect your ability to get credit.

  Here’s how to correct the information held on your report.

   

  The Electoral Roll

  If you have registered to vote and your credit file does not show

  this, please contact the credit reference agencies listed at the

  bottom of this article and they will investigate the matter. If you

  have not registered to vote, you may want to contact your local

  authority about filling in an electoral registration form.

  If you move home you can tell your local authority who will tell

  credit reference agencies about your change of registration in the

  course of the year.

   …

  Click to read the full article »
• 30Aug

  Tougher Bankruptcy Restrictions for Middlesbrough Man’s Credit Card Spending Spree

  Debt No Comments

  From The Debt Advice Bureau:

  Tougher Bankruptcy Restrictions for Middlesbrough Man’s Credit

  Card Spending Spree

  Colin Robert John Cliff, from Middlesbrough, has become the first

  person in the North East region to be subjected to tougher bankruptcy

  restrictions as he was found him guilty of “unreasonable

  extravagance”, the Insolvency Service reported today. He will

  now be subject to bankruptcy restrictions for the next three years.

  Soon after losing his job last year, Mr. Cliff ran up debts of

  £4,284 on his new credit card. Over twenty days he used the card

  to pay for a holiday, clothes, accessories and to make cash

  withdrawals, even though he had no prospect of being able to repay

  what he spent. Less than six weeks later he filed his own petition

  for bankruptcy with his debts now standing at an estimated £13,740.

  Changes to the l…

  Click to read the full article »
• 30Aug

  More Borrowers Plan to Reduce Their Debts

  Debt No Comments

  From The Debt Advice Bureau:

  More Borrowers Plan to Reduce Their Debts

  49% of people with debts say they plan to cut their borrowing over

  the next six months, according to the latest Consumer Sentiment

  Report from the Nationwide building society, a 7 percentage point

  jump from last month and a massive increase from the mere 16% who

  were planning to cut borrowing six months ago.

  Whilst people don’t expect to save more, the report reveals,

  they do intend to spend less and use the increased disposable income

  to reduce their debt.

  “It is encouraging that consumers appear to be taking a

  responsible view of borrowing and more people appear to be planning

  to reduce their level of household debt.”, said Stuart Bernau,

  Nationwide’s executive director, commenting on the figures.

  The five interest rate rises between November 2003 and August 2…

  Click to read the full article »

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