Finance Matters

• 28Nov

  Help plan for stranded travellers

  Money No Comments

  From The BBC:

  Travellers who book holidays on the internet could receive more financial protection if things go wrong, under plans in a European review.Consumers who make up their own packages of flights, hotels and car rentals on one website or partner sites could get more protection. Currently, only those who have booked specific package deals have rights to cancel or refunds if operators go bust. A review will consider help for passengers if airlines collapse. “We need tough protection that gives all consumers booking a package holiday the peace of mind they deserve, and we need a level playing field so businesses compete on equal terms,” said EU Consumer Commissioner Meglena Kuneva. The consumers’ association Which? welcomed the review. “The Package Travel Directive was drawn up almost 20 years ago, and while useful at the time, it doesn’t go far enough to protect today’s holidaymaker,” said Rochelle Turner, of Which? Holiday. “A significant number of people book hotels from a direct link on an…

  Click to read the full article »
• 28Nov

  Vodafone to close pension scheme

  Money No Comments

  From The BBC:

  Mobile phone company Vodafone plans to close its final salary pension scheme to 4,000 current members.It is one of the biggest employers to have taken take this step recently, which it says is necessary to rein in the rising cost of the scheme. Staff have been sent letters about the plan as part of the legally required consultation process. The final salary scheme was closed to new joiners in 2005, with 6,000 staff now in a defined contribution scheme. “Defined benefit [final salary] schemes have become significantly more expensive to operate with their costs likely to rise in the future,” said a spokesman. “This change will make our pension provision sustainable in the long term, and affordable for employees and the company.” Wider trendThe employees in Vodafone’s final salary plan will join the defined contribution (DC) scheme instead, which the company says will be “substantially improved.” The company is proposing to raise the level of its contributions to the DC scheme from one-an…

  Click to read the full article »
• 28Nov

  Visa Electron to be phased out

  Business No Comments

  From The BBC:

  A card payment service commonly used by customers to avoid high transaction charges when booking flights is being phased out by two major providers.Customers who pay by Visa Electron are not charged transaction fees by airlines such as Ryanair, Aer Lingus, BMIbaby, Easyjet and Flybe. Abbey and Travelex have told BBC Radio 4’s Money Box their cards will not feature Visa Electron by next year. But another banking group, HBOS said it would continue to offer the card. High chargesSeveral airlines now charge a flat fee transaction charge per person, per flight, when customers pay by debit or credit card.
  It can add up to a substantial part of the overall cost. Ryanair charges £5 per person, per flight, even if all the passengers are paid for on the one card, in a single transaction. Vic, from Hertfordshire, contacted Radio 4’s Money Box to complain after Ryanair charged him £20 to pay by credit card. He was buying return flights to Italy for himself and his wife: “I paid &pound…

  Click to read the full article »
• 28Nov

  Pre-pay meters ‘flout price caps’

  Business No Comments

  From The BBC:

  Five of the big six energy suppliers still overcharge customers using pre-pay meters, despite new Ofgem rules, the National Housing Federation says.The watchdog capped how much more pre-pay customers can be charged than those paying by direct debit, in September. The NHF says Scottish Power, British Gas, Npower, Scottish & Southern and E.On all failed to meet the cap. Energy retailers denied breaching the rules. Ofgem said it would investigate any objective evidence of overcharging. It says its new rules had already cut energy bills by £96m. ‘Absolute disgrace’Ofgem imposed a cap of £88 on how much more per year gas and electricity companies could charge the UK’s six million pre-pay customers over those who pay via direct debit. This followed a major investigation last year, in which the regulator found that “service costs for pre-payment meter customers are £88 per customer higher than for a direct debit customer”. But the NHF, which represents 1,200 housing asso…

  Click to read the full article »
• 28Nov

  Flood insurance ‘varies greatly’

  Business No Comments

  From The BBC:

  There is a lack of consistency in the way insurance companies treat flood victims who are looking to make claims, the National Flood Forum has said.The charity says the problem of people living on the same street being charged very different excesses for flood insurance is of “epidemic proportions”. It adds that people who have claimed for flood damage in the past often find it difficult to get a better deal. Insurers say it is normal for offers to vary for different customers. Same property, different storiesDominic Witherow and Mike Lewin live next door to each other in Chobham, Surrey, in a property which has been split into two homes. Mr Witherow, who moved into the property after previous flooding and has never made a claim, has a flood excess of £100. Mr Lewin, who is with a different insurer and has claimed for past flooding, is looking at an excess of £10,000.
  Both men believe this is unfair. “Mike’s building and my building are the same,” says Mr Witherow. “We are…

  Click to read the full article »
• 27Nov

  US shares slide over Dubai fears

  Business No Comments

  From The BBC:

  US shares have fallen on worries about Dubai’s debt problems, with the Dow Jones ending down 154 points, or 1.5%, at 10,309.92, in a shorter trading day.It was the first chance for markets in the US to react to news that state-owned Dubai World had asked for more time to repay its debts. US markets were closed for a holiday on Thursday when other world markets suffered steep losses. However, the main European markets recovered from earlier falls. The main share indexes in the UK, France and Germany had all fallen by more than 3% on Thursday. But after falling further in early trade on Friday, the UK’s FTSE 100 closed up 1%, and both Germany’s Dax index and France’s Cac 40 ended more than 1% higher. Earlier in Asia, Japan’s Nikkei index had closed down 3.2% and the Hong Kong Hang Seng ended 4.8% lower. UK Prime Minister Gordon Brown described the fall in the markets as a “setback” but said it was “not on the scale of previous problems”. “The world financial system is stronger now and ab…

  Click to read the full article »

   Next Entries »