Britons Are Ignoring Debts Below £16k!
The average Briton does not worry about unsecured debts (bank loans, overdrafts, credit cards, store cards etc) until the amount that they owe exceeds £15,837! And for younger people, raised on a society of debt, the figure rises to £16,646 before they think that their debt is a problem. With the latest Bank of England [...]
FSA Fines RBS and NatWest
The RBS and NatWest have been fined £2.8m pounds by the FSA, for failing to correctly deal with their customers’ complaints. The FSA reviewed a sample of just 120 complaints made against the banks, which are part of the 84% state owned Royal Bank of Scotland. Both banks use the same complaint handling systems and, [...]
Could Interest Rates Be Static For Another 9 Months?
A recent poll of financial experts shows that on the whole, many do no expect the base rate to be raised above 0.5% before October. The Reuters survey of 62 economists showed that none of them expected the Bank of England to change the base rates when it meets this week, and only 30% of [...]
Your House Lost More Value Last Year
The Halifax house price index showed that the last quarter of the year was the worst quarter for housing prices. The quarter to December 2010 showed a house price drop of 1.6%, according to the Halifax, which was the biggest 3 month price drop since November 2009. December alone saw a 1.3% drop, however month [...]
Britain Would Rather Use The Matress Than A Bank
4% of people surveyed in a poll by the Financial Services Compensation Scheme (FSCS) have admitted to stashing at least £1,000 in hiding holes at home, rather than banking the money! The FSCS was conducting a poll as it tries to raise awareness of the security of keeping money in the bank, now that each [...]
VAT Now Up To 20%
It must have been impossilble for most people to miss, but VAT has, of today, increased by 2.5 percentage points to 20%. So an item that yesterday cost £9.99 should today cost £10.20, in theory at least. However, the situation is not as clear cut as that. And that is without looking at non-VAT items [...]