Recently Britain’s High Street banking giants were forced to reveal the level of customer complaints for the first six month of this year, and the figures have shown that these major banks have received an astonishing number of complaints between them.
Based on the figures that have been released the six major High Street banks in the UK have been receiving around eleven thousand complaints a day from angry and dissatisfied customers. Furthermore the figures showed that nearly 90 percent of these customer complaints were rejected by the banking giants without even an apology being issued.
According to reports whilst the vast majority of customer complaints are being rejected by the banks around half of them are being upheld when they reach independent investigators, which indicates that the High Street banks are routinely rejecting valid complaints from customers.
In the first six months of the year the big six banks in the UK received an astonishing 1.4 million complaints between them from customers, and this equates to around eleven thousand complaints a day. Many of these banks are backed by the state having received huge amounts of taxpayers’ money by way of a bailout following the financial crisis, which essentially means that they are part owned by the very people whose complaints are being rejected.
A spokesperson from the Consumer Action Group said that people had become used to banks treating their customers unfairly and badly, but now some of these banking giants were treating their owners badly by ignoring and rejecting complaints from taxpayers whose money had been used to bail the banks out and save them from collapsing during the financial crisis.
The report said that many customers were simply being fobbed off by the big banks, and this was leading to more consumers having to contact independent investigators such as the Financial Ombudsman Service, which itself has been inundated with complaints regarding High Street banks. Worryingly, however, many customers have been found to have given up after having their complaint rejected by the bank, even though they may have had a valid complaint.

A warning has been issued by a housing industry group recently with regards to negative equity levels in properties in the UK. Since 2007, when the housing market reached its peak and property prices started to tumble, many homeowners have been plunged into negative equity, and this is where the amount that they owe on their home outweighs the value of their property.
The claim has been made by the National Housing Federation, which has painted a bleak picture for those that purchased homes towards the peak of the property market before prices began to plummet. According to the group these homeowners could be facing at least another four years of negative equity before property prices finally increase to a point where their homes are worth more than the amount that is owed on them.
Figures from the National Housing Federation have shown that in 2007, which is when the property market peaked, the average prices paid for a home in England was £216,800. However, it may be around 2014 before property prices reach this level again, leaving many facing negative equity for at least another few years.
The data from the National Housing Federation also suggests that property prices will dip again by around 3 percent next year before they start their gradual ascent. By 2015 the National Housing Federation said that it expects property prices to be around 22 percent higher by 2015 than they were in 2009, which will bring the average property price to £226,900.
The report also echoed what many other industry groups and experts have stated recently, which is that property prices in the UK are still too high for many would be buyers despite house prices falls that have occurred. The group did state that being in negative equity for homeowners would not necessarily cause any issues unless the homeowner wanted to sell the home.
Other recent predictions and reports have also provided similar outlooks, with the Royal Institute of Chartered Surveyors predicting that property prices will fall, and the Land Registry suggesting that property prices are starting to level off.

An apology has recently be made by a senior executive at the Spanish owned bank Santander after an investigation that was recently carried out revealed a number of failings in the customer service levels being received by customers. The apology was made by Steve Williams, director of service quality and complaints.
The apology came last week, with the bank stating that it was ’sincerely sorry’ for the poor customer service that has been received by hundreds of thousands of customers, which has resulted in all sorts of problems from huge delays in opening savings accounts to problems accessing online accounts.
It was revealed recently that the bank had received nearly a quarter of a million complaints in the first half of this year, most of which were in relation to its customer service levels. This sparked an investigation by the Financial Mail, which found that the bank, which has taken over a number of UK financial institutions including Abbey and Alliance & Leicester, had failed in a number of different areas of customer service.
The investigation found that Santander had been focussing its efforts into providing resources to ensure that the process of new current account business ran smoothly and efficiently, and this had resulted in an adverse knock on effect in other areas, where customer service levels had suffered.
In his apology Williams said that Santander was a fast growing bank, and that he was aware that improvements were needed. He said that the bank was determined to ensure that these improvements were made, and this would be done through a number of measures including an increase in staffing levels, which would help to improve services in a number of different areas.
The news comes after it was revealed that another banking giant, Lloyds TSB, has been receiving more than two thousand complaints on a daily basis, with around 300,000 complaints having been received in the first half of this year. The boss of Co-op, which owns the Co-op bank, also said that consumer confidence in the banking system in the UK was continuing to slide.

It has been suggested in a recent report that the number of first time buyers has fallen sharply over the past year. The report was released by property website Rightmove, with its figures suggesting that the number of people trying to buy a home for the first time has fallen significantly in the past year.
The figures show that over the next year around 22 percent of potential buyers are looking to buy their new home, and this compares to 31 percent in the same period last year. Experts from the company also warned that first time buyer numbers were at half the level required for a healthy housing market.
A number of concerns and hurdles have affected the ability and willingness of first time buyers to take the plunge according to the report, and amongst the major factors that were highlighted were mortgage availability from lenders and the size of the deposit that lenders were demanding from potential buyers.
Miles Shipside, the director of Right Move, said that the low level of potential first time buyers was now creating problems for those that were trying to sell their properties as well. He added that this had resulted in sellers becoming more reliant on existing homeowners wanting to move home in order to sell their properties and previous owner occupiers moving out of rented accommodation and back into purchased property.
A recent survey was carried out, with the results showing that more than 50 percent of first time buyers saw mortgage related issues as being amongst their biggest worries. The number of first time buyers that were concerned about property prices in the UK was far lower, with around 73 percent stating that they believed property prices would either be the same or higher in a year’s time. Only 20 percent of first time buyers that responded to the survey thought that property prices would have fallen in a year’s time. However, this reflected an increase from the 13 percent that thought house prices would fall over the next year three months ago.

Experts have issued a warning for consumers that have credit cards recently, highlighting just how severe the penalties can be on some credit cards if the cardholder misses a repayment or makes a late payment. Even if the payment is late by just a couple of days the penalties can be severe, and consumers are therefore being urged to ensure that they make their repayments on time and for at least the minimum amount requested.
According to reports cardholders who miss a monthly repayment or make a late payment now face increasingly harsh penalties from credit card providers, and this sort of oversight could end up costing them dearly. The standard fee charged by credit card companies for late of missed payments is now £12, and before a ceiling limit was placed on it used to be far higher with some providers charging up to £40 per fee.
Evidence now suggests that banks and credit card providers are becoming increasingly tough when customers are late with repayments or miss a repayment on their balance. The harsher penalties mean that some cardholders could face paying a fortune in additional fees and interest simply due to an oversight, highlighting the importance of ensuring that repayments are made in a timely manner.
Many people have credit cards that offer 0 percent interest on balance transfers or purchases these days, and these cards often save consumers a small fortune in interest. However, if cardholders that have one of these credit cards miss a payment or make a payment that is even a few days late the providers are increasingly pulling the 0 percent facility, which means that the consumer could then face paying the standard APR or even a higher than standard APR.
This can be even more costly for those that have paid a balance transfer fee, which comes to around 3 percent, as this means that they will have paid a fee to have their balance transferred and escape paying interest, but will then be hit with interest charges as well if they miss their repayments.

Many companies these days tout for business by calling customers or sending out unsolicited mail, and this includes big name energy firms, insurance companies, and many other firms that want to increase their customer base by bringing more customers on board.
However, a recent survey has been carried out, which has shown that most consumers want cold calling to be banned, as many have said that they feel intimidated by companies who have pushy sales staff to call people up and try and sell them services or products.
The survey was carried out by consumer watchdog group Which?, and the company said that according to its findings around three quarters of consumers wanted to see a ban put on cold calling. Around one quarter of the 2092 people that were polled as part of the survey said that they felt intimidated by cold calls.
The Which? survey found that big name companies such as British Gas, Sky, and BT were amongst those that made unsolicited calls to consumers to try and get their custom, and were as ‘guilty’ as using the tactic as scam callers. A spokesperson for the Direct Marketing Association claimed that there had been improvements within the industry but that there was still a way to go.
It was claimed by Which? that the average consumer received around six cold calls a month from various companies, and whilst this practise is not illegal consumers are able to opt out of receiving these calls. Another area that was looked at was ’silent calls’, which are those that are programmed to be made by an automated system. These have become more common amongst companies that cannot afford to have staff members physically make the calls and speak to consumers, but many consumers said that they hang up right away when they get one of these calls.
Ceri Stanaway from Which? described cold calls as being “…at best a nuisance and at worst an intimidating intrusion into our lives.” She added that reputable companies should stop making these calls to consumers that asked to be removed from their databases, but if they didn’t consumers could report them to the Information Commissioner’s Office or to Ofcom.

Experts have issued a warning for consumers that have credit cards recently, highlighting just how severe the penalties can be on some credit cards if the cardholder misses a repayment or makes a late payment. Even if the payment is late by just a couple of days the penalties can be severe, and consumers are therefore being urged to ensure that they make their repayments on time and for at least the minimum amount requested.
According to reports cardholders who miss a monthly repayment or make a late payment now face increasingly harsh penalties from credit card providers, and this sort of oversight could end up costing them dearly. The standard fee charged by credit card companies for late of missed payments is now £12, and before a ceiling limit was placed on it used to be far higher with some providers charging up to £40 per fee.
Evidence now suggests that banks and credit card providers are becoming increasingly tough when customers are late with repayments or miss a repayment on their balance. The harsher penalties mean that some cardholders could face paying a fortune in additional fees and interest simply due to an oversight, highlighting the importance of ensuring that repayments are made in a timely manner.
Many people have credit cards that offer 0 percent interest on balance transfers or purchases these days, and these cards often save consumers a small fortune in interest. However, if cardholders that have one of these credit cards miss a payment or make a payment that is even a few days late the providers are increasingly pulling the 0 percent facility, which means that the consumer could then face paying the standard APR or even a higher than standard APR.
This can be even more costly for those that have paid a balance transfer fee, which comes to around 3 percent, as this means that they will have paid a fee to have their balance transferred and escape paying interest, but will then be hit with interest charges as well if they miss their repayments.

In June of this year the new Chancellor of the Exchequer for the coalition government, George Osborne, announced his emergency budget, the aim of which was to make drastic cutbacks on public spending and tackle the public deficit, which was squarely blamed on the former Labour government.
A wide range of public spending cutbacks were revealed in the budget as well as other changed such as increased VAT from next year. However, one economic think tank has said that it will be the poorest people that are going to be hardest hit by the cutbacks made by the new coalition government.
The measures that were announced in the emergency budget were described as regressive by the Institute for Fiscal Studies. The think tank has said that it will be the poorest households that will be losing the most as a percentage of net income because of the benefit cuts that Mr Osborne also announced in the budget.
The government, however, has claimed that the finding of the Institute for Fiscal Studies are ’selective’, and continued to claim that the Budget was ‘progressive’ – something that had already been challenged by the IFS. The IFS has said that cuts to housing benefits and disability allowance will hit the poorest families.
The report from the IFS claimed that only the top 10 percent of richest households in the UK will lose more in cash terms than those in the bottom 60 percent. The IFS has also called into question the decision of the government to calculate some benefits using the Consumer Price Index (CPI) rather than the Retail Price Index (RPI).
A scathing attack on the coalition government was also launched by the shadow Work & Pensions Secretary, Yvette Cooper, who said that the government had carried out a “shocking and unfair attack on children and families”. She said that George Osborne’s claim that the emergency budget was a progressive one was a lie, and that it was appalling that the poorest families with children were going to be paying the price.

An industry insider from an influential think tank has recently warned that whilst the Bank of England base rate may have been at its all time low of just 0.5 percent for some time now there was a good chance that it increase over the next couple of years in order to control inflation.

Andrew Lilico, who is from the Policy Exchange think tank, warned that over the next couple of years the base interest rate could rocket, and this could add hundreds of pounds to the monthly repayments on an average mortgage. This could then lead to another crisis where homeowners are no longer able to afford repayments on their homes and some people losing them through repossession.

Lilico said that the Bank of England needed to keep a lid on inflation, which is already more than 1 percent over the government target of 2 percent. He said that in order to curb inflation the base interest rate may have to rise to as high as 8 percent, which would mean a large increase over the next couple of years with the average monthly mortgage repayment increasing by hundreds of pounds.

The warning came after a similar prediction from the former Bank of England Deputy Governor, Sir John Gieve, who warned that the base interest rate is likely to start rising ‘faster than the market currently expects’. Although the base rate has been at its all time low of 0.5 percent for the past eighteen months Sir John said that he believed that it would rise to 2.5 percent within the space of a year.

Sir John’s warning sparked fears that homeowners would once again find themselves in financial dire straits as a result of rising mortgage repayments, and Lilico’s warning is said to be even more worrying. He said that the current average mortgage interest rate of 4 percent had helped to protect homeowners from the effects of the economic downturn to some degree. However, he also stated that if the bate rate did increase to 8 percent then homeowners would end up paying an average 11.5 percent interest.

Market research firms Markit and YouGov have both recently reported that household finances in the UK came under increased strain for the month of August, with all areas of household finances said to have suffered. A survey of two thousand households was carried out and the results showed how households were coming under increased financial strain.

According to the survey results households were increasingly worried about losing their jobs despite the fact that the recession has now been over for some time. Another factor that appeared to be worrying many people was the higher cost of living, which was also impacting heavily on household finances.

Whilst the economy is growing following the recent recession the Household Finance Index has indicated that consumers do not appear to be feeling the benefits of this growth. Around 30 percent of households that were polled said that their financial situations had become worse whereas only 6 percent said that they had seen improvement in their household finances.

Almost 69 percent of households also reported that the cost of their goods and services had increased in August compared to July, and these costs are said to have reached the highest level in eighteen months which is when the survey first began. An economist from Markit, Tim Moore, said that the upturn in the economy had done nothing to improve the downturn in household finances.

A recent drop in inflation resulted in the Bank of England stating that it was not overly concerned about rising prices. However, based on evidence from this research this level of confidence does not seem to have reached consumers, with 86 percent of respondents stating that they were expecting an increase in their cost of living.

The recent spending cuts that were outlined by the chancellor, George Osborne, have also impacted on consumer confidence with regards to job security, and the survey results showed that 22 percent of private sector workers has experienced a drop in job security compared to just 6 percent who said that they now had greater job security.

For most people having a job is something that provides them with a sense of purpose, security, and most importantly an income to enable them to live their lives. For many people it has become increasingly difficult to make ends meet financially despite having a full time job, and this is a situation that has become worse over recent years given that the cost of living has soared compared with any increases in pay.
According to one recent report many people are now seeing a large chunk of their income disappear due to the costs involved in simply getting to work. Amongst the things that people are having to pay for in order to be able to take on a full time job are commuting, food, childcare, and clothing, not to mention any social events linked to work, which many people feel obliged to attend.
Experts have indicated that on average workers are shelling out around one third of their income on costs involved in actually going to work in the first place, which means that over 30 percent of the average income is already gone before workers even have a chance to enjoy it. Research has shown that the average amount spent by workers on costs relating to going to work is £5,796 a year.
This figure means that one third of the average income of £18,897 is being spent on work related costs. Childcare is said to be the biggest financial commitment, costing on average around £3816 per year. Lunches are costing workers an average of £780 per year, and clothes cost an average of £325 a year.
The high price involved in going to work has now resulted in more and more people looking for part time work or for work where they can operate from home or enjoy more flexible hours. Over the past three decades the number of people working from home part time has increased by more than 100 percent, and a number of firms that allow flexible, home working such as household catalogue Kleeneze have announced huge increases in job applications and enquiries.

It has been predicted by industry experts that the mortgage market in the UK for the remainder of this year is set to be slow, even though there was an increase in mortgage loans for the month of July. Around £13.6 billion was lent in new mortgages for the month of July according to the Council of Mortgage Lenders, and gross mortgage lending, which includes those remortgaging as well as those taking new mortgages, also increased in July compared to the previous month.
However, although July saw an increase in mortgage lending compared to the previous month the CML said that lending was still down by around 3 percent compared to the same period last year, and that the market remained subdued. The CML added that whilst there had been some degree of recovery in the property and mortgage markets in the last half of 2009 this had ‘run out of steam’ at the start of this year.
The mortgage market has experienced a slowdown recently due to lack of activity from buyers, which has made a big difference to the situation compared to a year ago. Due to this slowdown in activity, partly fuelled by ongoing restrictions in the mortgage markets and continued demands from lenders for high deposit levels, the CML had revised its forecast for mortgage lending for the remainder of this year.
The forecast for gross mortgage lending for this year has now been revised to £140 billion by the CML, which said that mortgage lending levels for the remainder of this year would be slower than had originally been anticipated based on lending levels for the year so far. A number of other industry groups have mirrored the views of the CML when it comes to gross mortgage lending and buyer activity for the remainder of this year.
Both the Royal Institute of Chartered Surveyors and the Home Builders’ Federation have reported a fall in new buyer enquiries compared to new seller instructions, and reported that the number of site visits and new reservations had both fallen.

Figures have shown that inflation levels in the UK have fallen slightly in July, slipping marginally from 3.2 percent to 3.1 percent. Whilst the rate of inflation has fallen the level of inflation is still way above the target for the government which is just 2 percent.
Although there has been a slight fall in the level of inflation experts have said that higher food bills are keeping inflation way higher than the Bank of England base rate. The figures were released by the Office for National Statistics, which also showed that between June and July of this year the cost of price increased by 0.7 percent.
The increase in food prices between June and July was said to be the highest in two years. However, the ONS said that during the same period petrol prices and the cost of second hand cars had dropped, and this had helped to bring the overall inflation figure down slightly compared to June.
According to reports most industry experts had been predicting and expecting this outcome, and therefore the information has come as no surprise to many. It is unlikely, therefore, that the Bank of England will change its outlook and plans for the economy, as least at the moment, as a result of these figures.
Mervyn King, the governor of the Bank of England, has said that it is likely that inflation will remain above target until the end of next year, and this is due to factors such as the VAT hike introduced by the new coalition government, which will see the level of VAT increased from 17.5 percent to 20 percent from next year.
As is the rule the governor of the central bank has had to write another letter to the chancellor, George Osborne, explaining why inflation remains more than 1 percent above the government’s 2 percent target. However, one economist said that King would have been able to blame temporary factors for the elevated level of inflation thus playing down its importance to some degree.

It has been claimed that asking prices on properties in the UK have been falling recently as a result of sellers trying to drum up interest from prospective buyers during the holidays. The results of a survey have indicated that buyer interest may have fallen during the holidays, and to try and combat this problem some sellers have lowered the asking price on their properties.
The survey was carried out by property website Right Move, and according to its figures new property listings have outweighed mortgage approvals by 5:2, showing how the number of sellers coming onto the market is by far outstripping the number of buyers that are interested in buying or are able to get a mortgage.
Things have got even worse for sellers over recent weeks because not only has there been a drop in buyer interest but many would be buyers are now taking their summer holidays, which means many of those that might have been interested are not around to express an interest. This has created an ever larger over-supply in the housing sector, and has resulted in asking prices falling in the month leading to August 7th.
Research by Right Move found that the average asking price in the UK had fallen from £236,332 a month earlier to £232,241. A spokesperson for Right Move said that there needed to be a surge in interest for asking prices to increase. However, she added that with the ongoing restrictions on mortgages, continued demands for higher deposits, and lower consumer confidence it was unlikely that this surge would appear for the foreseeable future.
The West Midlands is said to have seen the biggest fall in asking prices, with a drop of 4.4 percent. This was closely followed by London, where asking prices are said to have dropped by 4.1 percent. With no sign of any marked improvement in mortgage availability some industry professionals believe that this trend could continue for some time.
The survey was carried out following reports from the Royal Institute of Chartered Surveyors, claiming that property prices had started to fall in July.

According to the consumer watchdog Consumer Focus there has been a surge in the number of people taking out payday loans, which are short term loans for relatively low amounts designed to tide the borrower over until payday. The watchdog said that whilst running short of cash before payday had always been a common problem amongst workers the number of people taking out these loans had increased.
Since 1996 the number of people that have taken out these payday loans is said to have quadrupled, and this is despite the fact that some of these companies charge astonishing rates of interest, with some charging APRs of around 2500 percent. Consumer Focus has now called for a greater number of safeguards to be brought in to try and provide consumers with increased protection.
Sarah Brooks from Consumer Focus said that there was nothing wrong with payday loans essentially, and that consumers were far better off taking out one of these loans than going to a loan shark if they desperately needed some money over a short period. However, she added that there needed to be a limit on the number of payday loans that people were allowed to take out and also caps on the number of times that they could roll over the loan to the next month.
Each year around 1.2 million people take out payday loans according to Consumer Focus, and collectively they borrow £1.2 billion. These loans have proven very effective for many people who have run out of cash before payday comes around and then have an unexpected financial emergency for which they need to raise money.
Whilst the APR charged by some payday lenders can be high experts believe that consumers could find it cheaper to opt for a payday loan than to borrow on a credit card or unauthorised overdraft providing they repay the payday loan on time within the one month period. However, if the loan is not paid back on time and the borrower keeps rolling it over the charges can quickly add up and this is where the loans become increasingly expensive.

The second quarter of this year has seen a fall in the number of repossessions according to recently released figures, and this has caused industry groups to revise their repossession predictions for the remainder of the year. The Council of Mortgage Lenders has stated that there were 400 fewer repossessions in the second quarter of this year compared to the first quarter, with the total number of repossessions for the three months to June coming in at 9400.
Having reached a peak of over 12,000 in September of last year repossession levels have been steadily falling now for the past three quarters, and many believe that this is partly due to the base interest rate being so low. The base rate has now been at its all time low of just 0.5 percent for eighteen months, and this has resulted in far lower monthly mortgage repayments for many homeowners, thus reducing the risk of repossession through failure to keep up with mortgage repayments.
There was also a fall in the number of mortgages that were in arrears in the second quarter of the year, with figures falling by 5 percent to 178,200 by the end of June. However, despite the encouraging figures the Council of Mortgage Lenders has said that the situation is a long way from being given the all clear, adding that factors that could adversely affect figures included reduced government support for mortgage payments, the prospect of higher rates, and the possibility of increased job losses.
The Council of Mortgage Lenders has decided that the drop in repossessions and mortgages in arrears does warrant a revision of its overall repossession prediction for this year. It has downwardly revised its forecast for the total number of repossessions for 2010 from 53,000 to 39,000 based on the figures for the first half of the year.
The mortgage group also added that whilst lender support had enabled some homeowners to avoid losing their homes there were various factors that could tip them over the edge, as their situations had not improved enough to get them out of the situation that they were in.

Following reports from a large number of estate agents that property prices in the UK had fallen for the first time in a year are said to have sparked further fears of a double dip recession. Earlier this week the majority of estate agents reported property price falls for the first time in a year, and whilst the recent recession may be over this has resulted in increased concern over a double dip recession occurring.
The Royal Institute of Chartered Surveyors has reported that just as the number of properties coming onto the market has started to increase the level of demand from potential buyers has started falling. Compared to the combined total of estate agents that reported stable or rising prices in July around 8 percent more reported falls in house prices, according to RICS.
Industry experts are now concerned that the falling house prices will adversely impact on consumer confidence levels, as is generally the trend, and this will have a knock on effect on the wide economy bringing it closer to the double dip recession that so many people had been concerned about.
One of the reasons behind the rising number of properties being put onto the market for sale is said to be the scrapping of the controversial Home Information Packs, which was a decision made by the coalition government shortly after it came into power. However, despite a rise in the number of properties coming onto the market a lack of finance availability and low consumer confidence has led to a decrease in demand from buyers.
A spokesperson from RICS said that this combination had led to property prices falling, and that the group expected this trend to continue over the remainder of this year. He did add, however, that estate agents were still optimistic about sales levels because the more realistic pricing of properties could help to increase buyer interest. A major obstacle that could hinder buyer interest, he added, was refusal to grant mortgage loans by some lenders, many of which are still be extremely cautious over lending.

As part of the coalition government’s plan to cut the public deficit credit reference agencies could be brought on board to try and help catch benefits and cut the amount of money that is being handed out to those that are not even entitled to it. The cost to the taxpayer for benefit cheats and overpayments comes to a staggering £5.2 billion a year, and the government hopes that by using the resources and experience of credit reference agencies it can help to slash the figure.

Experian, one of the main credit reference agencies in the UK, has confirmed that it is already in talks with ministers over helping to identify benefit thieves in a deal that could see the agency getting paid based on the number of benefit thieves it uncovers. These firms are able to monitor the spending patterns of consumers based on things such as credit card spending and bill payments.

The Prime Minister, David Cameron, has also stated that tougher penalties are to be brought in for those found guilty of benefit fraud and more convictions would be made with regards to this issue. Experian employees said that they already have a contract to scrutinise new housing benefit claimants, and this was a deal that had been set up with the former Labour government and had saved £17 million of taxpayers’ money.

Experian has now said that this contract could be extended to allow it to look at claimants for other sorts of benefits, with the aim of picking up on suspicious claims and identifying those that were claiming for benefits that they were not entitled to. The firm added that by using “simple cost-effective and proven fraud prevention techniques” it could save a massive £1 billion.

The Work and Pensions Minister Chris Grayling has said that agencies such as these hold huge amounts of valuable data that could make a big impact on beating benefit fraud. He said that the government was introducing payment by results where the government would pay agencies that were getting the job done.

A motoring group has recently issued a warning over petrol prices in the UK, stating that petrol prices are set to continue soaring, and could reach record highs by the New Year. Many motorists have been struggling to keep their vehicles on the road as a result of the high cost of petrol but according to the warnings things are not set to get any better in the foreseeable future.
The prediction has been made by the Retail Motor Industry Independent Petrol Retailers Association (RMI Petrol). The group claims that the cost of petrol is set to soar by a further 8 percent by the start of next year, putting even more pressure on the many motorists who are already struggling due to the rising costs of running a car.
Based on the percentage increase this could see the cost of petrol rising to close to £1.26 per litre, breaking the current record. RMI Petrol represents around two thirds of the nine thousand petrol forecourt sites in Britain, and the group has predicted that the price of petrol will increase to 125.9 pence a litre, soaring past the current record of 121.61 pence per litre.
According to RMI Petrol world oil price increases coupled with expected increases in currency movements will be the combination of factors that will result in the increase in petrol prices. The forthcoming rise in VAT, which is set to take place next year, combined with planned increases in fuel duty have also been taken into account.
Brian Madderson from RMI Petrol said that although the increases in the cost of crude oil would come as a disappointment for motorists it was not entirely unexpected. He added that the increases would quickly feed through to the supply chain and could result in petrol prices going up by several pence per litre in the next three weeks.
Madderson went on to state that the planned VAT hike of 2.5 percent, which was announced in the emergency budget by chancellor George Osborne, would also put further pressure on petrol prices and motorists in the UK.

Official figures that were recently released have shown that personal insolvencies in England and Wales have dropped by 3 percent, marking the first fall in personal insolvencies since 2007, which is when the global financial crisis made its way to the UK.
In the second quarter of this year the number of personal insolvencies recorded came to 34,743, and this marked a 3 percent drop compared to the first quarter of the year. The insolvencies included bankruptcies, debt relief orders, and Individual Voluntary Arrangements.
There was also a fall in the number of businesses that were being declared insolvent in the second quarter of the year, with 1,311 business going insolvent, which was a drop of 2 percent compared to the first quarter of the year. Compared to the same period last year the number of corporate insolvencies for the second quarter of the year was down by 14 percent.
According to industry experts the number of insolvencies, both personal and corporate, are now going into a gentle decline as the economy continues its recovery following the recent recession. However, one industry professional said that whilst the decline in insolvencies was good news the UK’s economy was not out of the woods yet and some industries were still in danger of failing.
The first quarter of this year saw personal insolvencies reach a record high of 35,682 as individuals took action to sort out their finances after struggling through the financial crisis and the recession. In the last quarter of 2007 the number of personal insolvencies stood at 23,830 and has been rising since that time.
Accountancy firm HW Fisher said that although it was encouraging that bankruptcies were down people should not be misled by this. The firm said that many people are still stretched financially, and the recent spending cuts that were announced by the chancellor, George Osborne, could have a further detrimental effect on the economy and on jobs.
The Money Advice Trust also highlighted the fact that insolvency levels were now far higher than they were a decade ago, with the number of insolvencies in the first half of 2000 standing at 15,369 compared to 70,425 insolvencies in the first half of this year.

Outcome of case could see more customers suing utility companies
The outcome of a recent landmark case could result in a rise in the number of consumers suing utility companies such as energy suppliers for blunders according to a recent report. The claim comes after a consumer won a landmark case where he won £2,000 in compensation from British Gas.
The compensation was paid to the customer after he complained that he had been forced to waste his work time because he was trying to sort out a series of problems and blunders that were not his fault. The consumer was self employed, and because of the problems that he experienced claimed that he had lost time and money trying to get things sorted out.
It may now be that anyone who is self employed, or an employee, and can prove that they lost time and money as a result of trying to sort out such problems could also be entitled to claim compensation. The consumer in this landmark case, Barry Payling, said that he experienced two years of errors and blunders from British Gas, and finally threatened to sue the energy giant.
Amongst the problems that Payling experienced were inaccurate bills, debt collectors being sent to the door to collect money that he didn’t owe, and letters asking his mother if she wanted to sign up for energy supplies even though she had passed away. Payling became so exasperated that he logged every phone call and letter that he made or sent to the energy supplier and then billed the company for loss of earnings.
The consumer had been planning to go to county court to recover his losses from British Gas that he believed he was entitled to, but was pleased to receive a letter and a cheque from British Gas for just over £2,000, which was the amount that he had been planning to ask for in the county court. Payling said that the supplier clearly thought that he had a valid claim or simply did not think that it was worth being dragged through the courts.

Following the August Monetary Policy Committee meeting the Bank of England has announced that the base rate is to remain on hold for yet another month, marking the eighteenth consecutive month where the base rate has remained at its lowest level in the history of the Bank of England.
The fact that the Monetary Policy Committee decided to keep the base rate at the record low of just 0.5 percent for an eighteenth month has suggested that members of the committee are not yet viewing high inflation as a serious problem or concern. Inflation remains way above the government’s 2 percent target, although the central bank doe expect it to fall closer to the target over the course of this year.
The Bank of England also confirmed that the quantitative easing scheme that was launched by the former Labour government would remain on hold, although nothing was said to indicate that the scheme would not be used again in the future should the need arise. Last year the Labour government pumped £200 billion into the economy through quantitative easing in a bid to improve the economy and restore confidence.
The bank’s decision has been largely welcomed by industry groups and officials, with many stating that it is important to keep interest rates low in the current climate in order to further aid economic recovery across the UK. The British Chambers of Commerce said that the MPC had made the right decision in keeping the base rate on hold.
The BCC added that whilst the deficit measures that have been taken by the coalition government are necessary they are bound to have an adverse effect on the economy, and this has made it all the more important to keep the base rate at rock bottom. The group went onto to state that the MPC needed to hold interest rates at this level until at least the second quarter of next year.
Some industry experts had been speculating over an increase in the base rate stemming from concerns over inflation levels, but other now believe that it will be well into next year before the base rate is increased.

Recent figures show that although the number of UK mortgage products has risen, the rationing of mortgages is continuing by UK banks, with lenders still being very cautious over loans for those looking to borrow money to buy a new home as well as those looking to remortgage. Despite preparing to report huge profits banks are still rationing mortgages according to data, making it difficult for anyone that wants to buy a new home, move house, or remortgage.

According to figures the number of mortgage deals available has risen over the course of this year, and has gone up from 1414 in January to 2351 at present, reflecting an increase of 66 percent so far this year. However, despite this encouraging increase many of the lenders offering these deals are still demanding high deposits, making it difficult for borrowers to be able to take up these deals.

The figures have shown that 58 percent of the mortgage deals still available on the market are demanding a deposit of at least 25 percent of the property value, which for many people, especially first time buyers, is a level that is way out of reach. Only 8 percent of the mortgages that are currently available on the market will settle for a deposit of 10 percent, and even this is an amount that is difficult to raise for many first time buyers.

There has been some improvement according to industry officials in terms of some mortgages and lenders that previously required at least a 40 percent deposit were now settling for a 25 percent deposit. Officials have said that the market is becoming more competitive and this has resulted in lenders dropping deposit demands from 40 percent to 25 percent.

However, despite this mortgage availability still remains very tough for some would be buyers, and deposit levels are still too high for them to consider buying a property. Many of the best deals still require a deposit of at least 25 percent, which means that those with less than this by way of deposit either have to settle for a less competitive deal or may not be able to get a mortgage at all.

Banks across the UK have been issued with a stark warning from the Chancellor of the Exchequer and the Business Secretary, with the two senior government officials warning that banks must start lending to businesses again. The issue over banks lending to businesses has been a huge concern for government officials for some time, as following the global financial crisis many banks tightened their lending to a point where businesses were struggling to get the finance that they needed to stay afloat.
With small and medium sized businesses seen as vital to fuel economic growth the government is now keen to see businesses being able to access the finance and credit that they need from the UK’s banks. The chancellor, George Osborne, stated recently that businesses must be allowed to borrow money from banks. His warning came as the biggest banks in Britain prepared to announce massive profits of more than £8 billion.
Osborne went on to state that the banks had an ‘economic obligation’ to lend money to struggling businesses that needed the finance. He also said that the government would not stand for the banks putting pressure on small businesses, which are seen as the backbone of the economy and crucial to the recovery of the economy following the recent long, deep recession.
Mr Osborne went as far as to say that if banks decided to put their money into paying huge bonuses to bankers rather than investing it in small businesses the government may consider introducing legally binding targets when it comes to business lending.
The chancellor was backed up by the Business Secretary Vince Cable, who said that unless banks started to lend to businesses again economic recovery would be ’stillborn’. He said that lenders would putting real pressure on small and medium sized businesses, with some charging far higher rates, others demanding more security from businesses, and some refusing to lend to businesses altogether.
Cable said that banks could not be allowed to stifle economic recovery by stubbornly refusing to lend to businesses, and both he and the chancellor are concerned that the return to profits for the banks could mean a return to huge bonuses rather than an increase in lending to businesses.

It has been announced that the coalition government has slashed Child Trust Fund payments in England, and babies that are born from now on will no longer be entitled to the full Child Trust Fund payment. Until now a voucher for £250 has been handed to the parents of newborn babies with the purpose of investing the money for the future of the child.
The Child Trust Fund was created back in 2002, and under the scheme babies have received a voucher for £250 when born, plus a further £250 when the child reaches the age of seven. The scheme was designed to ensure that parents invested money for the future of the child and to encourage them to save more money that could help the child with education and their future.
Parents, friend, and family of the child have been allowed to save up to £1200 more per year in the account as part of the Child Trust Fund without the income being hit by tax. However, as part of its measures to cut back on spending and slash the public deficit the coalition government has now stated that the Child Trust Fund payments are now to be slashed.
From this week the payment will be slashed to just £50 or for low income families will be £100 – previously low income families received £500 to invest for their newborn baby. The government has also scrapped any top up payment on the child’s seventh birthday in England.
The government has said that any Child Trust Funds that were set up previously will remain untouched, and parents will be able to continue putting money into these schemes. The scheme will be abolished at the end of the year, and officials believe that the government will save £320 million over 2010 and 2011 rising to £520 million in 2011-2012.
Critics have, however, stated that the government is being short sighted by scrapping the scheme, adding that this could affect the future of many kids who would have found the investment to be a welcome boost when they were older.

Although it is a relatively new player in the banking sector supermarket giant Tesco has found itself in hot water after it emerged that the personal and financial details of dozens of customers have gone astray. According to reports the detail of the customers were sent unprotected in the post by Tesco banking staff despite the fact that the data was sensitive and personal, and the documentation has now gone missing.
The customers affected by the security breach from Tesco are now at increased risk of fraud if the information falls into the wrong hands. It is also claimed that the customers’ whose personal data has gone missing were already in a dispute with Tesco bank over charges for the controversial payment protection insurance (PPI) on credit cards.
The papers that were sent unprotected in the standard post contained the names, addresses, and account details of the customers, and with so many people worried about falling victim to identity theft and fraud these days the loss will cause uproar amongst customers of the supermarket bank, particularly those that may have been affected by the security breach.
It is thought that the detail of thirty nine customers in total have been lost as a result of the information being put into the standard post. The documents were being send between offices in Manchester and Glasgow, but given the sensitive and personal nature of the information contained in the documents should not have been put in the standard post without any protection.
Tesco officials have laid the blame at the door of a service provider, although it has failed to provide any names. The details are thought to have been posted by a staff member from the Royal Bank of Scotland who was working as a contractor for Tesco bank.
Tesco is said to have been aware of the data loss in June, and since that time has contacted the customers that have been affected and offered them two years of free insurance against any losses or damages that may arise as a result of the loss of data.

The UK government has confirmed that the default retirement age in the UK is to be scrapped, with the retirement age no longer to be in force from October of next year. This means that employers will no longer be able to dismiss employees based on them reaching the default retirement age of sixty five, so those that wish to continue with their jobs and are competent enough to continue will be able to do so even after they have reached the age of sixty five.
Many lobbyists who have been calling for the default retirement age to be scrapped for some time have welcomed the decision, branding it a victory against ageism. Many workers will also be pleased to learn that their employer will not be able to force them to retire at sixty five if they do not wish to do so.
Under current regulations workers can be forced to retire at the age of sixty five without their employer having to pay them any form of financial compensation. Employers are obliged to hold a meeting with employees six months prior to them reaching the default retirement age, but that is the only real obligation that they have in this respect.
The government has already started a consultation process with regards to the scrapping of the rule, and it is thought that the changes could start to take place as early as April of next year given that employers have to give their employees six months notice of terminating their employment based on retirement age.
The Employees Forum on Age said that the decision was wonderful news, and it would put an end to the ‘unfair’ process of being forced out of their jobs simply due to their age, even if they still wished to and were able to continue with their work. The decision was also welcomed by the charity Age UK, which has been at the forefront of trying to get the default retirement age scrapped.
With people now living longer the government hopes that the scrapping of the default retirement age will encourage people to live for longer, and will enable workers to fund their lifestyles for longer rather than being forced into retirement and losing their income.

A recent report has suggested that the end could be in sight for sales of Payment Protection Insurance with financial products by banks, after one major High Street bank decided to throw in the towel with regards to selling this controversial insurance cover. It was announced by the High Street banking giant Lloyds TSB that it is no longer offering PPI cover with its loan products, and that it has now withdrawn sales of PPI with its financial products across all of its subsidiaries.
Lloyds TSB, and its subsidiaries, which include Cheltenham & Gloucester, Halifax, and Bank of Scotland, will no longer be selling PPI, (Payment Protection Insurance), with any of its financial products, and many industry observers believe that this could be a move that is mirrored by other major financial institutions, spelling the end of the sale of the product with financial products and services.
PPI is a type of insurance cover that is designed to provide protection by covering repayment on loans and credit for a specified period of time in the event that the policyholder cannot meet repayments due to sickness, injury, or redundancy. The cover can prove valuable to those that want peace of mind against falling behind with their repayments as a result of unforeseen circumstances.
However, over recent years this type of cover has been widely mis-sold, which is something that has been highlighted as a result of recent investigations. It was revealed that in many cases those that had been sold PPI by financial institutions alongside financial products had been sold the cover despite not wanting it, not being eligible to claim on it, and in some cases not even knowing about it.
Industry experts and campaigners against mis-sold PPI have welcomed the move by Lloyds TSB to stop selling the cover alongside its financial products, and are hoping that other financial and banking giants will follow suit so that an end can be brought to the mis-selling of this often costly cover. The cover has become a huge money spinner for banks and financial institutions over recent years, and has been slated by many campaigners, consumers, and industry groups.

A property information specialist has stated recently that property prices in the UK will continue to fall over the second half of this year. A report from Hometrack claims that property prices saw a fall for the month of July and will continue to fall over the second half of this year.
The average home is said to have seen its value fall by 0.1 percent according to the report from the property specialist, which added that this was the first house price fall that it had seen in fifteen months. Hometrack surveys estate agents across England and Wales in order to produce its reports and information.
The company said that following polls with estate agents it had become clear that the number of sellers had been increasing and the number of buyers on the market had been falling. This is a trend that has been reflected in a number of different reports recently, where the trend has shown rising property sellers on the market compared with a drop in property purchases resulting from a range of factors.
It has been predicted that interest rates will remain low for some time to come, and that lenders will cut their mortgage interest rates. However, Hometrack believes that the effects of house price falls will still be felt in the latter half of the year. House prices have already been inching down because of increased supply compared to decreased demand for property.
An official from Hometrack said that levels of demand for property had been slowing down over the past five months, and as the demand for property continued to slow there would inevitably be a drop in the value of properties in the UK. He said that as the number of properties being put onto the market continued to rise and the number of buyers continued to fall house prices would take a knock.
He report from Hometrack also showed that for the month of July the proportion of the asking prices that sellers were receiving on their property sales dropped slightly to 94 percent from 94.3 percent.

Figures have shown that there has been a drop in mortgage lending by banks in the UK for the month of June. Mortgage lending by major bank in the UK is said to have fallen in June compared to the previous month according to figures from the British Banker’s Association.
Officials from the British Banker’s Association said that the figure for mortgage loans given out for property purchases fell to 34,813 during the month of June. The BBA did state, however, that whilst mortgage lending had fallen since May the lending levels were still around 4.1 percent higher than they were a year ago.
The BBA also pointed out that consumers were continuing to repay more of their unsecured debts than they were spending on credit cards, Personal loans, and overdrafts. The drop in mortgage lending may have come a surprise to some, as at the same time there was a flurry of increased activity in the property market as more sellers put their homes on the market, partly due to the abolition of Home Information Packs, which were scrapped after the new coalition government came into power.
A recent report from HM Revenue and Customs also confirmed that there had been an increase in activity in the property market recently due to the increase in the number of homeowners putting their properties up for sale. Sales figures were said to be the highest this year, and were up by 15 percent compared to the same period the previous year.
The BBA figures indicated that despite the increased activity from sellers the number of buyers could continue to drop, with Home loans having already fallen in June from the 36,418 Home loans seen in May. For many people the prospect of buying a property has been hampered because of lack of mortgage availability and the high deposits that are still being demanded by lenders.
A report from the Bank of England that was released recently has also warned that the level of mortgage availability from lenders in the UK could continue to fall over the coming few months.