According to data released by the government, home ownership levels in the UK have now dropped to their lowest levels in more than two decades, as first time buyers continue to struggle to get onto the first rung of the property ladder and a rising number of people are forced into renting homes because of the situation in the mortgage and property markets.

The report shows that homeownership levels are now at their lowest levels since 1988, which is nearly a quarter of a century – a time when Margaret Thatcher was still Prime Minister and was promising to turn Britain into a “property-owning democracy”. However, this promise is becoming less and less likely, as homeownership levels continue to plunge and more and more people find themselves paying dead money on rental property.

The proportion of owner occupiers in Britain is now said to have fallen to 66% according to the official figures. It is thought that next month the property market will face a fresh challenge that will further affect homeownership levels, as the stamp duty holiday for first time buyers comes to an end, which could mean fewer property sales and transactions as more people turn to renting again.

It is not only the fact that many first time buyers are unable to get onto the property ladder that is affecting homeownership levels according to reports but also the fact that some homeowners are being forced to sell up because of their personal and financial situations, which is lowering owner occupier levels. With lenders demanding higher deposits from buyers and restricting mortgages since the global financial crisis, homeownership levels have taken a further hit over recent years.

The report also showed that in the 1980′s the average age of a first time buyer was 25 but this has now increased to 37, reflecting the difficulties that young people are now experiencing when it comes to buying a home. Property values have also impacted on homeownership levels, with property prices having soared over the past decade compared to earnings.

Banks have been told that they will have to improve their services for personal account customers or they will face a shakeup that will be enforced by authorities. The stark warning has been issued by the Office of Fair Trading, which claims that banks have not made enough effort with regards to making improvements to services such as making it easier for customers to switch their bank accounts.

According to reports there have been a number of investigations that have been carried out to look more closely at personal banking services across the UK. However, little is thought to have changed as a result of these investigations. The head of the OFT, John Fingleton, has now said that he wants to see evidence that customer focused competition was being provided by the banking sector, adding that competition had failed to function well in this sector for far too long.

He said that a number of authorities and consumer groups had been involved in trying to resolve this issue for over a decade, yet still the problem had not been resolved. Fingleton said that even in cases where positive effects had been seen, progress have been far too slow and there were still many concerns about how this sector was performing in terms of competition. He went on to state that if changes were not made a ‘more radical approach’ would need to be considered.

The OFT has now said that if the banking sector could not make changes to improve services for personal account customers, it would suggest that the fault lay with the fact that competition was not great enough with a handful of banking giants monopolising the sector. This could therefore mean that an investigation would need to be launched by the Competition Commission if changes are not forthcoming.

A number of reports released over the past decade, including the Cruikshank report, have raised concerns over the lack of competition in the banking sector. It has been pointed out that things such as understanding charging structures and switching accounts has been made all the more difficult by the lack of competition in this sector.

Once again the cost of renting a home in England and Wales has seen an increase, with property experts stating that rents rose again for the month of January. A survey that was carried out by LSL Property Services indicated that the average rent increased by 0.1% in January compared to December, bringing the average monthly rent in England and Wales to £712 per month.

This is the first time that the firm has seen rental costs increase in the month of January, reflecting the difficult situation that renters are now finding themselves in. Many are renting because they are unable to save up an adequate deposit to buy their own home but with rents at this level they are stuck in a situation where they are unable to put any money aside because it is all going on rental costs.

The West Midlands is said to have seen the steepest increases along with the South West whilst the biggest declined were recorded in the South East and Wales. In London the average rent increased by 0.8% taking the average monthly rental cost to £1032. The North East, on the other hand, now has the cheapest average monthly rent, which now stands at £512.

Tenant had been trying to take advantage of the usually quiet January period, which had resulted in a flurry of activity during what was traditionally a very quiet month for the property rental market. Over the Christmas period the severe falls that were normally expected at that time of the year had been prevented as a result of ongoing demand and increased competition for property.

Many of those who have moved into rented accommodation are keen to get onto the property ladder themselves but with lenders still demanding a pretty high deposit in most cases, this is proving extremely difficult, particularly for first time buyers who are now stuck paying extremely high rents leaving them with no way to save towards a deposit.

The average price of diesel hit 143.05p a litre, according to the motor industry organisation ‘Retail Motor Industry’ (RMI), and warns of the risk of hundreds of smaller fuel retailers going out of business as already squeezed profit margins are squeezed even tighter.
The RMI believes that unfair pricing and predatory pricing tactics by certain supermarkets and crude oil companies is driving smaller independent operators out of business of between 250 to 300 filling stations a year.

The organisation has also prompted calls for the Chancellor to scrap his planned fuel duty rise in the budget next month.
With crude oil prices rising and refineries closing, the pressure on supply could mean higher fuel prices by Easter.
They believe three pence a litre further rise in fuel duty expected in the Spring Budget, will add further strain on both consumers and businesses.
Economists are also concerned that any further prices increases could do real damage to the already fragile rate of inflation.

The RMI has called for an investigation by the Office of Fair Trading (OFT) into the UK fuel market.

The average price of diesel is now 143.05p a litre
The average price of petrol at the pumps was 135p a litre

Fuel duty already stands at 57.95p per litre, which is already among the highest in Europe.

The Freight Transport Association has also joined the calls for the fuel duty increase to be scrapped, saying that it should in fact reduce the tax by 5p of more per litre in order to help kick-start the economy.

Motoring organisation the AA has calculated that the fuel bill for a two car family has increased by £5.84 per month in the last six weeks.

A drop in the rate of inflation to below 4% has brought some long awaited good news for savers in the UK, some of whom will finally be able to access savings account that offer an actual return. This comes after years of suffering for savers who have found their hard earned cash stuck in savings accounts that offer little to nothing by way to returns and have found themselves stuck with limited options when it comes to making their savings work for them.

The drop in the rate of inflation means that there are now seven standard savings accounts that are paying out an actual rate of return. Although this is not a huge number of accounts, it is an impressive increase from last month when there were no accounts paying a real rate of return.

In order to beat the erosion caused by rising prices, those paying a basic rate of tax need to find a savings account that offers interest of at least 4.5% per year. There are now seven accounts that do offer this, which is great news for basic taxpayers. The banks that are offering inflation beating rates are: State Bank of India, Saga, Leeds building society, M Savings, the AA, Vanquish Bank, and Clydesdale Bank.

There are, however, still some savers that are going to experience continued issues. The average rate of interest being paid on no-notice accounts is still only 0.92%, and at present no instant access accounts or cash ISAs offer a rate of interest to beat inflation.

The news is not good for higher rate taxpayers either, who would need to find account that paid at least 5.99% interest per year in order to beat inflation. At present there are no accounts on the market that offer this, other than tax free ISAs.

One industry expert said that the fact that there were now a handful of accounts offering real returns on savers’ money was good news but added that seven accounts was a drop in the ocean considering there were 1100 standard savings accounts on the market in total.

A move by High Street mortgage lenders indicates the coming of a fresh crackdown by lenders when it comes to interest only mortgages. It is expected that hundreds of thousands of people who are on interest only mortgages at the moment are going to struggle to get a new deal or move home without being forced into taking on a repayment mortgage.

Tougher lending checks are being put into place, as the banking industry continues to try and shield itself from ongoing risks in the financial markets. There are already huge concerns about whether or how those whose interest only mortgages are set to come to an end over the coming decade will pay the capital on their Home loans.

Many of those who took out interest only mortgages prior to the financial crisis were relying on factors such as house price growth, endowments or even inheritance to repay the capital at the end of the interest only term but many will find themselves in a very difficult position when the time comes to pay the actual loan.

Santander, which is the second largest mortgage lender in Britain, has recently started demanding a deposit of 50% from those who want to take out an interest only loan – a demand that very few will be able to meet. Just four years ago, the same bank was dishing out interest only mortgage loans to people without any deposit, reflecting how much the mortgage market – and the banking industry’s outlook – has changed in the space of just a few years.

Before the financial crisis hit, one third of those taking out a mortgage were opting for interest only deals, which were easily accessible from a variety of lenders. The big attraction behind these loans was that the monthly payments were much lower because they did not include any of the capital on the loan. However, it is thought that around 1.5 million could now face huge issues over the coming decade as their interest only mortgage term ends and they find themselves in a position where they are unable to pay off the capital on the loan.

The banking industry has recently confirmed that there has been a surge in mortgages to first time buyers, as the end of the stamp duty holiday gets closer. At present, the stamp duty break means that first time buyers are able to avoid paying stamp duty on properties costing less than £250,000 – the previous threshold for avoiding stamp duty was just half this, standing at £125,000. However, this tax break is set to come to an end on 24th March, which means that the threshold will fall back down to its original level of £125,000.

The chancellor, George Osborne, has said that the reason behind scrapping the stamp duty holiday is that it has been largely ineffective in helping first time buyers to get onto the property ladder, namely because they have far greater obstacles to overcome such as being able to scrape together a large enough deposit to get a mortgage in the first place.

First time buyers were warned recently not to rush into property purchasing and trying to rush transactions through simply because the stamp duty holiday is set to come to an end. However, lenders have confirmed recently that there has been a surge in loans to first time buyers recently, with December figures rising significantly compared to November’s.

The Council of Mortgage Lenders has released data showing that its members advanced 18,700 loans to new home purchasers in December, which was an increase of 7% compared to November. The value of the loans was £2.3 billion in total, which reflected an increase of 10% compared to November. However, the overall number of loans for home purchases came in at 2% lower than the previous month, coming in at 28,700. The CML did confirm that overall lending last year increased for the first time since the onset of the global financial crisis back in 2007.

CML director-general Paul Smee said that there was a risk that lending levels over the course of 2012 could end up being lower than those seen last year because of the ongoing eurozone problems.

Data that has been released by the Department for Work and Pensions has indicated that many elderly people in the UK may still be missing out on a range of benefits to which they may be entitled, which includes the cold weather payments that are available to them during the colder months. Many of these pensioners may be struggling financially but simply haven’t realised that they are entitled to the benefits or do not know how to go about claiming them.

The report released by the Department for Work and Pensions showed that close to £3 billion worth of Pension Credit, which is an income related benefit designed for pensioners, is going unclaimed every year. For a single person Pension Credit tops up an income to £137.35 a week and for a couple it tops out to £209.79.

Pensioners who receive the Pension Credit automatically receive a Cold Weather Payment of £25 to benefit them in the freezing weather. This helps them to cope with the higher heating bills that they may receive in the colder weather and helps them to avoid the need to keep their heating off at times when they really need to have it on to warm up.

The Cold Weather Payment is designed to provide financial aid to help pay heating bills when there is a particularly cold snap and it is paid out when the weather is below freezing for seven days in a row or if it is predicted to be below freezing for seven consecutive days.

The recent freezing weather has resulted in the Cold Weather Payment being triggered in many areas of the UK, with around 3.7 million pensioners having benefitted from the payment over the course of this winter. The Pensions Minister Steve Webb said that during the cold weather it was particularly important for older people to make sure they claimed this payment.

Pensioners who are unsure with regards to what benefits they are entitled to or how to claim their benefits are advised to seek advice from authorities such as their local authority or even the Citizen’s Advice Bureau.

First time buyers in the UK are being told to avoid rushing into deals and property transactions simply because they want to benefit from the stamp duty break before it comes to an end. First time buyers who purchase a home under the value of £250,000 are able to avoid the stamp duty of 1% because of an ongoing break that was brought in as an incentive and to improve affordability for struggling first time buyers.

However, this stamp duty break is set to come to an end on 24th March, leading to fears that some first time buyers may rush transactions through in order to benefit from the break. Chancellor George Osborne has decided to put an end to the stamp duty holiday because he does not believe that it has been effective in terms of enabling more people to buy a home. The government has decided, instead, to consider other alternatives to try and get people onto the property ladder.

Property experts have warned that first time buyers should not make rash and hasty decisions just to get out of paying stamp duty. He said that it was important that people considered the fact that property values could decrease as well as increase. With this in mind, and based on figures from over the past year, those who rush into a property purchase simply to save on the stamp duty could find that saving being wiped out very quickly.

Whilst the government is aware that first time buyers are essential to keep the property market buoyant and to boost housing development and construction jobs, it is also clear that many first time buyers are unable to afford the deposits that some lenders are demanding in order to consider them for a mortgage. For those who are renting a home it is particularly difficult to raise the high level of deposit that lenders are asking for whilst also maintaining the rent given how much rents have increased recently.

With this in mind, the government is launching a new scheme next month which will enable lenders to offer a 95% mortgage to first time buyers without having to take on all of the risk in the event that the borrow defaults. This new scheme has been called the NewBuy Guarantee.

A leading business group has stated that the extension of the quantitative easing scheme by the government to the tune of £50 billion is unlikely to do anything to help small businesses. The comment comes after the Bank of England announced that the base interest rate was staying at its all time low of 0.5% for another month and that a further £50 billion was to be injected into the economy through the QE programme, which was originally set up under the former Labour government.

Lenders are being accused of cutting off the financial lifeline for small businesses, despite the Bank of England injecting so much cash into the economy through the QE scheme. Campaigners have said that the huge sums of cash that have been pumped into the economy through QE – a total of £325 billion – have failed to drip through to small businesses, which is then having a knock on effect on the economy. On top of this, critics are stating that savers and pensioners have been left financially high and dry for the rest of their lives by the QE scheme because it has driven down annuity rates.

The Federation of Small Businesses has stated that the QE programme is unlikely to anything to help the many small firms that are struggling when it comes to raising cash, leaving them unable to expand and create jobs and in some cases leaving them in a position where they cannot continue to operate.

A spokesperson for the group said that QE alone was not something that was going to benefit most small businesses. He said that other measures needed to be taken, such as ensuring lower interest rates were passed on and ensuring that more businesses were able to get the finance that they needed not just to grow and create more jobs but in some cases to stay afloat.

The FSB went on to state that despite the government having taken steps to try and increase lending to small businesses, the lending flow was still very restricted and until this was sorted out the knock on effect on the economy would continue.

Following today’s Monetary Policy Committee meeting, the Bank of England has confirmed that not only is the base interest being held at its current low of 0.5% but that more cash is to be pumped into the economy through quantitative easing.

The base interest rate has been at its all time low of just 0.5% since March 2009 and in today’s announcement the central bank confirmed that it would be remaining at this level for at least another month, which will come as a huge relief to many homeowners who have variable rate mortgages. Whilst some industry experts had predicted that there would be a base rate increase in the early part of 2012, most will not be surprised at the decision of the Monetary Policy Committee with regards to keeping the rate on hold.

With regards to the quantitative easing progamme, which was set up under the former Labour government and has already resulted in £275 billion being pumped into the economy, the Bank of England announced that a further £50 billion is going to pumped in to try and provide a boost for the economy. This will bring the total amount of stimulus through the quantitative easing scheme to £325 billion.

Some experts had been expecting a higher level of investment through the quantitative easing programme, with many having predicted a further £75 billion stimulus injection. However, recent data that was released appeared to indicate that in January the service and manufacturing sectors in the UK had performed better than had been expected, which resulted in the level of investment being dropped to £50 billion.

There are still concerns about weak consumer spending and the crisis in the eurozone and the Bank of England highlighted in a statement that the pace of recovery had slowed down in the final quarter of last year. The central bank also admitted that without further stimulus through quantitative easing, the rate of inflation could actually fall below the 2% target set by the government.

Whilst some industry groups will undoubtedly welcome the move to boost the economy through increased stimulus, the pensions industry has reacted with disappointment, with one spokesperson stating that QE was damaging the value of pensions.

Internet banking has become a very popular form of banking for many people, as it offers extreme convenience, ease and flexibility. Those that use internet banking can make all their transactions and manage their accounts with speed and ease from the comfort of their own homes, which means that they are able to conduct transactions and control their accounts at any time of the day or night.

However, there are also some risks that can come with Internet banking, namely the risk of falling victim to online banking fraud. A recent investigation has suggested that hackers and fraudsters are now targeting the online banking industry again after getting past the most up to date security measures that have been put into place by the banking industry.

The banking industry has been using calculator style keypads to provide accountholders with increased security when it comes to their bank accounts. However, an investigation by the BBC has revealed that hackers have managed to find a way around this security measure, placing online bank account holders at risk of becoming victims of fraud and hacking.

The banking industry had brought the keypad style security measures in order to try and reduce hacking and online banking fraud and with the hope of getting this form of crime down to zero. However, as banks introduce increasingly sophisticated security measures hackers are also becoming increasingly knowledgeable with regards to getting past these security measures.

One data protection expert has also highlighted issues with antivirus software that is being used, stating that the findings ‘raise serious questions’ over the effectiveness of ordinary anti-virus protection. It is thought that dangerous new viruses could result in an increase on the millions of pounds already stolen last year, with some malicious bugs imitating internet banking pages, which consumers are easily fooled by.

Tests that were run as part of the investigation revealed that some of these bugs were not being picked up even by sophisticated anti-malware processes, leaving many consumers at risk. The methods now being used by hackers have resulted in many unsuspecting people having their online accounts hacked and wiped out and one expert said that such attacks were very advanced and specifically targeted towards the banking industry.

Recent released figures have shown that last year there was a drop in personal insolvencies in England and Wales compared to the previous year. However, at the same time there was also an increase last year in terms of the number of companies going bust as the difficult economic climate continued to affect many businesses. The figures have been released by the Insolvency Service.

Over the course of the year 119,850 people are said to have been declared insolvent, which reflected a drop of 11.3% compared to the previous year when personal insolvency levels reached record highs. The last three months of last year saw a drop of 5.6% compared to the final quarter of the previous year. In contrast, the number of companies that went bust in 2011 increased by 1.3% compared to 2010 figures.

Whilst personal insolvency levels have dropped significantly since 2010, industry experts have been quick to point out that the number of insolvencies is still far higher than in the pre-credit crunch era. Last year one in every 366 people were becoming insolvent whereas the average for the past quarter of a century has been one in every 1,600 people.

The figures from the Insolvency Service also showed that there had been changes in the way in which people were choosing to deal with their financial issues. The number of people being declared bankrupt, which has always been a common form of insolvency in the past, fell sharply last year whilst the number of people opting for Debt Relief Orders saw a significant increase over the course of the year.

With regards to businesses, 2010 saw a slight fall in the number of companies going bust, as many started to recover from the effects of the recession. However, last year saw a slight increase in numbers again as businesses continued to face financial pressures. Frances Coulson, president of R3, which is the trade body for insolvency practitioners, said that the rising level of corporate insolvencies had not come as any great surprise because of the fragile economy and the challenges that were facing many businesses.

HMRC has recently revealed that more than one million people across the UK are set to face fines of £100 because they failed to return their self assessment tax returns in a timely manner. However, whilst this may sound like a large figure it is actually the lowest on record since online self assessment tax return procedures were introduced.

The number of people that were fined last year came in at 1.4 million and the year before that the figure for the £100 penalties for late filing of tax returns stood at 1.6 million. Those that were filing tax in the run up to the deadline were given an additional couple of days grace, which was granted by HM Revenue & Customs because of strike action that could have impacted on the ability of some people to get their returns in for the January 31st deadline.

By 2nd February, which was the deadline for the extension, 1.1 million people had failed to file their returns. Those who have a valid reason for failing to do this may be able to escape the otherwise mandatory £100 penalty but it is highly likely that the vast majority of those who did not get their returns filed on time will end up having to pay the fines. Serious illness, bereavement or damage to the home/office that caused a loss of documents are amongst the valid reasons that HMRC may accept from those who did not file their returns.

Those who are facing the fine are advised to pay it as quickly as possible as after a three month period additional fines are added, with those who have failed to pay the original fine facing further penalties of £10 per day up to a maximum of £1600. Whilst 1.1 million people missed the extended deadline of 2nd February a record number of returns were filed in time, with 9.45 million forms being filed before or on the deadline.

A spokesperson from HMRC said that the agency makes its stance on fines and penalties very clear to self assessment tax payers so it was good to see that so many people had taken heed and got their returns in on time.

Several years ago, with the onset of the global financial crisis where many people were losing or at risk of losing their homes, a lot of controversy arose over sale and rent back companies. These firms were accused or preying on vulnerable homeowners by offering to buy their homes and then rent them back to them.

However, whilst the scheme may have sounded like a viable solution to some people, the companies involved were offering way below market prices for the homes, which many people were having to take because of the position that they were in. On top of this, despite promising an open tenancy for as long as required, some companies were actually restricting the tenancies so that the former homeowners were only able to stay there for a limited amount of time.

The huge controversy that exploded over these companies led to a variety of investigations and a huge number of complaints. However, four years on the UK’s financial regulator has confirmed that the sale and rent back industry has now almost been closed down. The Financial Services Authority said that most of the deals that had been on offer to struggling homeowners had been “either unaffordable or unsuitable and never should have been sold”.

The industry was investigated back in 2008 by the Office of Fair Trading. This investigation came after tens of thousands of homeowners who were at risk of being repossessed ended up selling their homes to sale and rent back firms that had offered them tenancies as part of the deal. With around fifty thousand deals being struck by that time and over one thousand firms operating sale and rent back schemes, it was deemed that some form of regulation was needed.

In 2009 the Financial Services Authority took over the regulation of the industry but many of the firms are said to have stopped operating under this regulation. Since that time only 61 sale and rent back transactions have taken place with only twenty two firms remaining in the market. The FSA has now stated that they had pretty much all now ceased operating sale and rent back schemes, which in effect means that the industry has come to a close.

Whilst most of us pray that we will never actually have to use it, most of us have some form of insurance in place to protect us financially in the event that we get burgled and lose possession of monetary or sentimental value. However, with crime rates being much higher in some areas than others, there are some people who are far more likely to make a claim on their home insurance policy simply because of the area that they live in.

A recent study has highlighted the top twenty hotspots in the UK where burglaries and subsequent home insurance claims are most likely to have been made. The research showed that those living in Stoke Newington in North London are most likely to make a claim for burglary, as for every one thousand residents in the area nearly thirty four have had to make an insurance claim relating to theft.

The data that was released has been based on millions of home insurance quotes that have been provided to consumers nationwide. Two of the burglary hotspots that were highlighted in the data were London and Yorkshire. Streatham is said to have the highest proportion of burglary claims with Mill Hill and Wood Green also taking spots near to the top of the hotspot list.

Also featuring on the list were a number of areas in Yorkshire, including Doncaster, Bradford, Leeds and Sheffield. In Apperley Bridge, Bradford, there were nearly thirty two claims per one thousand residents, which matched the figure for West Bromwich in the West Midlands.

The report also showed areas there people were least likely to have made a claim, which means that they are often be able to get far better deals on their home insurance. This included Peterlee in County Durham, Bodelwyddan in Denbighshire, Wales, Helston in Cornwall and Elgin in Moray, Scotland. The number of claims per one thousand people recorded in these areas came in at less than one.

For those who live in the hotspot areas the cost of taking out home insurance could end up being considerably higher than for those in the lower crime areas simple due to the increased risk of a payout for the insurance firm.

Official figures have been released by the Land Registry recently, with the data showing that there has been a drop in the average price of houses. Average house prices are said to have fallen by around 1.3% last month compared to the same time a year earlier. However, there was no change in house prices recorded compared to the previous month. This brings the average house price for last month to £160,384.

The data also showed that the number of completions for the month of October, which was the last reporting period available, slipped by 6% following two months of increases. The number of million-pound properties that were sold in that period also fell, experiencing a significant 10% drop. This has sparked further concerns over how the state of the economy and the stringent lending policies still in place with banks are adversely affecting the property market.

The only part of the UK that managed to escape the year on year decline in property prices was London, where prices have been bolstered by strong demand from overseas buyers. London actually saw property prices increase by 2.8%, rising to an average £345,298. The greatest decline has been seen in the North East, where average prices fell by a massive 7.1% taking the average house price to £99,464.

Wales, the North West and the West Midlands also experienced significant falls according to the figures. The South East fared better, with a slight fall in property prices of just 0.2%.

A survey of agents and surveyors has also shown that property prices have remained flat in January and around 10.5% fewer people registered with agents compared to December. The number of properties listed is said to have fallen by 5.4% and the number of agreed sales has dropped by 14.3%.

Howard Archer, chief economist at IHS Global Insight, said that he expected prices to drop by around 5% over the course of this year, with price falls fuelled by frozen pay, unemployment levels and ongoing concerns about the state of the economy.

Over recent months a rising number of people have been making claims over the controversial Payment Protection Insurance, which many claims to have been mis-sold over the past few years. Following a court battle last year, which was lost by the banking industry, many people who had already filed claims over their PPI insurance have received payouts from the banks. Many others have continued to send in claims for PPI compensation since the court battle came to an end.

However, there are also many people who believe that they are entitled to compensation over mis-sold PPI but who, rather than putting in a claim themselves for compensation, are going through one of the myriad of no-win no-fee companies that are offering their services. For those who are successful with their claim a large chunk of the compensation is being paid out to the companies that are doing something that the claimant could have easily done for themselves.

A recent report has highlighted how those who decide to use one of these firms in order to file a claim for PPI compensation could end up losing an average of 25% of any compensation that they are paid. The figures were released by the Financial Services Compensation Scheme and were compiled over a three year period. The data shows just how high the fees can be with no-win no-fee firms.

The number of claims that were submitted directly to the Financial Services Compensation Scheme between 2010 and 2011 is said to have doubled. However, despite this, the number of claims from these claims management firms for both of these years game in even higher, outnumbering direct claims by more than three to one. There is very little difference in terms of the success rate, with claims made by individuals showing a success rate of 83% and for claims made by these companies, 87%.

FSCS chief executive Mark Neale said that claims management firms were unlikely to have any greater success in making a claim than the individuals themselves yet were taking a large chunk of the compensation by way of a payout if compensation was paid out. He said that consumers needed to be aware that claiming compensation from the FSCS was free and that the process was pretty simple.

Over recent years, with the age of the mobile phone, more and more of us have become used to receiving unsolicited texts from a variety of companies, which we tend to simply go in and delete. However, some people have found themselves receiving more and more of these messages, often from companies offering loans and credit or offering to help consumers to claim compensation.

It has now been revealed that firms that send these unsolicited text messages to consumers’ mobile phones could now face fines of up to £5,000 as authorities take a firm stance to try and crack down on this practise. The issue is being dealt with as a ‘high priority’ by the Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO), which is determined to tackle the issue.

The messages that consumers receive from these companies tend to relate to a number of different things, from offers of arranging loans and other forms of finance to offering to write off debts or assist with compensation claims – sometimes for accidents that never even took place. Concern has now been expressed that in some cases the products being sold by these firms can actually leave people worse off financially.

A number of cases are already being investigated by the ICO at the moment, and a selection of companies have been identified for targeting by the commissioner’s office. A campaign has also been launched by the Consumer Credit Counselling Service (CCCS) in order to try and put a stop to these unsolicited text messages. The CCCS believed that it is usually the more vulnerable people that are targeted by companies that send these texts.

Some consumers have reported that they have been bombarded with text message from these firms after making a simple online loan application online, even if in the end they decided not to go ahead with the loan. The CCCS is now making use of the social networking site Twitter in order to raise awareness of the issue and to encourage people to tweet each time they receive these spam texts.

A number of well known charities have received disappointing news recently when a major banking group announced its decision to put an end to its charity based credit cards. For many years, charity credit cards have provided a number of charitable organizations with a steady flow of donations, helping them to continue with their good work. At the same time, these cards have provided millions of people with the ability to do their bit for charity without having to take any other action apart from using their credit cards in the usual way.

However, Lloyds Banking Group has now dropped a bombshell on the charities that it works alongside, after making the decision that it was no longer cost effective to manage the card schemes in order for donations to be made to the charities. Amongst the charities that will be affected are Cancer Research UK, the NSPCC and the Scottish SPCA. The charities have expressed their disappointment at the decision but have said that they hope to look at other options and opportunities with the banking giant.

Lloyds Banking Group has been managing these charity based credit cards for close to a quarter of a century and in that time the cards have helped to raised nearly £15 million for Cancer UK alone. With this source of donations soon set to disappear, Baroness Finlay, vice chair of the all-party parliamentary group on cancer, has called on Lloyds Banking Group to look at other ways in which it could help the charities that will be losing out.

She expressed her dissatisfaction at the timing of the decision, which she said was insensitive given ‘all the furore around bonuses’. She added that a bank that a bank that was able to produce such a large amount of additional cash to give out huge bonuses needed to think very hard about ‘whether it should be giving back to the society on which it depends for its business’.

As things stand at the moment, the charity credit cards from Lloyds Banking Group are set to be withdrawn from the end of February, taking away a huge financial lifeline from the charities concerned.

Whilst there have always been first time buyers who have been reliant on money from their parents in order to help them onto the properly ladder, this is something that has become increasingly prevalent over recent years, with more and more young first time buyers having to turn to their parents in order to help get the money together to get them onto the property ladder.

Higher deposit demands coupled with frozen income and higher living costs has meant that many younger people, even if they are working, have been unable to put enough money aside to get them onto the first rung of the ladder. The Bank of Mum and Dad has therefore been raided by many of those who were determined to get their own place, even if they were unable to save up the money themselves.

However, data indicates that in this difficult financial climate even the Bank of Mum and Dad has started to run dry – which has resulted in many younger people now turning to their grandparents for financial assistance in getting a home. A recent report showed that increasing numbers of younger people were now turning to their grandparents for help with raising a deposit for a home, as a rising number of parents were struggling with finances themselves and therefore did not have the capacity to help their children to raise a deposit.

Over one thousand younger people were polled as part of the study, which was carried out by the house builder Taylor Wimpey. It was found that 10% of them had turned to their grandparents in order to get help with raising a deposit. The study also showed that a rising number of grown up children were being forced to continue living with their parents for longer in order to try and save money towards a deposit.

In fact, some grown up children now fear that they could be living with their parents until they are in their late 40’s or even in their 50’s because of their financial situations – and many said that this had caused their relationship with their parents to suffer.

Mortgage fees are one of a number of fees and charges that many borrowers have to take into consideration when taking out a mortgage loan. However, recently released figures have suggested that these fees have increased significantly over the past year, with those that are likely to be worst hit being borrowers who have larger deposits.

Data from financial site Moneyfacts has indicated that the typical mortgage fee has shot up by around £600 over the past year, with the steepest increases hitting borrowers who have got the largest deposits. It is unusual for those with larger deposits to be worse hit than those with smaller deposits, but in this case the increases have been smaller for the loans that first time buyers with small deposits tend to look for.

The figures show that the typical mortgage arrangement fee has increased from £889 just one year ago to £1498. However, the variation between the increase in the mortgage arrangement fee for those with a larger deposit and the increase for those with a smaller deposit is significant. The data showed that the increase for those taking out a 60% Loan to Value mortgage stands at 42% whilst for those seeking a 90% or 95% Loan to Value mortgage the increase comes in at just 11%.

For borrowers with a deposit of 25% the increase is even sharper, with the increase coming in at a massive 65%, taking the cost of the typical fee to £1599. The hike in fees has been imposed despite the continued record low Bank of England base rate, which has resulted in lenders offering some of the lowest mortgage rates ever.

One industry expert said that all too often those who were caught up in the excitement of taking out a mortgage and buying a new home forgot about checking the finer details such as the cost of associated fees and charges. However, she added that this was an important factor in calculating the most cost effective mortgage deal and was something that more borrowers needed to take into consideration when comparing mortgage loans.

Whilst many people already spend a lot of time shopping around before purchasing their vehicle insurance cover, this is a process that has become all the more important based on recent figures released by motor industry group, the AA. The figures reveal a significant increase in car insurance quotes over a period of just three months, which has prompted MPs to call for changes and cuts in the cost of vehicle insurance cover.

According to the British Insurance Premium Index from the AA, the typical quote for comprehensive car insurance cover even for consumers that shop around has increased by £50, with more and more cheaper deals disappearing from sight. The typical cost of annual cover for those that shopped around for comprehensive cover came in at £971.40. This reflects an increase of 5.4% compared to just three months ago and a significant 15.3% compared to a year earlier.

When it came to third party, fire and theft cover the typical increase since last October stood at £35, which represents a 2.4% increase, leaving the current typical premium standing at £1,495. The cheapest area of the UK for car insurance continued to be Scotland, with the shop around premium for comprehensive cover coming in at £587.

The most significant shop around percentage increase has, as many expected, affected younger drivers, with those aged between seventy and twenty two being hardest hit. For those in this age group the typical cost of cover has increased by 6.6% since October last year, taking the cost to £2,497.

A spokesperson for the AA said that the price difference between now and just three months ago showed that more and more of the most competitive vehicle insurance deals were disappearing, leaving drivers with only an array of costly cover to choose from. He added that younger drivers appeared to have lost out the most, with a higher than average increase.

The AA also said that younger drivers were clearly continuing to be viewed as a much higher risk to insurance providers and some would now no longer consider providing insurance cover to those that were aged under 21.

The results of a recent survey have suggested that as a result of the ongoing difficult financial climate in the UK many adults are planning to try and cut back on their spending over the course of this year. It is thought that around one third of adults have made up their minds to reduce their spending in 2012, which reflects a sharp increase from just three months ago, when the figure stood at 19%.

The study was undertaken by the Resolution Foundation think tank and around one quarter of all those polled as part of the study said that they believed their financial situations would get worse over the course of this year. However, on a brighter note around the same proportion of people out of those that were polled said that they were expecting to receive a pay rise at work this year, which would help to combat the effects of inflation on the household budget.

The Resolution Foundation also revealed that in addition to making plans to reduce their spending levels, a rising number of people were now trying to save money with 30% now putting aside money into savings compared to 22% just three months ago. Many are doing this to ensure that they have some money put aside in the event of emergencies and because they believe that they have a tough year ahead of them financially.

Amongst the luxuries that will be sacrificed by struggling households are holidays, with 20% of consumers stating that they could not afford to go on holiday this year. Nearly two thousand consumers were polled as part of the survey, and Gavin Kelly, the think tank’s chief executive, said that the survey results indicated that the current trend was a worry because the less people spent the longer it would take for the economy to recover.

Consumer confidence levels for the month of December are said to have fallen. However, retail sales for the month did increase by 0.6% as a result of the deep discounts that retailers were offering as Christmas approached.

The FOS has reported that the number of complaints being made in connection to the controversial Payment Protection Insurance has seen a fresh surge, resulting in an increase in the number of cases that are ending up with the Financial Ombudsman Service. This is reflected in the number of complaints that were being received by the FOS in the final quarter of last year compared to the previous one.

Figures show that in the last three months of last year the FOS received 55,907 complaints, which was an increase of 10% compared to the previous three months. This was fuelled by a surge in PPI complaints during the same period, with the number of complaints jumping from 19,259 to 30,301.

Data has also revealed that new complaints relating to PPI are significantly higher than others types of complaints that are being dealt with by the ombudsman. Fresh PPI complaints are said to account for around 54% of the current workload of the FOS. In the final quarter of 2011 only 18% of the FOS workload was down to complaints about credit cards, mortgages and current accounts.

It is clear from the rising number of complaints relating to PPI that the banks still have a lot of work to do before the controversy relating to PPI is finally brought to an end. Whilst banks have been paying out huge sums in compensation to successful claimants after losing their court battle against the Financial Services Authority, there is still a very long way to go.

In the final quarter of last year the FOS ruled in favour of the customer in 68% of PPI cases that it looked at. This reflected a drop from the figure of 92% in the third quarter of the year but was higher than the figure for the whole of the 201-2011 financial year, which stood at 66%.

Around £6 billion has been put aside collectively by the banking giants in order to be able to settle PPI claims. However, many of the complaints that are being rejected by banks are ending up on the desk of the financial ombudsman.

The Chinese state-run Investment Corporation (CIC) has made an investment of 8.7% in the holding company that owns Thames Water. This follows a visit by Chancellor George Osborne to Beijing to forge closer ties between the two countries.
It is thought to be the sovereign wealth fund’s first investment in the UK and is expected to be the first of many as China’s huge economy grows and looks for external investments.

CIC chairman Lou Jiwei has recently that his company was interested in investing in European and US infrastructure.
Speaking about the deal, the Chancellor said:
“This is a significant step by China. It is a vote of confidence in Britain as a place to invest and do business.”

China has a pressing need to find ways to invest in foreign countries, and the UK has an urgent need to stimulate growth and update an outdated infrastructure, it seems like a match made in heaven.

City analysts say the move could be the first of an influx of Chinese investments in the country as Far Eastern investors see the UK as a safe haven compared to the many other troubled European countries.
It is believed the planned High Speed rail link from London to Birmingham (HS2) is among the projects of interest to China and also large industrial developments, such as the Atlantic Gateway in the North-west of England, as well as other projects including updating Britain’s energy infrastructure, broadband investment and road schemes.

The chancellor is determined to invest and attract outside investment in the UK economy, stimulating growth, and making the UK a substantial player in the world, and to show he has a vision that is more that justdeficit reduction.
The Thames Water investment is the latest by foreign companies in the UK’s infrastructure in recent decades following their privatisation.
In the last ten years, Germany’s RWE has acquired utilities supplier Npower, the Australian bank Macquarie has bought carparks owned by NCP, and Ferrovial of Spain has bought BAA, the operator of Heathrow and Stansted Airports.

After a series of increases that led to the cost of renting reaching unprecedented highs, rental costs have now fallen for the second consecutive month. Figures released by LSL Property Services have shown that in December the cost of renting a property fell by an average 0.8%, taking the average rental cost to £711 per month.

Despite this drop in rental prices, however, the figures also showed that the cost of renting was still 4% higher in December 2011 compared to December 2010. LSL also pointed out that as a result of the flurry of spending over the Christmas period a rising number of tenants have fallen behind with their rental payments.

At the end of December 10.7% of all rent was shown to be either late or unpaid, which reflected an increase from the figure of 9.3% in November. According to the Association of Residential Lettings landlords are also experiencing difficulties as a result of this, prompting one member of the group to highlight the importance of conducting research and getting references before a tenancy agreement was signed. He said that seeking advice from a licences lettings agent was the best way to ensure that both tenants and landlords were protected.

Prior to November, rental costs had increased for ten straight months. LSL said that although rents had fallen over the past couple of months due to seasonal factors, the fall was not as great as it had been in previous years, partly due to the ongoing demand for rental homes, which has been helping to fuel rental increases over the past year.

The LSL figures show that the rental falls in December were experienced in all regions apart from the West Midlands, Yorkshire and the Humber, and the East Midlands. In London rents fell for the first time in the space of a year. However, annually rents increased in all regions apart from the south west of England and the north east of England.

One property industry expert said that despite the rental price drops in would be premature to assume that the rental market had reached its peak and would start to experience continued falls.

Figures released have shown that there was a sharp drop in CPI (Consumer Prices Index) inflation for the month of December, with the drop drive by lower prices on clothing and fuel. The rate of inflation, which has spiralled way above the government’s target rate of 2%, fell from 4.8% in November to 4.2% for December, reflecting a significant fall. The data was released by the Office for National Statistics.

The figures also showed that RPI (Retail Prices Index) inflation, which includes mortgage interest payments, also fell dropping from 5.2% in November to 4.8% for the month of December. The Bank of England has predicted that inflation will fall back to its target level of 2% by the end of this year and so far the figures suggest that this prediction could be correct.

The drop in CPI inflation has taken the rate to its lowest since June of last year and the drop in the level of inflation that was seen in December is the biggest monthly fall since April 2009. Clothing and footwear prices experienced a drop of 2.8% in the run up to Christmas, as retailers were cutting costs in a bid to try and bring more customers through the door. Fuel prices also fell by a small amount, dropping by 0.6% on the month. The recent rounds of gas and electricity price cuts have not been taken into account with the figures.

The price cuts on these products was, however, counteracted in part by an increase in food prices, which occurred despite stiff competition between the leading supermarket giants such as Tesco, Asda and Sainsbury’s. Figures show that food prices increased by 1.4%.

One analyst said that it was likely that there would be further falls over the coming months, which in turn could equate to a vital boost to the UK’s economy and growth over 2012. He added that the data helped to support the predictions made by the Bank of England that inflation would fall below its target rate of 2% by the end of the year.

Millions of consumers around the UK will have been relieved recently after the big name energy giants announced price cuts on gas and electricity usage. After seeing the cost of energy soar, many have been struggling to keep on top of their bills, with the high cost of usage adding to already strained household budgets.

With the cost of wholesale energy having now fallen, energy giants have applied a small reduction to the cost of energy usage, which has been welcomed by millions of energy customers. However, it has been pointed out that whilst the price cuts are good news they are only a fraction of the amount by which energy prices have been increased over the past couple of years – and the difference that the latest round of cuts will make to annual bills works out to an average of just £2 to £3 per month.

Whilst some energy consumers may have been considering switching their energy provider to get a better deal, the price reductions may have stopped them in their tracks, leading them to believe that now their provider has cut the cost of electricity of gas there is no point going to the effort of switching. However, experts have said that energy users should not become distracted by these small price reductions and should still take the time to shop around and see if they are able to get a better deal elsewhere.

Many experts have also expressed concern that whilst wholesale gas prices have fallen quite dramatically – around 27% since the summer according to reports – the benefit to consumers in the form of price cuts from energy firms has been minimal. In fact, British Gas has come under fire as it has only announced price cuts for its electricity and not its gas.

One industry expert said that the move by British Gas to cut its electricity prices but leave gas prices untouched would confuse customers, who would be left wondering why whilst some energy companies had cut the price of gas usage British Gas had failed to do so.

Experts have claimed that the economy is set to enjoy a boost this coming year, as consumers continue to receive compensation payouts from banks as a result of being mis-sold payment protection insurance cover in the past and then use some or all of their compensation to splash out on purchases. The payouts are expected to result in a massive £5 billion boost to the economy as millions of bank customers receive their payouts from the banking industry.

Any compensation that may have been due to consumers claiming to have been mis-sold the controversial payment protection insurance cover had been placed on hold until the middle of last year, as the banking industry was locked in a legal battle with the Financial Services Authority with regards to the mis-selling of the cover. The banks lost the legal battle and banks spent much of the latter part of last year dealing with claims that had been frozen and starting to make payouts on new claims that came flooding in.

Figures show that two of the High Street banking giants, Lloyds and Royal Bank of Scotland, are sending out around 50,000 compensation cheques each week, with Lloyds having a team of around two thousand working on PPI compensation. The bank has stated that it is dealing with around thirty times more complaints that it was at this time last year.

Based on various reports, the compensation payouts for the millions of PPI policies that were mis-sold could come to anywhere between £7.5 billion and nearly £10 billion. Much of this – between £3 billion and £6 billion – is expected to be paid out to consumers over the course of this year, which will equate to a huge boost in consumer spending and a knock on boost for the economy.

Simon Ward, economist at fund group Henderson, said that inflation was likely to fall over the course of this year and real incomes would most likely stabilise. He said that the boost for the economy that will comes from the compensation payouts would not be ‘a game changer’ but would definitely help.