General Finance News

uSwitch: Govt can help consumers make better choices The government has announced a review into taxpayer-funded bodies such as the Citizens’ Advice Bureau and Trading Standards Service, a move which has been welcomed by uSwitch.

The review, which will be held over a 14-week consultation period, aims to tackle the complex nature of government bodies which represent consumer interests.Ann Robinson, Director of Consumer Policy at uSwitch, said that the review will enable consumers to make better choices.Ms Robinson called “simplifying the network” a “good step forward”.”However, it’s vital that the help available to consumers isn’t diluted as a result,” she pointed out.”Consumers need stronger support, not weaker, if we are to build their confidence.”Ms Robinson added that proposals to set up a single body could reduce confusion for consumers and also allow providers to share best practice, which can only be good news for consumers. Read more…

Even with your best efforts to secure your personal information, it’s virtually impossible to completely eliminate the threat of identity theft. The bad thing about ID theft is that many people don’t even realize that their personal information has been compromised until weeks, sometimes even months or years after the fact.

If you’ve experienced any of the following scenarios, you should consider yourself at risk.

If your personal belongings are lost or stolen, you should assume that your identity is at risk and act accordingly. Your most vulnerable belongings include:

• Your wallet
• Your purse
• Personal files at work
• Your checkbook
• Your passport
• Payroll check stubs
• Your briefcase
• Your laptop
• The contents of your glove compartment

Keep track of the monthly or yearly bills, statements, or other sensitive items that you expect to receive in the mail. Shoul

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Investing in real estate can be a pretty profitable affair. If you have the understanding of the market, then you will reap rewards. Real estate is a much safer option for investment than other options, like the stock market for instance. One thing you can take advantage of is that there are a number of small, local real estate markets that create inefficiencies. As an investor, you can exploit these inefficiencies.

There are a few key ingredients for your success in the real estate market. Once you understand these, you can get strong real estate gains for yourself.

Choosing Location:

It is an important part of the investment to find a suitable location. The location that is feasible depends on a number of factors. The house price index and the unemployment rates are two key factors.

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New regulations clamp down on those without car insurance Motorists are being reminded to make sure their car insurance is up-to-date, as new legislation makes it an offence to own a car without cover, regardless of whether it is being driven.

The Continuous Enforcement Law came into force this week, which states that it is illegal to own a motor without car insurance unless it is has been registered with a Statutory Off-Road Notification (SORN).Without insurance, motorists are risking a £100 fine and their vehicle could even be clamped, seized or destroyed.IAM Director of Policy and Research Neil Greig said that law-abiding drivers have nothing to worry about with the new legislation, but urged them to make sure their paperwork is up-to-date.”This move should release police time to catch the minority who completely ignore the system – and literally fail to appear on it,” Mr Greig added.Car insurance prices have continued to rise in recent years, with the AA Index revealing a 40% increase for some drivers in one year – the highest year-on-year jump since records began in 1994. Read more…

Consumers have managed to lower their credit card defaults and late payments with the top six card companies in April, says a new report from The Associated Press. The report revealed that more card users are in control of their spending than they have been in some time.

According to the report, card issuers saw major drops in defaults (balances considered uncollectible, or charge offs) and late payments in April:

• Capital One Financial Corp.: Cap One reported a drop in defaults to 4.97 percent annualized, which is the biggest drop among the card issuers and is a level not seen since late 2007.
• American Express Co.: Amex celebrated the lowest default rate, which was 3.5 percent. Th

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When brides-to-be imagine their wedding, who’s there is often a big part of it. A grand affair? An intimate evening? A just big-enough-but-not-too-big event? Most of us fall into the final category, looking to compile a modest guest list for what will likely be the best party we ever throw.

But hitting the perfect medium of who makes the cut and who doesn’t get your hand-addressed, letterpressed invite in the mail is a challenge of Goldilocks proportion — how many people can we invite without overwhelming ourselves and our budget?

Today’s couples are finding that the happy middle ground is actually smaller — about 141 guests — down from a high of 184 back in 2003, according to a wedding market analysis.

Cost is clearly a factor here. Smaller wed

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A few weeks ago I wrote a review of Credit Sesame, the online credit scoring company that didn’t charge me anything to see my credit score from Experian. Seeing your credit score for free is great but most companies only let you peek at it once … then the charges begin. The great thing about Credit Sesame is that they send you a monthly update on your score on a regular basis and included in each update are potential windfalls you could gather from their analysis of your personal financial situation.

While not all of their recommendations may suite you personally (though you DO have the option of changing your goals in their system), having someone constantly on the lookout for a better deal for everything from a mortgage to a credit card AND not relentlessly spamming your email inbox AND having it automated is a great deal in my book. Add

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Gap between interest and credit card rate widens The average credit card rate is now 18.7%, leading to claims that companies are making money from customers when interest rates are at a record low of 0.5%.

Last week the Bank of England announced that its base rate will remain at a low of 0.5%, which it has been for 27 months, the Mirror reports.But this means that the gap between interest rates and credit card rates is wider than ever, as in 2007, the base rate was 5.75% and credit card rate was 18.7%.Eddy Weatherill, of the Independent Banking Advisory Service, told the news provider that it is “profiteering”.”They are trying to boost their profits for as long as possible and we’re all being made to pay for it.”It’s heads they win, tails we lose.

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