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Mortgage Payment Protection Insurance can ease repayment worries
April 7th, 2009
Why take out Mortgage Payment Protection Insurance (MPPI)?
No one knows what the future will hold and if you become unemployed or cannot work due to accident or illness, you may not be able to meet your financial commitments. Job security is now a thing of the past, with record numbers unemployed or facing the risk of unemployment, yet millions of people are potentially putting their homes at risk by ignoring the benefits of Mortgage Payment Protection Insurance (MPPI).
The mortgage on our homes is probably the biggest commitment most people will make in their lives but if you couldn’t make your mortgage or loan payments, could you rely on the “state” for help? Probably not! Over 70% of people will not qualify for Income Support and those who do will only receive a small percentage of their normal income.
Mortgage Payment Protection Insurance(MPPI) can cover the payments on your mortgage, your loans or even your rent if you become ill or unemployed. But what about the cost? Surprisingly affordable with premiums as low as £3.00 per month per £100 of mortgage payment. Whilst the average cost of a mortgage has dropped by more than 50% in recent months, the risk of facing unemployment, accident or illness hasn’t, so protecting your home has never been more important. To find out more and receive an instant online quote, click below
Mortgage Payment Protection Insurance - Peace of Mind for you, your family and your home.
Dear RBS, where has all our money gone?
April 6th, 2009
Have RBS Lombard Direct spent it all?
Lombard Direct are owned by Royal Bank of Scotland. Royal Bank of Scotland are owned by the British Taxpayer. The British government on behalf of the British Taxpayer has pumped countless millions into Royal Bank of Scotland in a bid to save the banking system and to get them to lend our money back to us. Sound confusing?
Ok, so let’s accept that on some level all of this makes sense, after all we need to get the economy moving and the ability to borrow or lend money is a fundamental part of this. So why have Lombard Direct (Royal Bank of Scotland) now decided that they are going to stop lending money, and exactly where has all our money gone?
21 Hospital Trusts fail hygiene tests
April 3rd, 2009
NHS Trusts fail to meet hygiene standards
A report by The Care Quality Commission, the new “super regulator” for health and social care has revealed that Twenty-one NHS trusts have failed to meet required hyqiene standards, raising concerns about the control of superbug infections.
Of the twenty one trusts concerned, 10 were acute hospital trusts, six primary care trusts, four mental health trusts and one ambulance trust. They have all had strict conditions placed on their registration with the commission. Four of the trusts concerned have foundation status, previously awarded for excellence.
But 10 acute hospital trusts, six primary care trusts, four mental health care trusts and one ambulance trust that failed to meet required standards have had strict conditions placed on their registration with the commission.
Four of the trusts have foundation status, a symbol of excellence.
Trusts will now be required to take swift action and may be fined or forced to close wards if they do not improve their hygiene standards, which include strict policies to deal with and prevent infections like MRSA, Difficile and other hospital superbugs. 13 of the trusts admitted non-compliance of all hygiene levels.
The commission gave unconditional registration to 367 trusts.
Changes to Healthcare rules in Channel Islands
April 3rd, 2009
Healthcare agreement scrapped
If you are considering taking your holidays in the Channel Islands this year (Jersey, Guernsey, Alderney, Sark or Herm) then you would possibly assume that travel insurance would be one thing you DIDN’T need to worry about. After all, the islands are all ‘crown dependencies’. Well, you would have been right, but a change to the law this week, relating to healthcare for UK visitors means that you could be faced with a medical bill if you fall ill or are injured.
An agreement which has been in place since the mid-70’s, providing UK travellers to the Channel Islands with some free medical treatment, is now being scrapped, in what can only be seen as a cost-cutting exercise by the UK government.
The current system means that anyone who falls in whilst on holiday in Jersey would receive free in-patient and outpatient treatment and free ambulance travel, but would would be required to pay for prescription medicine or to see a GP. Under the new rules, from April 1st 2009, services that were previously free would have to be paid for, although if the person has travel cover, the insurer would pay the bill.
A spokesperson from the Department of Health said that they had always recommended that visitors to the Channel Islands should take out separate insurance cover, as there have always been elements of treatment that were not covered under the previous agreement.
For further details refer to the DOH website
Aviva announce 1100 job losses
April 3rd, 2009
Aviva have announced that 1,100 jobs will be lost in the next 12 months
The UK’s largest Insurance company, Aviva(formerly Norwich Union) announced that it would be axing 1,100 jobs throughout the year. The bulk of the losses will be at the firms Norwich and York branches, with 590 positions being lost over the coming months.
The news is the latest blow to the finance industry, which has suffered over recent months.
Derek Simpson, of financial services union, Unite, said: “The announcement by Aviva to cut 1,100 staff will cause alarm across the insurance industry.” He believes that Aviva are repeating what appears to be an annual exercise of cutting jobs.
He added: “Today we see a scenario where a company that is continuing to deliver positive results is slashing the staff that have enabled them to weather the current financial storm. It is unacceptable that once again shareholders received their full dividends, while the workers who brought the company this success are rewarded with job losses.”
“The Aviva workforce is continuing to live under constant uncertainty about their future. Unite has been told that these job losses are unrelated to the economic downturn.”
Aviva recently announced that it had experienced a £885 million-dent to its profits.
Further insurance industry job losses were also announced by reinsurance group Swiss Re, who said they planned to cut 10% of their workforce - equivalent to around 1,150 jobs - as part of an efficiency drive.
Alternative mortgage product launched by IBB
April 2nd, 2009
Fixed rate Mortgage launched by Islamic Bank of Britain
The Islamic Bank of Britain (IBB) has launched the UK’s first Islamic fixed rate mortgage in a direct bid to win a bigger share of the UK’s mainstream mortgage market, the bank confirmed.
‘We are throwing down the gauntlet to conventional banks with this new fixed rate Home Purchase Plan,’ said Sultan Choudhury, Commercial Director at Islamic Bank of Britain.
‘The mortgage will be available to customers of all faiths, so my call to UK homebuyers and homeowners is to put any misapprehensions to one side and come and find out how a Home Purchase Plan from IBB can really make a difference to your pocket,’ he declared
Mr Choudhury explained how an Islamic mortgage differs from a conventional mortgage. ‘Interest is forbidden in Islamic banking, so the bank will take a share in the property and each monthly payment will consist of a rental portion and an aqquisitian portion which will, over a defined period purchase the banks share in the property’
The bank is offering a rate of 3.99% with an arrangement fee of £299 and claims it is one of the most competitive offers currently available in the UK home finance market. The new product is fixed until June 2010, there is a minimum of £70,000 and a maximum finance of £750,000 as well as a minimum property value £150,000.
‘Not only is our Home Purchase Plan extremely competitive, Islamic Banking is also considered by many as an ethical and stable alternative to conventional banking,’ Choudhury added.
Unexpected Rise in House Prices
April 2nd, 2009
House prices rise by 0.9% in March
March saw a surprise rise in house prices, as buyers started to return to the market, figures showed.
According to the Nationwide, the increase of 0.9% was enough to push the average home back up above the £150,000 threshold to £150,946, but the group added caution to the statement saying that it was “far too soon” to take this as evidence that the bottom of the market had been reached.
The rise also led to a reduction in the annual rate at which house prices are falling, from 17.6% in February to 15.7% in March.
Fionnuala Earley, Nationwide’s chief economist, said: “The Bank of England has already taken strong measures to ease the tensions in economic and financial markets by cutting rates and commencing quantitative easing. However it will take time for these to work through into the housing market before we can expect a sustained recovery in house prices.”
The rise has followed recent positive news on the housing market, as only days earlier the Bank of England said the number of mortgages approved for house purchase jumped by 19% during February.
Estate Agents have been reporting an increase in interest from potential buyers during the last 3-4 months and it appears that this may now be translating into sales. There has been an increase in the number of ‘cash investors’ looking at property again, as interest rates on saving and other deposits continue to fall.
Predictably pessimistic, and dare we say gloomy, economists have greeted the recent run of good news cautiously, warning that, although the housing market may have turned a corner, a sustained recovery in prices was still likely to be some way off with the economy in recession and unemployment rising.
Tesco ‘Bank’ on Success
April 2nd, 2009
Tesco plan to open 30 bank branches in 2009
Tescos attempt at global domination seems set to continue with plans to open 30 bank branches within it’s stores by the end of 2009. Whilst the banking sector, as a whole is retracting and consolidating it’s position, Tesco once again seem to be bucking the trend.
A trial branch has already been running in Glasgow for some time now and the first new branches in Blackpool, Coventry and Bristol will be opened during the next month and Tesco plan to be offering current accounts within the next two years, with a wider range of services to follow.
The company already offer car, travel and home insurance, credit cards, loans and savings accounts under the Tesco Personal Finance brand with plans to possibly move into the mortgage market.
Last month, Tesco said the amount of money deposited in its savings accounts had nearly doubled in the previous six months, although the last few months have seen general industry growth in this sector, as consumers make provision for an uncertain economic period ahead.
Whether Tesco have the midas touch remains to be seen, but they certainly seem to possess one vital factor that is lacking in the country as a whole, consumer confidence, and this alone can make or break a company or country for that matter.
Tesco for government? Who knows!
British Homeowners make record mortgage repayments
April 2nd, 2009
According to Bank of England figures published earlier this week, Britons paid off a record £8 billion in mortgage debt between October and December last year.
The figures suggest that homeowners, benefitting from low interest rates and reduced mortgage costs, are now cutting down on spending and putting any surplus funds into paying off their mortgage debt. As concerns of the recession and economic slowdown set in, anxious homeowners put more money into paying off their mortgages, with the largest net injection of equity since records began in 1970
As house prices continued to rise, homeowners were drawing equity from their homes and by 2007, the amount of extra borrowing obtained through remortgaging reached £14.6 billion. However, the last 3 months has seen a reversal of this trend and homeowners are now drawing a ‘negative’ amount of equity from their homes.
