The trend for consolidation in the mutual building society sector continues, with Newcastle Building Society announcing yesterday that it swallow up its smaller local counterpart Universal Building Society.
Existing Universal members - its savers and borrowers – will enjoy windfall payouts of at least £200 each when the sale goes through.
Newcastle will gain […]

Customers of life insurers that have demutualised and become limited companies have ended up £14,000 worse off on average than those who have stayed with mutual organisations, according to the Association of Mutual Insurers (AMI).
AMI looked at the maturity values of demutualised with-profits policies over the past 15 years and compared them with those […]

Kent Reliance, a building society based in Chatham, Kent, has abandoned rules insisting that customers opening accounts forego the right to any windfall that may be payable should the society convert to plc status.
Ii said it now welcomed applications for membership from so-called carpetbaggers, though it warned windfalls would not necessarily be forthcoming.
Savers will […]

Those debt-laden UK borrowers currently seeking help could take 77 years to pay off all they owe, according to Citizens Advice.
The charity says this is because that the typical debtor approaching it for guidance earns around half the national average wage. On average, people seeking help from Citizens Advice were £13,153 in debt.
It claims […]

The FTSE 250 index was hit by its biggest points fall ever on Monday amid falling markets worldwide.
Share prices and commodity prices dropped markedly as nervous investors made panic sales amid continued fears about the prospects for the world economy.
London’s FTSE 100 fell 124.7 points to 5532.7 - down 2% on the day and […]

Location remains the most important factor in determining a property’s value, with a good location typically adding 35.9% to the possible selling price.
Research from Nationwide claims that a loft conversion is the next most valuable influence, potentially adding 20.9% to a house’s worth, while access to parking adds 6.5% and an extra bedroom 6.0%.
Adding […]

Half of second-time homebuyers are stuck on the property ladder, unable to afford the next move up the property ladder. As a result, 42% are planning to stay in their existing property and build an extension instead.
According to research from Abbey, the country’s second-biggest mortgage lender, the main barrier to moving up the ladder […]

People on relatively high incomes are increasingly battling rising personal debts, according to the Consumer Credit Counselling Service (CCCS).
Over three years, CCCS says it has seen a rise of 257% in the number of UK workers
earning over £30,000 a year contacting them for help.
The charity said that such people are seeing their debts mount […]