Liberal Democrat MPs Steve Webb and Vince Cable have accused some mortgage lenders of “tricking” borrowers into taking out homeloans with very high arrangement fees.
The MPs have said that the fees are often levied on mortgages that offer low introductory interest rates, that seem to present a significant saving and investment for borrowers and which put the […]

The number of people taking out individual voluntary arrangements (IVAs) to escape their debts has fallen in recent months, according to accountants PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC).
IVAs are voluntary deals between debtors and creditors overseen by an insolvency practitioner, and represent a saving and investment for the debtor.
The amount the debtor owes is cut and they then have to […]

Around 8 million children in the UK - out of a total child population of 11.1 million - are going without a vital kick-start to their financial future because they are too old to qualify for a Child Trust Fund (CTF), according to the Association of Friendly Societies (AFS).
Those born before 1st September 2002 comprise the […]

Lloyds TSB is to levy a £35 charge on its credit card holders who never use their cards, or use them only occasionally.
The bank has written to 50,000 customers to tell them that the charge will be applied within 30 days of the date on the letter. Some observers have commented that this makes it […]

The Government is to pay the costs of four pensioners who took a case over their lost pensions to court in order to get legal pension advice on their plight and a commitment to compensate them.
Work & Pensions Secretary John Hutton told MPs that he was prepared to pay the costs incurred by the pensioners so […]

UK investment in business improved sharply in the final months of 2006 official figures show, with boardroom confidence reflecting the strong economic conditions prevailing in the country.
The Office for National Statistics (ONS) showed that expenditure in the fourth quarter rose 3.3% on a quarterly basis, up 11.1% on the previous year.
Some analysts voiced fears that rising interest rates would depress capital spending […]

Lloyds TSB, the fifth largest bank in the UK, has announced full-year, pre-tax profits of £4.25bn, up 11% from 2005.
The amount made up by retail banking - that is, the provision of UK current accounts and other public banking services to its customers - was £1.55bn, more than 5% higher than the previous year.
However, set against […]

The cost of setting up a personal account pension - the latest brainwave in the Government’s campaign to get people to provide for their retirement and due to be introduced in 2012 - may be four times current estimates, according to the Association of British Insurers (ABI).
Director general of the ABI, Stephen Haddrill, told the Work […]