Homebuyers could be out of pocket to the tune of £3,500 when taking out a mortgage, according to a study by website Yourmortgage.co.uk.
In total, a potential buyer wanting a cheap, two-year fixed rate mortgage could end up paying fees ranging from £664 (HSBC) to £4,285 (Northern Rock).
Paula John, editor of Yourmortgage.co.uk, said: “Our findings are […]

A personal assistant who was subjected to a stream of letters and phone calls by her bank when she went a ‘few pounds’ overdrawn has won compensation for the ’harassment’ she suffered.
Alison Turner, 31, launched the action against Halifax, claiming she was ‘bullied’ and ‘harassed’ by the bank, and was pestered even after staff had agreed […]

Labour’s much-lambasted scheme for Home Information Packs (HIPs) collapsed in disarray last night as the Government was forced into a humiliating climb-down on the issue.
The planned 1st June start date has been put back to August 1st and even then only four-bedroom houses, or larger, will require a HIP if they are put on the […]

Wealthy people who have been dodging tax owed on their offshore savings have not come forward in any significant numbers to enjoy an official tax amnesty, according to senior accountants who have spoken to the BBC.
A leading accountant said that only a “few hundred” people had taken advantage of the amnesty offered by HM Revenue […]

American comedian and film-maker Woody Allen once said: “Money is better than poverty, if only for financial reasons”, and you can see his point.
It’s the sort of statement that rings as true as “It’s better to be rich and miserable than poor and miserable”, or Everett Dirkson’s brilliant: “A billion here and a billion there […]

Over one in four of the UK’s population (26%) ranks money above sex, food, work and the weather, according to the Picture Financial Happiness Index.
The report - ‘Finance: The Final Frontier’ - found that money does buy happiness, with six in 10 consumers (62%) admitting to feeling happier when their finances are well organised.
Financial happiness, however, […]

Marks & Spencer is back on track to be a successful player in the UK retail sector and has posted a 28.5% increase in annual pre-tax profit to £965.2m.
The figure is not far short of the record £1bn profit it saw in 1998, just before the company began a slow decline into a failing business.
The firm reported a […]

Northern cities show the highest level of ‘credit cruisers’ (people who never pay off their credit card debt at the end of the month) in the UK, according to a study conducted by data analysts CDMS.
Liverpool, Newcastle and Glasgow top the table for those people who do not clear their credit card debt, while Nottingham, Norwich and Edinburgh are […]