My name is Helen Nugent and yesterday I turned the heating on. I daren’t tell my dad, a man who resolutely refuses to even approach the thermostat until November because ‘once you turn on the radiators there’s no going back’. I was nine-years-old before I realised we had central heating. During the bitter Northern winter months,
Royal Bank of Scotland is to pay $1.1 billion (£846 million) to settle US lawsuits over claims it sold toxic mortgage securities to two American credit unions in the run-up to the financial crisis, according to The Telegraph. But the bank still faces almost 20 claims over its sale of mortgage-backed securities in the US, the largest
Standard Life Investments has become the latest financial institution to announce plans to reopen its suspended property fund after declaring that the commercial property market had stabilised, The Times reports. The announcement that its UK Real Estate Fund and associated feeder funds would be reopened on October 17 is regarded as an important move as
When you write for The Spectator, it’s tempting to stick to the more cerebral issues of the day. As money editor, this can include tracking the progress of Sterling post-Brexit, ruminating on the downward trajectory of house price growth or reflecting on the merits of equity release. Some days, however, that’s the last thing you
UK financial services firms are becoming more pessimistic about their prospects in the wake of the Brexit vote, an industry survey suggests. Optimism fell for the third consecutive quarter according to the CBI employers group. It is the sector’s longest period of falling sentiment since 2009 – in the midst of the financial crisis. The survey
UK banks should do more to protect customers tricked into transferring money to fraudsters, according to a consumer body that has lodged a ‘supercomplaint‘ with financial regulators. The move by Which? means banks could now face a formal investigation into whether they can continue refusing to reimburse victims. The Guardian reports that the organisation submitted its
Fears that Britain will slide into a post-referendum recession have been allayed after a Guardian newspaper analysis showed the latest news on the economy has confounded analysts’ gloomy expectations, with consumer spending strong, unemployment low and the housing market holding steady. The finding comes as a leading think tank toned down its earlier dire warnings of economic
It’s with a shiver down my spine and clenched teeth that I recall my first rented flat in London. I was 22-years-old, looking for work and had never lived south of Manchester. Looking back, I was terribly naive and, truth be told, absolutely petrified about moving to the big city. Put simply, I was fair game
The fixed interest rate of mortgages could fall to less than 1 per cent next year if the Bank of England cuts the base rate again, in a move that would give the housing market a boost, The Guardian reports. Rates on two-year, fixed-rate mortgages – already at record lows – could fall even further
A financial scam was committed once every 15 seconds in the first half of the year, prompting a new campaign to highlight the risks. More than one million cases of card, cheque, phone or online fraud were recorded from January to June, Financial Fraud Action (FFA) said. That was a 53 per cent rise on the
Interest rates are on track to be cut for a second time before Christmas despite the economy’s surprising resilience since the EU referendum, the Bank of England has indicated. The Bank’s message that stronger growth may not dissuade rate-setters from a second post-Brexit vote cut was made in the minutes to this month’s meeting, when
The chances of another Bank of England rate cut today are close to zero after some recent upbeat economic data, although further action is expected later in the year, according to Thisismoney. The Bank’s Monetary Policy Committee, which announces its latest interest rate decision at midday today, cut the base rate from 0.5 per cent
It is more than half a century since Jessica Mitford published her landmark work of investigative journalism, The American Way of Death. But her exposé of the specific and often nefarious ways the funeral industry had made the average service more expensive remain pertinent today. Back in 1963, Mitford, one of the celebrated aristocratic Mitford sisters, reflected on the mortuary’s talent
Consumers who are forced to have prepayment energy meters put in should face a maximum installation fee of £150, the regulator has proposed. Currently such energy users – already the most vulnerable to debt – face a charge of up to £900, said Ofgem. As many as 4.5 million people use prepayment meters for electricity,
The number of fraudulent insurance claims rose to 2,500 a week last year, according to industry figures. In total there were 130,000 fraudulent claims, up 6 per cent on 2014, the Association of British Insurers (ABI) said. Dishonest motor claims remained the most common crime, accounting for over half the total. But fraudulent claims for injury,
Commuters spend more than a tenth of disposable income on annual rail season tickets, a BBC investigation has found. Figures also show some commuters pay almost 40p per mile of railway while others pay 11p per mile. Campaigners for better railways said people were ‘astonished’ so much of their income was going on travel. Train operators
The cost of renting a home in England and Wales was 5.2 per cent higher in July than the same month a year earlier, according to lettings agent Your Move. Its survey, based on analysis of about 20,000 properties, suggested that average monthly rent paid by private tenants rose to £846. The increase was sharpest in
Consumers are getting better value for money from their current account and benefiting from a more competitive market, according to a new report from the Social Market Foundation published today. The report, A switch in time: The evolution of Britain’s personal current account market, supported by Bacs, has found a 17 per cent fall in
House price growth slowed in August but buying a property was still 6.9 per cent more expensive than a year ago, new figures show. The Halifax, part of Lloyds Banking Group, said that the average home in the UK cost £213,930. Prices in the three months to the end of August were 0.7 per cent
Ah, the time-honoured tradition of pulling a sickie. It’s as old as employment itself and us Brits have forged a reputation for making the most of it. Everyone’s done it, right? That early morning call to your boss, the feeble ‘I can’t make it in today’, the creeping sensation of guilt quickly quashed by the
