A charity has claimed that dishonest credit businesses are ripping people off by offering to find unsecured loans and then charging large upfront fees.
Citizens Advice claimed that people were initially contacted by the fraudsters via text message or a telephone call offering to find them an unsecured loan. After loans often failed to materialise, victims called to complain but were then charged a premium rate.
Citizens Advice has issued a ‘super-complaint’ (which can be made if an issue is “significantly harming the interests of the consumer”) to the Office of Fair Trading (OFT) who now has 90 days to give a response. If the OFT decide there is sufficient evidence for a case, a full investigation will then take place.
The aim is to get the OFT to ban cold-calling by credit and debt management companies and for an end for the demand of up-front fees.
The charity said they had received complaints from people in England, Wales and Scotland, who after paying large up-front fees, then received little or no service in return. After making calls to the companies to complain, they were then faced with inundated calls and text messages from other firms offering similar ‘loan services’.
It is vital that the OFT take this case seriously, people who are struggling with their finances need valid help and support and not be faced with these unsolicited offers by companies who are just out to make money out of people’s desperation.
For more information, please visit www.glazers.co.uk
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( 3 / 200 )It seems the British public are having as much trouble with their personal finances as the banks and the government are having with the countries.
One in ten of us are permanently in the red and more than a third of us have dipped into an overdraft facility at least once during the past year.
In a study by moneysupermarket.com, 10 percent of people admitted to their current account permanently being in the red and 37 percent were either always in the red or have dipped into the minus figures at some point during the past 12 months.
Young adults appear to be the worst offenders, 46 percent of 20 – 29 year-olds had been overdrawn in the past year and only 16 percent of this group had managed to get back into the black.
It seems the younger generation could learn a thing or two from the over-70s, as only 18 percent had used their overdraft in the past year.
Half of the account-holders who were constantly in the red said they would take action to get back into credit, such as cutting back on spending and using their savings to get out of the red.
With the poor state of our economy, it is no surprise that so many people are struggling to maintain a healthier bank balance. It is a sign of the times that people have to use their savings in order to get out of the red and into the black. With the cost of living escalating, the habit of living in the red will be even harder to break.
For more information, please visit www.glazers.co.uk
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( 3 / 244 )A new ruling by the EU, which will see the use of gender-based pricing for financial products being banned, has received strong criticism with women expecting to face higher car insurance premiums.
Currently differentiations between men and women, such as life expectancy and road accident records, are used as a risk factor when setting premiums for medical and car insurance and pension schemes. However, the European Court of Justice in Luxembourg believes this system goes against the EU rules on equality and “constitutes discrimination.”
The new verdict will be applied from December 2012 and women can expect to face a 25 percent increase in car insurance premiums whilst pension income for men may fall by 10 percent.
As men statistically do not live as long as women, they benefit from higher annuity rates. With some pension schemes already applying a set rate for both men and women, the unisex rate for a £50,000 pension fund is £3,049 a year, whilst men currently get an income of £3,274 a year and women £2,993.
The new ruling has received criticism from experts who believe premium prices are likely to be volatile over the next few months, with Conservative MEP Sajjad Karim condemning it to be “utter madness” and a “setback for common sense.”
There are also fears that some car insurers might set the unisex level at the male rate and younger men who will save on insurance may spend the savings on faster cars meaning claims for the ‘younger driver’ group will be pushed up further.
The new ruling will undoubtedly have an impact on women, who are already struggling with rising prices of consumer goods, but the EU saw the price differentiation system as constituting discrimination. It appears, however, that the new ruling will carry far more many problems than just higher prices.
For more information, please visit www.glazers.co.uk
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( 2.9 / 236 )Britain’s pensioners haven’t had a good time of it recently. What with being blamed for the working population’s rocketing bills, low incomes and a reduced welfare state whilst they appear to enjoy a life of healthy pensions and exotic foreign holidays. However, pensioners believe they are being unfairly portrayed, especially after the government’s decision to downgrade the inflation link for annual pension increases.
Tomorrows National Pensioner’s Convention will see the over-65s fight back by promoting their message that many of the ageing population are actually struggling to keep warm and are being made to live a poorer existence. They will dispute claims that pensioner’s are taking more out than they are putting in to society.
The financial effect the ‘baby boom’ generation is having on the rest of society has recently been under the media spotlight following a report by Lord Hutton, a government advisor, who said the ageing population should not rely on the younger, working population to fund their elderly care.
Due to inflated home values, pension assets and a need to cover at least 25 years of retirement, the definition of ‘rich’ has changed with the number of ‘super-rich’ increasing. For example, a teacher on £35,000 will qualify for a £17,000 a year pension and along with a £350,000 house they could fit the ‘millionaire’ bracket as much as a City financier, although the City worker would of course be richer.
The government will need to impose further measures that will reflect the fact that we are in a situation we have never been in before – an expanding ageing population, which is putting a strain on a decreasing working population. The younger generation will continue to feel the effects and be put under more financial strain if changes are not made.
For more information, please visit www.glazers.co.uk
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( 3 / 274 )So the budget is soon upon us and there are already calls being heard, with a “Budget for Growth” being the aim of the game.
The British Chambers of Commerce (BCC) believes the UK is running the risk of a “jobless recovery” if the Government do not match their plan for economic growth with initiatives that are business-friendly.
According to the BCC, the cause of the predicted “jobless recovery” would be due to the increase in unemployment combined with the legislative burden on employers.
The BCC said businesses need to be encouraged to recruit staff and will be vital in ensuring employment levels are raised. Encouragements would come from the government relieve businesses of income regulations, offer employers tax incentives to hire young workers, reinstate the £25m cut from the trade promotion budget and help small businesses gain easier access to credit.
David Frost, the BCC director-general said that the government’s plans for economic growth had not been matched with “real action”. He said that business confidence needed to be boosted, investment encourage and the spirit of enterprise to be rekindled.
With news of the economy contracting faster than anticipated, shrinking by 0.6 percent during the last three months of 2010, even more pressure will be on George Osbourne to reveal a solid “budget for growth” next month.
For more information, please visit www.glazers.co.uk
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