Most home buyers purchase life assurance when they arrange a mortgage, but only a minority obtain another form of financial protection that they are five times more likely to need before they reach retirement. Critical illness assurance pays a tax-free lump sum on diagnosis of any one of [ Read More → ]

Banks to tighten lending criteria on loans and reduce credit card limits Photo: PA It comes as more lenders said they had reduced the availability of mortgages rather than increased it during the past three months following a “deterioration” in the cost and access to wholesale funds. It comes despite billions [ Read More → ]

MBNA ignored the cardholder’s request not to take out payment protection insurance Photo: PA A county court judge ruled that Lynne Thorius, 49, was charged thousands of pounds by MBNA for an insurance policy she had never asked for. The ruling could open the floodgates for millions of pounds’ worth of similar claims [ Read More → ]

It has emerged that Britain’s five largest banks have agreed to bonus terms set out by the world’s leading nations at last week’s G20 summit. The five UK banks that have accepted the curbs on bonuses are Barclays, HSBC, Lloyds, RBS and Standard Chartered. Under the new terms set out [ Read More → ]

With the economic downturn rumbling on, new research from Simplyhealth has revealed that over a third of Britons wish they had been more responsible with money. The Bothered Britain Report, looks at how attitudes and behaviour have changed in the past year towards money and health related issues,, and what concerns [ Read More → ]

The BBA represents Britain’s banking industry Over the past few months lenders have been accused by consumer groups of profiteering as the cost of mortgages has increased despite the Bank of England’s official interest rate standing at an all-time low of 0.5pc for half a year. Statistics from moneyfacts, [ Read More → ]

A new initiative called “Backing Young Britain” is set to get thousands of young people back to work in the form of apprenticeships or training. The latest official figures show that the jobless rate among 16 to 24-year-olds has surged to almost 20%, with nearly a million classed as unemployed. Leading [ Read More → ]

All babies are given a £250 Child Trust Fund voucher as well as another once they turn seven, which can be topped up by their families until they turn 18. But as the first children to benefit from the scheme receive their seventh birthday present, it has been [ Read More → ]

LONDON — During Britain’s boom, easy credit helped Eduardo Ireneo pile up £1,750 ($2,848) in bank debt. When the boom turned to bust in 2007, though, banks cut him off and he turned to a loan shark, an illicit credit source that is gaining steam. Mr. Ireneo’s case sheds light on [ Read More → ]

Britain’s energy companies are paying much less for the power they supply, as prices on the wholesale market have halved in the past 12 months to reach the lowest levels in almost three years. But despite the reductions, household electricity and gas bills are still higher than they [ Read More → ]