Personal Loans have been regularly used to fund those little extras such as a holiday abroad, a new car and increasingly as a means of debt consolidation. Most people know or have had a loan as shown by the fact that in the last 12 months Britain interest repayments on personal debt totalled £66.3bn. Now Lord Mandelson has announced the extension of the new car scrappage scheme, there has never been more reason to seek out the best loan rate... read more

Claims management companies lack of experience with unenforceable credit agreements, could land consumers in deeper financial trouble and even land them in court... read more

Students will see their student loan rate dropped from 1.5% to 0% this September... read more

Sainsbury's the supermarket giant is making a play for the UK online unsecured personal loan market... read more

Single premium Payment Protection Insurance PPI is the subject of a new campaign from the Financial Services Authority FSA. The regulator has written to providers, telling them to withdraw the controversial... read more

Young adults in the UK are depending on their parents for financial support - and putting the older generation's finances under strain. A new report from The Children's Mutual and the Social Issues Research... read more

Banks have updated on the progress of the Enterprise Finance Guarantee scheme, aimed at improving loans flows to businesses. The comments, from the British Bankers' Association BBA, follow an announcement... read more

Confidence in banks among small and medium sized entreprises SMEs has collapsed, Close Invoice Finance said today. According to the financial firm, just one in 20 firms now trust banks to keep on lending... read more

Policymakers at the Bank of England have signalled their support for quantitative easing - the modern equivalent of printing money. Writing to the chancellor to allow the bank to expand the money supply... read more

Trust in banks is declining as credit crunch-related bad news continues to hit the headlines. Just over a third 37 per cent of people believe that banks "can't be trusted" to act in the best... read more

Adverse financial conditions are keeping people from moving house - leaving homeowners to fund renovations through personal loans instead. Figures from Sainsbury's show that around 1.1 million unsecured... read more

The Bank of England took in £287 billion of assets from banks and doled out £185 billion in Treasury bonds as part of its Special Liquidity Scheme SLS. According to the institution, 32 financial... read more

Business boomed at the Co-operative Bank last year, figures from the firm suggest. According to the year-end data, 65 per cent more people took out a current account with the Co-op than did so in 2007. Personal... read more

The government is consulting on whether or not to create a "people's bank" through the Post Office, partly to improve the provision of loans to UK consumers. Postal affairs minister Pat McFadden... read more

The Bank of England might cut interest rates to just 0.5 per cent next month in a bid to improve loan lending flows in the UK. This is the view of an influential economist at the Institute of Directors,... read more

A package of Payment Protection Insurance PPI reforms were announced today by the Competition Commission. Single-premium PPI is to no longer be offered by UK providers from 2010. This is because, unlike... read more

Many Britons are turning to high-interest payday loans after failing to obtain unsecured credit on the high street, a charity suggested today. The Consumer Credit Counselling Service CCCS also said that... read more

An upswing in personal loan applications is being experienced by providers, Sainsbury's Finance analysis suggests. According to the firm, loan applications are generally higher over the first half of the... read more

The governor of the Bank of England has signalled that he could soon embark on quantitative easing - the modern equivalent of printing money. In a speech to a business group yesterday, Mervyn King said... read more

The economy may be down - but your credit rating needn't be... read more

As we start to count the cost of Christmas and tighten our belts, January is one of the busiest times of year for the banks and loan companies as many of us decide to consolidate our spending and try to make some saving... read more

A new government scheme to help small firms get loans has been launched by the government. Around £20 billion of short-term lending has been secured by the plan, along with a £75 million fund... read more

The passing of the Banking Bill could mean that money is printed in secret by the Bank of England, it has been suggested. One of the proposals of the new Bill is that an 170-year-old law requiring the... read more

Web and doorstep loan firms are offering very high APRs relative to the base rate, a fact highlighted by a new report from the Conservative party. The Tories found that one provider was offering a short-term... read more

Experts are predicting further big cuts to interest rates from the Bank of England. Simon Rubinsohn, chief economist at the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors, said that he expects the Bank to cut... read more

Two-thirds 67 per cent of Britons would not be willing to pay for mortgage payment protection insurance PPI, according to Zurich. Analysts are forecasting tough financial conditions throughout 2009... read more

The European Commission EC has announced that it has approved new support measures put forward for the UK banking industry. Fees to be paid on guaranteed liabilities are the primary focus of the new... read more

Poor families will not be forced to pay interest on previously interest-free social fund loans, the government has stated. A recent consultation had included proposals that could have introduced interest... read more

More than one quarter 28 per cent of Brits are not worried about the state of their finances this Christmas, new research has revealed. According to a survey by Fairinvestment.co.uk, many consumers have... read more

Equity release has more than doubled in popularity in Scotland over the last decade, according to Norwich Union. There has been a 141 per cent growth in the number of Scots releasing equity in their homes... read more

The inflation rate amongst the elderly is at a 6 year high, an astonishing 7.8%. Alliance Trust's ongoing monthly study of age related inflation has found that the over 75 year olds continue to be hit the hardest by rising inflation, and the pain is getting worse. This age group saw their inflation rate jump from 7.0% to 7.8% in September.... read more

As financial situations worsen, parents are having to cut back on personal luxuries in order to secure a better future for their children, according to new research out today by Family Investments, the family savings specialist and UK's leading Child Trust Fund provider. ... read more

The Financial Services Compensation Scheme FSCS is helping to safeguard retail deposits held by approximately 180,000 retail customers of Heritable and Kaupthing Singer & Friedlander.... read more

SHIP Safe Home Income Plans, the professional body for equity release providers, today launches a consumer checklist on the Do's and Don'ts of sale and rent back in response to increasing consumer confusion. ... read more

The Co-operative Bank today 29 September launched the UK's first ever packaged current accounts that offer customers an opportunity to choose benefits to suit their personal needs.... read more

Newlyweds should be considering more than just the cost of their wedding day to avoid seeing the honeymoon period cut short, says AA Personal Loans.... read more

Household finances have been badly stretched in the past year as the cost of energy has increased by 17% and the cost of food by 12%.... read more

Consumer price inflation rose to 2.4% above the Bank of England's target rate last month, with the now familiar infusions of higher food and energy prices lifting the headline CPI number to a higher-than expected 4.4%, ... read more

Splashing out on a brand new summer or autumn wardrobe may cost shoppers far more than they had initially expected, according to Alliance & Leicester Personal Loans.... read more

UK Growth & Income Fund Manager and Banking Sector Specialist, Chris White, gives his views on the Lloyds Interim Results... read more

Abbey Savings launches on Monday 4 August 2008 its latest one-year savings account for customers looking for a guaranteed return on an amount of money they can lock away for one year.... read more

Coventry will reduce the rates on its offset range by up to 0.30%, this Thursday 31 July.... read more

The Financial Services Compensation Scheme FSCS improved its service to consumers while cutting its costs during 2007/08, according to its annual report out today. At the same time, the Scheme passe... read more

Britannia has launched a new range of Guaranteed Capital Bonds, including a brand new inflation-linked product. Available from 26 July, the new five year Inflation Linked Guaranteed Capital Bond ILG... read more

Halifax today announces details of its new market leading Student Current Account offering. Applications for the new account can be made from Monday 4th August 2008. The account is available to both... read more

What is an investment trust?What is an investment trust?An investment trust is a collective investment fund which pools together money from hundreds or thousands of investors. This pool of money is st... read more

Market jitters could drive UK equity investors back to large-cap stocks after a five-year period of relative neglect. So says Fidelity International, the mutual fund manager. Even before the recent... read more

Members of Standard Life who received free shares when the formerly mutual insurer floated on the stock exchange, and who held them for a year, should by now have received their bonus shares. If you w... read more

Yorkshire Bank has announced details of its 2007 package for students. The package, which has all the advantages of a normal current account, offers an overdraft facility of up to £1,000 in the first ... read more

Ceres Power,... read more

With three working days to go until the August 1st deadline, sellers of four or more bedroomed properties requiring a Home Information Pack HIP, are being offered a helping hand by Skipton Building ... read more

Can the right credit card really save the planet? It might in the hands of a James Bond who uses it to force the lock, enter and stabilise a nuclear reactor faced with imminent meltdown. Seriously, a... read more

The summer holidays are here and millions of Brits will be off on their holidays over the next 5 weeks. This year around 2 million will be taking to the road with a caravan in tow, accounting for... read more

Newcastle Building Society has announced the launch of a new Fixed Rate Bond - the latest deal paying 6.15% gross/AER through September 10th 2008. Current customers who've held an account with... read more

J Sainsbury gained 5.50 to 591 - the food retailer confirming it has been the subject of an approach. Press reports had previously said that Delta Two, which already owns about 25% of Sainsbury's,... read more

If you've got a less than perfect credit record and are looking for a mortgage, you could find yourself with the unfortunate tag of 'near prime borrower'. Near prime mortgages are a form of sub-prime... read more

Following Gordon Brown's statement about the need to take further steps to improve the way the mortgage markets work the Chancellor of the Exchequer, Alistair Darling, has announced a number of new in... read more

Many Britons are snubbing the chance of buying homes in Spain because it's too full of UK ex-pats already. Despite this, 4 in 10 mortgage advisers see Spain as the best long term market for investme... read more

Shell gave up 23 to 2068 - Goldman Sachs lowering its recommendation on Europe's largest oil company from 'neutral' to 'sell'. In a note, the investment bank said the firm faces three years of hea... read more

If you're always in credit now is a great time to get a fantastic rate on your current account. As competition has increased among the banks, interest rates on current accounts have being going skywar... read more

Bradford & Bingley has announced the launch of eSavings4 - the online savings account giving an annual bonus rate of 6.01% p.a. gross/AER for the first 12 months. eSavings4 - available to savers... read more

Nationwide Building Society has announced the launch of a new range of fixed rate bonds paying up to 6.15%. The Society's new Two year Loyalty Fixed Rate Bond, paying 6.15% gross pa. 4.92% net, ... read more

According to Moneyfacts.co.uk, the financial information provider, current accounts are big business for the banks. Indeed, this has been made clear by several banks who over the last 6 months have be... read more

The 2007 Moneyfacts Awards ceremony drew several hundred attendees from the UK's personal finance industry. The ceremony is one of the key events in the financial industry's calendar. Representatives ... read more

Kingfisher eased 4.25 to 248.50 - the DIY retailer reporting in a trading update for the 13 weeks to May 5th that Group sales were up 14.8% like-for-like 6.7% and retail profit up 29.9%; benefiti... read more

House prices gained further momentum in April despite increased supply triggered by the forthcoming introduction of HIPS Home Information Packs, says RICS Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyo... read more

People arranging a personal loan over the telephone or internet should watch out as they may unknowingly buy expensive payment protection insurance. So claims Which? Magazine. When the consumer a... read more

Optimism among UK companies about the state of the general economy rebounded sharply in April which indicates that above-average growth economic is likely to be sustained throughout the second quarte... read more

Latest figures March from the BBA British Bankers' Association show that mortgage demand may be weakening in the face of rising interest rates. March's gross mortgage lending was £18.6 billio... read more

With immediate effect all claims management companies will now be regulated by the Department for Constitutional Affairs. Known in the trade as 'ambulance chasers' those firms authorised to provide th... read more

Antofagasta dropped 10.75 to 510.25, Vedanta was off 26 to 1374.Copper itself fell for a second consecutive day in London. The banks eased on interest-rate jitters, HBOS down 9 at 1068, Lloyds TSBd... read more

Act quickly to get your hands on the best mini cash ISA. That's the message coming out of moneyfacts.co.uk as the financial information provider publishes its 2007 mini cash ISA survey This year'... read more

Almost three quarters 73% of European debit cardholders are in favour of having their existing debit card replaced by one that can be used uniformly across Europe, new research commissioned by Maste... read more

Chancellor Gordon Brown loosened the country's purse strings when it came to green housing issues today, as he delivered his 11th - and final - budget to the House of Commons. While announcing that al... read more

The tax year, as ever, ends on 5 April, which also happens to be Maundy Thursday this year. If you don't intend to be financially crucified by Chancellor Brown, you have only three weeks to ensure al... read more

Nationwide Building Society is calling on Gordon Brown to increase the limit on annual ISA savings from the current level of £7,000 to £9,000 - the same amount that could be saved in its predecessor, ... read more

Standard Life Investments is to offer investors a 0% initial charge on investments in its range of investment trusts during this year's ISA season. Those who invest in a trust managed through the... read more

ISA investors who want to move stock from their existing portfolio into an ISA to use up this year's tax-free entitlement could be hit by costs of more than £200, according to ISA and PEP provider, A... read more

Following recent initiatives from British Gas, npower and Powergen; Scottish & Southern Energy SSE has announced that it too is cutting its energy prices. Effective March 1st, 7.5 million... read more

Latest figures from the Investment Management Association point to a relatively quiet period for investment sales in January. Investment funds under management of £411 billion last month saw a sm... read more

The full launch of Home Information Packs HIPs is only 100 days away. But Stephen Smith, Director of Housing at Legal & General, makes the point that the whilst Government has been conducting ... read more

AEGON Asset Management is to offer investors discounts on both its ethical funds and a range of its bond funds. The discount period begins on February 1st and runs to April 30th. The discounted ... read more

A new consultation initiated by the Government is set to boost efforts to tackle climate change and promote energy efficiency by proposing that estate agents include Energy Performance Certif... read more

City watchdog, the Financial Services Authority FSA, has set out its views on recent increases in mortgage exit administration fees MEAFs, and how it expects mortgage lenders to address the issues... read more

City watchdog, the FSA Financial Services Authority, has warned insurance firms to stop using savings claims which could mislead consumers in their advertising or face regulatory action. The ... read more

HSBC has launched a 5-year fixed rate mortgage charging 5.55% until March 2012, then reverting to the bank's variable rate currently 6.25%. There are no booking, exit or higher lending charges. ... read more

Tesco Personal Finance is to enter the private medical insurance market, with new products offering prices at up to 32% lower than comparable providers, claims the firm. Under the new plans cust... read more

Latest data from the Nationwide Building Society shows house price growth moving back into double digits in December - the monthly increase of 1.2% giving an annual gain of 10.5%. The average p... read more

One in four 26% people in the UK live in rented accommodation, and although two thirds 67% of tenants rent because they cannot afford to buy, there are other significant factors driving the rental... read more

Research published by the Financial Services Consumer Panel shows that consumers use mortgage endowment claims companies to save time and to help them through what they see as a complex process. O... read more

London Stock Exchange gained 16 to 1317 - news emerging that 80s New York corporate raider, Samuel Heyman, has built up an 8.8% stake. Heyman's move raised expectations that US exchange, Nasdaq, w... read more

"Money doesn't talk, it swears," wrote Bob Dylan. He might have added that, on Planet Overdraft, it swears most vociferously. This is somewhere you don't want to go but if you are already a resident ... read more

The majority of credit card users will be the losers as consumer protection rules could cost lenders £1 billion a year, according to 'Precious Plastic 2007', the latest study of the UK consumer cre... read more

Thousands of families are in danger of being hit for an Inheritance tax IHT penalty because so many elderly parents cling on to tax free investment plans - without taking action to protect their est... read more

Norwich and Peterborough Building Society N&P has made additions to its mortgage product ranges for customers looking to buy in Gibraltar or Spain - the launch comprising a new buy-to-let mortga... read more

When it comes to investing, emerging markets have been the best performing markets each year in the last decade, according to new research by fund manager, Fidelity International. Using MSCI in... read more

A study of financial forecasting accuracy by management consultancy, Parson Consulting, shows that just 49 out of the FTSE 350 list of companies 14% matched analysts' earnings-per-share EPS fo... read more

APACS, the UK payments association, has launched its latest report into transparency and responsibility in the credit card industry. 'Sharing Best Practice', details the steps the industry has... read more

City watchdog, the FSA Financial Services Authority, has publicly censured financial adviser GD Tancred Financial Services Limited GDT for not clearly explaining and documenting the risks of i... read more

Norwich Union reports that critical illness insurance payments in 2005 rose significantly compared to 2004. The insurers payouts on critical illness CI policies increased to more than £80m in 2005; ... read more