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| Which? attacks credit card fees |
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Credit card companies have raised numerous charges for using their cards in the past year, according to the consumers' association Which?
It says that since the Office of Fair Trading ordered a cut in default fees to £12 last year, "ingenious methods" had been used to recoup the... read on... |
| Consumers get real over Christmas Debt |
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PARK Group owner Peter Johnson has claimed the Christmas savings industry has seen signs that a growing number of consumers are turning their backs on debt.
Instead, the Park Group owner claims that people are turning to the Christmas savings clubs as a way of financing their festive spending sprees, despite... read on... |
| Sun, sea, sand and debt |
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Brits love nothing more than a spot of sun, sea and sand when going on holiday, but at what cost?
It seems a passion for taking holidays has not translated into financial sense as many people are getting into debt... read on... |
| Hamish McRae: Be prepared to wait a decade for housing to become affordable again |
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Equity withdrawal figures show that the young who have to pay more for their homes are subsidising the lives of the old.
Everyone is worried about it and it is getting worse by the day.
The issue is housing affordability. We have house prices up more than 10 per cent on the year. We have rising short-term interest rates... read on... |
| Debt warning after rate rise |
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HOMEOWNERS and borrowers were dealt a further blow yesterday when the interest rate went up to 5.75 per cent.
The 0.25 per cent rise will add £16 a month on an average £100,000 repayment mortgage.
It is the fifth rate rise from The Bank of England in the last 12 months and it brought a warning from the Citizens' Advice Bureau that it could spell "disaster" for families already struggling to keep financially afloat... read on... |
| Millions lost 'in fraud and debt' |
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Government bodies have lost tens of millions of pounds in debts and fraud, according to a spending watchdog.
The Auditor General on Government Spending said £26m owed to the Child Support Agency was not gathered up and £32m was "probably uncollectable".
The Department for Social Development lost £150m in fraud and error - 4% of the benefits paid out in... read on... |
| Interest rate winners and losers |
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LONDON (Reuters) - Rising interest rates are affecting certain regions -- including areas of Berkshire, London, Wales, Hertfordshire and Yorkshire... read on... |
| Housing, debt and the battle for votes |
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THE Conservatives, Labour and Lib Dems have all begun setting out their stalls for wooing voters at the next Westminster election, with the first clear blue water emerging between their tax plans.
Labour has highlighted the need to build more affordable housing as a key priority. The Conservatives are committed to helping the family via new tax and benefit breaks in the hope of healing "broken Britain". And the Lib Dems have announced a radical tax-cutting budget read on... |
| Home repossessions soar in Suffolk |
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Soaring levels of debt are today being blamed for the number of home repossessions in Suffolk doubling in ten years. In 1997 there were 219 mortgage possession... read on... |
| Don't let debt drive you crazy |
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Trucker Stephen Bagshaw is among a growing band of people who have found the older they get, the more they ended up in debt. Stephen, 48 reached a staggering debt level of £42,000... read on... |
| CDMS: Credit card debt worse in the North |
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People in the North of the country have more credit card debt than people in the south, according to new research by data analysts CDMS. The study, which looked at the proportion of people carrying credit card debt over from month to month... read on... |
| Fuel poverty leaves thousands in the cold |
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Tens of thousands of Sussex residents are being forced to choose between living in debt and not heating their homes.
New statistics commissioned by the Government reveal that 36,720 county households... Read on... |
| More students to receive grants |
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More students from poorer families in England are to receive full grants for university living costs.
Students whose families earn less than £25,000 a year will get a full grant - up from the present level of £18,000.
Those in families earning up to £60,000 a year... read on... |
| Our mortgages up £960 |
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HOME owners face the highest interest rates for six years today after the Bank of England raised the base rate to 5.75 per cent.
Five rate hikes in less than a year mean people will now have to find an extra £80 a month – an eye-watering £960 annually – to pay the average £100,000 home loan.
Borrowers with a £200,000 mortgage are paying £160 more a month now than they were last August when... Read on... |
| Disposable incomes under pressure as house prices soar |
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Soaring house prices are taking their toll on Northern Ireland's borrowings and savings, a new report revealed today. With prices increasing to 9.5 times annual earnings, average monthly mortgage repayments are now 150%... read on... |
| What price love? |
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Getting married is a wonderful thing, says Chrissie Russell, but being a serial wedding guest can wreak havoc on your bank balance. I seem to have reached that critical point in life where suddenly my social calendar is awash with weddings. After years of birthdays being... read on... |
| Leeds leave creditors clinging to wreckage |
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Amid the wreckage of Leeds United, in the appalling, familiar list of those left unpaid by another bust football club, sits an organisation which does not even charge for its services, just asks clubs to contribute towards expenses. Nevertheless, there it read on... |
| Pensioners grapple with unsecured debt mountain |
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London (Reuters) - Pensioners are carrying a huge debt mountains, with the average 60-plus-year-old owing more than 35,000 pounds in unsecured debts, a survey shows. Some 63% of those aged 60 and over have unsecured debts... read on... |
| A spendaholic warns of living like a millionaire on a middle-class income |
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First, there was the £4,000 trip to New York for four days over the Millennium. On Concorde. Then there were the £350 Jimmy Choo shoes I wore only twice, followed by the £1,000 phone bill I ran up while on a cruise (well, I was missing the children), and a £600... read on... |
| Britons turn to retail therapy to reduce stress levels despite mounting debt |
| Retail staff top league table for personal debt. Retail trust, the national charity for the retail industry and which offers advice from counselling to financial and legal assistance... read on... |
| Couples charity cycle to China |
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A couple from Berkshire have decided to take a bike ride to China and back after being made redundant from work. read on... |
| Credit Card Cloning |
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Credit card fraud is a huge problem and it's getting worse. But it's not card theft that poses the greatest problem - it's card cloning.
Inside Out follows the Bedfordshire Police to find... read on... |
| Debt creeps toward 1 trillion |
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The amount of money owed by consumers has edged closer to the symbolic £1 trillion mark, official figures show. According to the Bank of England, money owed on cards, mortgages, loans...
read on... |
| Merger could cause 2,000 job cuts |
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The chairman of West Mercia Police Authority claims a merged force could result in the loss of 2,000 jobs. Council tax payers in the West Midlands force area pay less towards police than those...
read on... |
| Mother faces £80 fine after hospital visit |
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A hard-up student mum is facing a growing fine for failing to buy a parking ticket at the conquest hospital, Hastings. She went inside the hospital to the... read on... |
| Is debt worse than death? |
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It might seem like the plot of an Ealing Comedy, but for council worker John Brandrick the matter was deadly serious. In February 2005, he was suffering... read on... |
| Stress of debt puts 'Mr Unity' in hospital |
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The chief of a cash-strapped multi-cultural charity has suffered a heart attack after trying to save his "baby" from closure. Tahir Kahn launched the unity Multicultural Centre in 1980 in a bid to bridge gaps... read on... |
| Record number of insolvencies |
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The number of people declaring themselves insolvent in the first three months of 2007 is a new record high. Between January and March there were 30,075 insolvencies... read on... |
| Lawyer warns IVA firms to be cautious over ad claims |
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As personal insolvencies reach yet another record high, a lawyer is warning IVA providers to exercise caution when advertising their services to the public. Andrew Gregory, partner and head of business recovery at leading law firm DWF, says that firms in the IVA market must be careful... read on... |
| Pub boss hits out in debt fight |
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A former Shropshire licensee says he is on the brink of bankruptucy after being taken to court and sued for almost £6,000 by pub giants... read on... |
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To find out if McCambridge Duffy can help you regain control over your finances before matters are taken out of your hands, or to find out if you qualify for an IVA, simply get in touch:
