General

In 2007 several banks in the UK repaid up to £750,000 in refunds to previously unhappy customers, who had decided to sue and claim back money for such unfair charges.

After thousands of disgruntled customers complained to the Financial Ombudsman who decided the fairest way to sort out the disagreement was to hold a court case.

This went on for 2 weeks in February 2008, however the Judge who presided still needs to make his decision.

The Prime Minister has revealed that the UK national minimum wage is set to rise in October 2008, exactly a year after the last increase.

It will be increased to £5.73 per hour, that’s up from £5.52 for adults over 21, but the rise is still less than the current inflation.

Just a couple of weeks ago, Egg, the bank which were taken over by Citibank last year, announced that they were cancelling a number of credit cards that belonged to existing customers, with no valid reason.

Of the 161,00 customers who were affected, many had a good record of repaying their bills each month whilst some others barely used their cards at all, and chose to keep them for the occasional emergency.

Maybe we should rename Northern Rock, National Rock, after the high street bank became nationalised.

A special bill had to be passed in order for the bank to be in the governments control, but last week it finally happened and all shares have now passed to the government.

The BBC has this useful tool which allows you to view the changes in house prices, in your area and all over the UK.

It’ll tell you the average house price (£222,256) and how property values have changed in the past 3 months. Has there been an increase in the value of detached houses? A fall in the value of flats and apartments?

The use of cheques in our personal and business life is on the decline. Despite millions of them being written last year, the overall number of cheques being written is down by 40% since 1990.

Internet banking and credit cards are generally the preferred choice for many people for ease of use and convenience, however many business still need to use cheques (and be charged for the privilege).

‘The Bank of England has just announced that it has cut the UK’s base interest rate by 0.25%.’

The interest rate now stands at 5.25%. A big sigh of relief from homeowners all over the UK can be heard in unison.

A new water billing system is currently being consideration by Thames Water and has been welcomed by the Consumer Council for Water. The changes could see customers bills change, and represent the size of their homes.

The proposed system will set houses into bands which will be determined by the number of bedrooms each house has.

I read this interesting comment today:

‘The credit scoring technique is primarily about highlighting and weighing up the profit and risk equation for lenders. Even someone with a good credit history may be refused credit, if it is unlikely to make the loans company enough money.’

It’s true though. All lenders including loan companies, credit card companies, banks and building societies are here to make a profit.

‘According to some research, the very first Monday of every February is the most likely time for people to take a ’sickie’.’

says FinanceLocator

The gist of it is that sick days whether bogus or not, apparently cost the UK economy over £13 billion, and as the number of recorded absences is on the increase - the average was 7 days per worker in 2006 - it is set to get worse.