No Cheap Insurance for Women and Elderly !

Women drivers and the elderly are set to be charged much more for their car insurance after the European Court of Justice ruled that risk assessment could not be based on gender or life expectancy.

 

The move could spell the end of niche companies such as Sheilas Wheels, an insurance firm whose slogan is "designed with women in mind" and which heavily promotes itself with singing women and a profusion of pink.

Firms catering for older drivers, such as the insurance arm of Saga, will also be forced to remove their lower premiums.

However, the ruling is also likely to mean male "boy racers" will see their insurance payments drop, which is likely to lead to criticism from road safety groups.

The Conservative MEP Sajjad Karim condemned the decision as "utter madness" and a "setback for common sense".

One outcome which is more likely to be generally welcomed is that the finding means women's pension schemes will be placed on an equal footing with men's and will therefore be worth more, in most cases.

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The court, which is based in Luxembourg, ruled that using differences between men and women as a risk factor in setting premiums for car and medical insurance and pension schemes breached EU rules on equality.
The verdict - which applies from December 21 2012 - will force changes in the current standard practice across Europe of basing insurance rates on statistics about differing life expectancies or road accident records of the sexes.
The Association of British Insurers estimated that the decision will actually reinforce price discrimination, with women drivers under 26 in the UK facing a 25% rise in car insurance rates, with a 10% drop in rates for fall for men.
Until now, discrimination in setting insurance rates has been explicitly permitted under EU equal treatment rules, "if sex is a determining risk factor... substantiated by relevant and accurate actuarial and statistical data".
But today the judges followed advice from the court's Advocate-General that "higher-ranking" equality provisions set out in the Charter of Fundamental Rights of the Lisbon Treaty must now apply.
Insurance companies can carry on discriminating between the sexes until December next year - the time when current EU equality rules are due to be reviewed.
The delay will also give insurance companies and risk assessors time to change the template for risk assessment by ignoring traditional statistical gender-based evidence.

Thousands have lost Vodafone Network service

 

Vodafone's mobile network has been disrupted following a break-in at its exchange centre in Basingstoke.

The company said that several hundred thousand customers had lost voice, text and internet access.
Burglars hit the facility in the early hours of Monday morning, stealing computer equipment and network hardware.
Most of the users affected were in the M4 corridor area, to the west of London
In a statement, Vodafone said: "We had a break in last night at one of our technical facilities which resulted in damage done to some of our equipment.
"We are working quickly to restore these and will be back to normal as soon as we can."
The company added that there had been no impact on the security of customers' private information.
Angry customers
One Vodafone user, Leigh Elkins, from Reading, told BBC News that his service was disconnected at around 12.50am on Monday, while he was in the middle of a call.
Many angry customers turned to social networking sites to vent their frustration over the prolonged outage.
On Vodafone UK's Facebook page, Keri Rampersad asked: "When will this be fixed since this is a massive inconvenience."
Another user, Michael Tawroginski wrote: "Who cares about your issue? You should pay for every hour of this problem, or give some extras to all customers affected."
Vodafone refused to speculate on whether the break-in could be linked to several high-profile controversies involving the company.
It was recently the subject of protests over claims that the firm was let off paying part of an outstanding UK tax bill.
Vodafone was also criticised for shutting down its phone network in Egypt during the recent pro-democracy protests, although the company said it was obliged to comply with local laws.

The number of complaints to ombudsman rise by 15%

Complaints to the ombudsman about financial services rose by 15% in the second

half of 2010 compared with the first half of the year.

Lloyds Banking Group topped the complaints list, the ombudsman said, although it is the UK's largest bank.

The figures, which cover complaints about banks, insurance and investment firms, showed the ombudsman service had received 97,237 new queries.
This list only covered those complaints which required mediation.

The ombudsman upheld 53% of complaints in favour of consumers in the second half of 2010, compared with 44% in the previous six months.

That increased success rate for complainants was identical to the rate recorded in the second half of 2009.

Separately, banks are also publishing data on their websites about all their complaints for the same six-month period.

These figures will cover customer gripes which were dealt with, as well as any unresolved cases that went to the ombudsman.

This data will be collated by the Financial Services Authority (FSA) and will be published at the end of March.

Worries

Complaints going to the ombudsman were again dominated by worries over the sale of Payment Protection Insurance (PPI).

Most complained about groups

• Lloyds Banking Group: 22,181 (22,420 in previous six months)
• Royal Bank of Scotland: 8,644 (6,469)
• Barclays: 8,256 (9,215)
• HSBC: 8,238 (4,031)
• Santander: 6,759 (5,372)

Source: Financial Ombudsman Service. New complaints July - Dec 2010 (new complaints in Jan - June 2010 in brackets)

These accounted for more than half of the new complaints received by the ombudsman in the second half of the year.

The largest banking groups headed the complaints list.
There were 22,181 complaints about Lloyds Banking Group, of which 12,234 were specifically about Lloyds TSB - the most of any single business.
Five financial services brands - Lloyds TSB, Royal Bank of Scotland, Barclays, HSBC and Santander UK - had more than 6,000 complaints about them received by the ombudsman.
"The latest set of complaints data continues to show that while some financial businesses are improving the way they handle their customers' complaints, some regrettably are not," said chief ombudsman Natalie Ceeney.
"Taking the trouble to handle complaints well is an important part of a business's ongoing relationship with its customers - and it is the key to providing really excellent customer service."
The ombudsman accepted that the size of the business would affect the complaints levels.
However, when it consulted with experts on how this should be taken into account in the figures, they disagreed, so the figures are published in their raw form with no adjustment for size.
Of the large banking groups, there were increases in complaints to the ombudsman from customers of Royal Bank of Scotland, HSBC and Santander, compared with the first six months of the year.

It's Vitually Impossible to Remortgage

Home owners with equity of less than 15 per cent are finding it virtually impossible to find a new mortgage, new figures suggest.

The exclusive data, based on more than a quarter of a million remortgage valuations since 2007, reveals the full extent of the difficulties facing home owners looking to secure a new home loan.

At the height of the property boom in 2007, home owners did not need any equity in their homes to remortgage, with one in 20 borrowing more than the actual value of their home. It meant the money raised could be used for home improvements.

However, not only is now impossible for those already on the property ladder to strike the same deal, but they will need a deposit of at least 15 per cent.

Banks and building societies imposed strict lending criteria after the credit crisis and there are no signs that the trend is easing.

Lenders are demanding increasingly bigger deposits, with the figures from e.surv showing that half of all people who remortgage their home have equity of at least 25 per cent. It compares with just 19 per cent of people at the peak of the housing market in August 2007.

Today, 42 per cent of home owners who are looking for a new deal have equity of at last 40 per cent.

Just 8 per cent have a deposit of at least 15 per cent, compared to more than double that percentage at 21 per cent in August 2007.

Rising unemployment means lenders are concerned about borrowers’ ability to meet their monthly mortgage payments and are restricting the best deals to those with the largest deposits.
For many home owners, this has not been a problem as they have automatically slipped onto their lenders’ cheap standard variable rates at the end of their initial deal.
But with speculation that the Bank of England will raise interest rates as soon as next month, borrowers are keen to guard against an increase in their monthly payments by locking into a fixed rate.
The latest figures from the British Bankers’ Association showed an increase in the number of people remortgaging in January.
Richard Sexton, sales director at chartered surveyor e.surv, said: “With the Bank of England poised to raise interest rates, we expect a growing scramble from home owners to remortgage.
“But the best deals are not available to those who arguably need them most. For the last year and a half almost no-one needing more than 85 per cent loan-to-value has been able to refinance their loan, and the proportion of loans going to those needing between 75 per cent and 85 per cent loan to value has shrunk from a quarter to just one seventh.
“Only those with the lowest loan to values can be sure of securing the best deals. These are usually older, wealthier people. Because people in more expensive homes tend to have much more equity, built up as they traded up the property ladder, they can be much more certain of grabbing the cheapest rates. Younger borrowers who still have larger mortgages on cheaper homes are finding it much more difficult.”

Small Businesses Struggle for finance !!

Small businesses in the UK are still struggling to access finance, according to one expert.
Ed Moss, a spokesman for the Manufacturing Institute, has claimed that the age-old problem "has not gone away".
The comments coincide with the launch of the European Commission's EU-wide Small Business Act, which aims to improve smaller enterprises' access to finance.
As part of the Act, public authorities will be required to pay suppliers within 30 days, which should improve the cash flow of businesses.
However, Mr Moss added that small business owners have learned to take bank's "glossy statements" with "a pinch of salt".
"They are still having trouble finding finance; the banks are not yet lending," he explained.
"Of course, it's the smaller guys that unfortunately suffer when it comes to producing the goods – they send them out, they've been delivered and then, of course, they're chasing the money. So cash flow is still a problem; it has not gone away."

British Economy falls even further!!!

The British economy shrank even more than first thought in the last three months of 2010, official data showed, sending alarm bells ringing about the recovery.

The new figure signals that even with the impact of the weather stripped out, the British economy did not just grind to a halt, but actually contracted 

Gross domestic product (GDP) fell 0.6pc quarter-on-quarter, the Office for National Statistics (ONS) said, a bigger drop than its initial 0.5pc estimate that had shocked markets.

The new figure signals that even with the impact of the weather – still put at a 0.5 percentage point hit – stripped out, the economy did not just grind to a halt, but actually contracted.

"The figures underline that the UK recovery is bumpy and that a return to pre-credit crunch, solid, consistent growth is by no means yet on the cards," said Charles Davis, managing economist at the Centre for Economics and Business Research.

The data lent weight to the argument that a rise in interest rates should be postponed, despite inflation having hit double the target at 4pc.

Adam Posen, the Bank of England rate-setter who wants conditions to be even looser, argued that inflation will not stay a problem for long, as pay growth will be "very low" for a couple of years.

On Friday money markets were factoring in a rise in the Bank Rate from its 0.5pc low by June, compared with recent expectations for a May move.

Economists had generally expected the GDP figure to stay unchanged. The ONS said the revision was mostly due to the huge but sluggish services sector, with retailers and business and financial services companies suffering more than first thought.
George Osborne, the Chancellor, said the data "didn't change the fact" that the fourth quarter disappointed, but Ed Balls, Labour's Shadow Chancellor, said it confirmed that the recovery has "stalled" and that the UK needs a change of course.
The GDP breakdown in terms of spending showed that only government outlay made a positive contribution to the economy, rising 0.7pc quarter-on-quarter.
This support from the state will prove to be shortlived and raises concerns about the cuts programme, said economists.
Stuart Green, an analyst at HSBC, said the surge "clearly questions both the degree of progress made on fiscal consolidation and how the economy will perform once the bigger squeeze begins around the middle point of this year".
Net trade kept dragging on growth, as imports grow faster than exports. Business investment, intended to be the other prong of the UK's growth strategy, fell 2.5pc, although companies kept growing their cash piles, suggesting caution was stopping them investing.
Last year's GDP peak was also revised downwards – again – from 1.1pc to 1pc growth in the second quarter. For the year as a whole, growth was just 1.3pc.
The British Chambers of Commerce said the data flagged up the need for next month's Budget to offer policies that support growth.
Meanwhile, Paul Fisher has been reappointed for another three-year

Lowest Loan rates for over 2 years

The lowest personal loan rate in over two and a half years was launched today, though many applicants won't qualify for it.

M&S Money has today launched the market's first sub-7% loan since June 2008, according to price comparison site Moneysupermarket.com.

It has cut the rate on loans of £7,500 to £15,000 from 7.5% to 6.9%.

However, huge swathes of applicants may be unable to get the best rate on this or any other top deals.

This is a result of EU rules that came into force on 1 February, which gives consumers less protection than they previously had.

Providers must now offer published rates to at least 51% of successful applicants rather than the previous requirement to offer them to at least two thirds.
M&S has confirmed a minimum of 51% of successful applicants will be offered its best rate but says it is not yet clear how many successful applicants will get it.
Only those with good credit records will qualify for the top deals.

Dan Plant, MoneySavingExpert.com money analyst, says: "Loan rates have been inching down, and breaking the 7% barrier is encouraging.

"Yet it's possible cheap rates are only appearing because lenders don't have to give them to 49% of successful applicants."

Meanwhile, research shows typical £3,000 and £5,000 loan rates are at their lowest levels since 2009 and the average £7,500 rate is at a two-and-a-half year low.

Moneysupermarket.com reveals the average rate on a £3,000 loan is 14.39% (it was last lower in November 2009 at 14.16%). The typical £5,000 loan rate is 10.2% (9.91% in June 2009), while the average £7,500 loan rate is 7.58% (7.53% in July 2008).

However, rates are still some way off the pre-credit crunch lows. In November 2007 the typical £3,000 loan rate was 10.6%, the typical £5,000 loan rate was 7.41% and the typical £7,500 rate was 6.7%.