Money Saving News for February 2009
- Skipton Building Society raises savings rates - 27th February, 2009
Skipton Building Society has announced that it will increase the rate of interest offered on some of its savings accounts, despite the recent falls in the Bank of England's base rate.
Two of the building society's savings accounts, the Online Access Account and the Online Individual Savings Account (ISA) will both benefit from a 0.25 per cent increase in interest rates... - AA: Car insurance more expensive for mobile offenders - 27th February, 2009
The AA has conducted research which reveals that being caught using a mobile phone while driving can push motorists' car insurance premiums up.
Surveying eight of "the UK's leading insurers", the AA found that one refused to insure a mobile phone offender at all, while the others increased the prices of their quoted premiums by between 4.2 and 18.1 per cent... - Lib Dems call for bank nationalisation - 27th February, 2009
The Liberal Democrats have called upon the government to bite the bullet and nationalise various banks rather than simply underwriting their debts.
According to the party's shadow chancellor, Vince Cable, the government's current policy amounts to "nationalising the losses and privatising the profits"... - 'Fred the shred' refuses to give up pension - 27th February, 2009
Sir Fred Goodwin, the former chief executive of Royal Bank of Scotland (RBS), is coming under increasing pressure to relinquish some or all of his £650,000-a-year pension settlement.
The banker, whose polices at RBS earned him the nickname Fred the Shred, declined a request from the government to give up the pension he was awarded after he stepped down when his bank was first bailed-out last year... - Leeds Building Society announces "strong" results - 26th February, 2009
Leeds Building Society has published its figures for the previous year, which it claims show that it is in a strong position despite the recent crisis which is currently affecting many financial institutions.
The mortgages and savings account provider revealed that it made a pre-tax profit of £20.3 million and that its total assets had grown by more than £900 million and now total £10.1 billion... - Abbey cuts mortgage rates - 26th February, 2009
Abbey has revealed that it will be cutting the rates of interest offered on some of its fixed-rate mortgages.
The bank's two and three-year fixed-rate remortgage products will be reduced to 3.84 per cent and 4.14 per cent respectively for those customers who are looking for a 60 per cent loan-to-value package.
It also announced that it will launch two new products from Friday, both of which are three-year fixed-rate products which require a 75 per cent loan-to-value ratio... - AA: Brits breaking mobile phone law - 26th February, 2009
Thousands of Brits are breaking the law banning mobile phone use while driving, according to the AA....
- Royal Bank of Scotland posts largest ever losses - 26th February, 2009
The Royal Bank of Scotland Group (RBS) has revealed that last year it made the largest loss ever posted by a UK company.
Its figures show that it lost some £7.8 billion through trading and £16.8 billion through paying too much for acquisitions, including the disastrous merger with the dutch bank ABN Amro.
The group, which includes NatWest, is already 70 per cent owned by the taxpayer and claims it will need to sell £19.5 billion of new shares to UK taxpayers in order to sure up some of its worst assets.
Derek Simpson, the leader of the trade union Unite, said: "The whole country is paying the price through job cuts and repossessions on a massive scale. It is time to take control and fully nationalise this bank."
He also criticised the "reckless" behaviour of RBS' former management team... - Adult children 'sponge savings off parents' - 25th February, 2009
Adult children are continuing to deplete their parents' savings despite the ongoing economic downturn, according to research conducted by Scottish Widows.
The pension provider found that more than half of parents with grown-up children have given or loaned their children a "substantial" sum of money - averaging £11,776- an amount which has increased by eight per cent since last year... - Customers 'increasingly making overpayments' - 25th February, 2009
Mortgage customers are increasingly making overpayments, according to a survey conducted recently by the Co-operative Bank.
The financial services provider found that there has been a 50 per cent increase in the number of customers choosing to pay more than their standard monthly mortgage payment recently.
According to the poll, 80 per cent of those making overpayments said they are doing so because it makes financial sense as interest rates offered on savings accounts have fallen with the base rate...