40 year mortgage loans – it’s only lenders that win

Lenders have a new wheeze when it comes to lending money to home buyers. Now interest-only loans have been outlawed for all except buy-to-let borrowers they have moved to the next best thing (for lenders, that is, not borrowers) – 40 year mortgage loans. In particular, lenders are circling first time buyers who are back in the market. According to the mortgage statistics for last year, mortgage approvals rose by 122,000 to 734,969. First-time buyer numbers are well up. For example,they took out 27,000 loans in November, 2013, a rise of just 0.7% compared to October, but up 24% compared […]

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Complaints about packaged bank accounts double – have you got one?

Yet another report shows how careful we have to be when visiting our bank branch.  The latest statistics from the Financial Ombudsman reveal that large numbers of bank customers are complaining that they have been mis-sold expensive packaged bank accounts. These are the sorts of accounts that come with all sorts of bells and whistles on them, such as travel insurance, all fine and dandy if you need everything you get but otherwise an expensive way to bank. Complaints have more than doubled on 2012-13 and some bank customers were unaware that they had “bought” a packaged account.  The most […]

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When was the last time you checked your savings account interest rates?

I’ve had an instant access online savings account for a very long time. Not the same account, you understand. The better than the rest interest rate that first attracts you doesn’t stay that way for long. So I swap this account for the latest offering once a year. In fact, most savings accounts seem to come with some form of added bonus in the first 12 months. It pays to keep an eye on when that first year is up. But wait, I hear you say, surely my bank or building let me know about such an interest rate change? […]

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We warn about supermarket personal loans in The Independent

[av_two_third first] [av_image src=’http://moneyfightclub.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/8/2014/01/Independent-article-811×1030.jpg’ attachment=’597′ align=’center’ animation=’no-animation’ link=” target=’no’] [av_image src=’http://moneyfightclub.fantata/wp-content/uploads/2014/01/i.jpg’ attachment=’629′ align=’center’ animation=’no-animation’ link=” target=’no’] [/av_two_third][av_one_third] [av_heading heading=’Jan 25, 2014′ tag=’h3′ color=” style=” padding=’10’] [av_textblock ] “We all know that it’s consumer blood that’s spilt in the supermarket aisles in the grocery price wars, but we also need to be on our guard when confronted with financial products such as personal loans at the checkouts.” Lindsay Cook, The Independent and The i [/av_textblock] [/av_one_third] […]

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Voucher ninja. Even an expert supermarket money off voucher user can be caught out

So, nearly got caught out by a voucher this morning.   These particular vouchers arrived at my house in the week accompanied by 3 free dishwasher tablets.  The idea was to introduce me to a brand I did not use  and then use the voucher for £1.50 to buy some more (and switch brands forever, no doubt). I arrived at the supermarket for my weekly shop and I looked at the dishwasher tablets aisle. I picked up a box of the brand I had the voucher for. They seemed good value at 33 for around £5. Deduct the £1.50 voucher from […]

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Mid Sussex Times interview

[av_two_third first] [av_image src=’http://moneyfightclub.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/8/2014/01/Mid-Sussex-Times-604×1030.jpg’ attachment=’580′ align=’center’ animation=’no-animation’ link=” target=’no’] [/av_two_third][av_one_third] [av_heading heading=’Jan 23, 2014′ tag=’h3′ color=” style=” padding=’10’] [av_textblock ] “Lindsay, a former Business Editor at the Times, was so incensed that she decided to write a book with colleague Anne Caborn to help people fight back against the insurance companies, banks and utility companies, with useful tips and advice on how to save money and save energy.” Mid Sussex Times [/av_textblock] [/av_one_third] […]

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To fix price or not to fix price – that is the energy question

I’ve just spent the last couple of days working out whether I should switch to a new fixed price tariff with my energy supplier EDF. The big issue was finding the time to do the maths and getting the right EDF representative on the end of the phone to run through the options I’d shortlisted in brain numbing detail. I’m not beyond politely terminating a call and ringing back a little later in order to get another person on the end of the phone. This holds true for all sorts of phone conversations, not just those with energy suppliers. Some […]

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Money Fight Club publication press release

[av_one_full first] [av_image src=’http://moneyfightclub.fantata/wp-content/uploads/2013/12/MFC_weblogo3.png’ attachment=’365′ align=’center’ animation=’no-animation’ link=” target=’no’] [/av_one_full] [av_one_full first] [av_textblock ] HARRIMAN HOUSE PRESS RELEASE – JANUARY 2014 Money Fight Club by Anne Caborn and Lindsay Cook will be published on Black Monday, 20th January. This is supposed to be the most financially depressing day of the year. But it need not be if you become a Money Fight Club warrior. By 20th January the Christmas credit card bills will have arrived and many people will already be overdrawn. Most people will have been paid early in December and are now struggling through the five long weeks of January. The number of people […]

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Jeff Randall Live, Sky TV interview

[av_two_third first] [av_image src=’http://moneyfightclub.fantata/wp-content/uploads/2014/01/Lindsay-Cook-on-Jeff-Randall-Live.jpg’ attachment=’553′ align=’center’ animation=’no-animation’ link=” target=’no’] [/av_two_third][av_one_third] [av_heading heading=’Jan 21, 2014′ tag=’h3′ color=” style=” padding=’10’] [av_textblock ] “Money Fight Club reveal the secrets of saving money one punch at a time not from special offers, promotions or voucher codes but by knowing how to complain properly.” Jeff Randall, Sky TV [/av_textblock] [/av_one_third] […]

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