Motor insurance set to rise

Motor insurance is set to rise again after another Government announcement.  The insurance industry has been given another excuse to increase premiums just  months after the Chancellor announced another increase in the tax on insurance premiums adding around £25 to premiums.    Now an average increase of £50 to £75 is on the way thanks to the new way that compensation for accident victims will be calculated. The insurance industry is rubbing its hands with glee and  telling us how much more we will have to pay because compensation payments to those seriously injured will increase under a new formula […]

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Banks help fraudsters but not customers

How is it that fraudsters are able to open multiple accounts to launder the money they steal from bank accounts?  We are now 20 times more likely to be robbed through our online or telephone bank accounts than mugged in the street.   The Office of National Statistics reported last year that there were 5.8 million fraud and computer crimes in the UK in 2015. Hundreds of millions of pounds are stolen each year aided by the ease with which thieves can set up new accounts.  And while fraudsters seem able to open lots of accounts using dodgy documents to cash […]

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The poor and old will still pay too much

The poor, the old and the vulnerable should beware.  Good intentions could cost them dearly.  The government through the energy regulator is capping the price of gas and electricity paid for through prepayment meters.  They also want to solve the housing problem by “persuading” the elderly to leave their family homes and move to special retirement properties or warden-assisted flats. Costs are more than better off customers pay First of all Ofgem reckons that the 4million households with prepayment meters should save around £80 a year from April .   This long awaited measure recommended by the Competition and Markets Authority […]

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Travel industry still exploiting holidaymakers

Exploiting passengers and holidaymakers seems to be the mission statement for the travel industry. Today we hear that some rail companies will make it easier for travelers to get the cheapest fare from later in the year, but not all of them. The way fares are currently charged means that passengers often pay three or four times as much as they need to.  Especially those who buy from the ticket machines. I abandoned the ticket machines in Sussex that never offer the cheapest fare a long time ago and always queue up to buy the best deals or buy online […]

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