The Financial Services Authority has written to 19 firms operating insurance price comparison websites to highlight concerns about the fair treatment of consumers. The FSA believe Consumers may be being misled about the services they are receiving from price comparison sites. For example, consumers may believe that they are receiving a quote based on their individual demands and needs when they are actually receiving an illustrative quote based on a set of generic risk criteria. To find out more follow [...]

Despite their best intentions, 17 million adults (35%) admit to neglecting their finances. 12 May, 2011 The second annual Scottish Widows Priorities of Life Index shows that of the 17 million adults who cannot focus on their finances as much as they’d like, 21% said this was because they had too much debt to feel financially secure, 32% are not paid enough, and a quarter (25%) simply try not to think about money in their day to day lives. Commenting, [...]

The High Court has ruled today in favour of the Financial Services Authority in relation to the mis-selling of Payment Protection Insurance. The British Bankers’ Association launched a judicial review in January in response to the FSA’s approach to the handling of PPI complaints. The FSA suggested that retrospective compensation should be in place for the mis-selling of PPI, which would lead to up to £2.7bn in compensation being paid to 2.7 million people. The ruling means all cases will [...]

Good News! Inflation as measured by the CPI has come down to 4% this month.  This means that those of you with CASH ISAs returning less than this will not be losing quite so much money in real terms as last month!  DID you know that:-  You can transfer your ISA without losing your previous year’s allowances. The Full ISA allowance has increased to £10,680 for this tax year An ISA is free of income and capital gains tax A [...]

See this article in the Daily Telegraph  http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/uknews/8326605/Baby-boomers-must-pay-for-their-own-elderly-care.html Talk Richard at Mark Gregory if you would like advice on:- Pensions Equity Release Long Term Care Planning www.markgregory.uk.com

Two thirds of people aged 60-plus own their home outright and, of these, just over a third rely on a state pension as their main source of income. 10 February, 2011 The latest research from Age UK Enterprises, the commercial services arm of charity Age UK, reveals that 66% of those aged 60 and over own their homes outright yet of these just over a third (34%) of all those aged 60-plus have only the state pension as their main [...]

Nearly half of working women describe themselves as the main earners in their family yet millions do not protect themselves. 10 February, 2011 A new report from Bright Grey reveals that 46% of working women currently describe themselves as the main earner in their household. But it’s not all good news as the Women and protection report also suggests that women are actually less likely than men to have financial back-up should they suddenly be unable to work. The ‘Women [...]

Six out of 10 families don’t even have basic life insurance, with nine out of 10 without critical illness, a further nine out of 10 without income protection while the same number of families don’t feel they have adequate financial protection, research from Aviva reveals today. Single parent families are the most likely not to be financially protected and are also the most likely to feel financially vulnerable as a result of being under or unprotected. Seventy-six percent of single [...]

HOW MANY OF YOU have your ISA’s or Pension invested in cash? The British consumer price index has risen to 3.7% in December, its highest rate in eight months, according to the Office for National Statistics. The rate is up from 3.3% in November 2010, while the retail prices index rose from 4.7% to 4.8%. The hike comes amid concerns that the rise in VAT from 17.5% to 20%, which came into effect from January 4, could act as a further [...]

Do you know any grandparents who would like to help the education of their grandchildren and minimise their inheritance tax liability – in an income tax efficient manner Hello, my name is James. I’m 63, married to Helen, and we have two grandchildren – Sam, aged 8 and Rebecca who’s 13. We know we have an inheritance tax issue and we’ve been putting off doing anything about it. But we know we need to do something about it sooner or [...]