A third of consumers are planning to depend on property for their retirement, despite the current state of the housing market, according to Friends Provident.
The life and pensions firm has urged people to look beyond property when it comes to retirement-planning. It has calculated that if house prices fall to the level of the […]

British holidaymakers looking for an adrenaline rush could risk invalidating their travel insurance, Moneysupermarket has warned.
Research from the comparison site revealed 37% of British holidaymakers have taken part in daredevil activities while abroad, including rock climbing, white-water rafting and bungee jumping. However, not all travel insurance policies cover extreme sports as standard. In addition […]

There were 341,300 basic bank accounts opened in the first quarter of this year, taking the total to 7.3m among UK consumers, according to figures out today.
The British Bankers’ Association (BBA) revealed 3.2m Post Office accessible accounts have now been opened since April 2003, half of which were set up for customers with no […]

Over one million people are benefiting from 419 new non-charging cash machines installed in low-income areas throughout the UK in the last 18 months, according to the Treasury.
This substantial progress is the result of a joint initiative between the Treasury and the ATM working group, chaired by John McFall.
The Treasury revealed that 419 new free […]

Moneysupermarket has reacted to the withdrawal of the top two fixed-rate bonds, suggesting it could signal the bursting of the savings bubble.
After Birmingham Midshires withdrew its 7.17% AER and Bank of Cyprus pulled its 7.15% AER product, Kevin Mountford, head of savings at Moneysupermarket, said: “It had to happen sooner or later and it looks […]

The market in personal current accounts is not working well for consumers, according to the Office of Fair Trading (OFT).
The report found that much of banks’ revenue from current accounts is derived opaquely, with 81% of income coming from insufficient fund charges and net credit interest income.
A significant number of customers do not know how […]

Alliance Trust’s study of age-related inflation has found that those aged over 75 continue to be hit the hardest by surging inflation.
The age group saw their inflation rate increase from 4.8% to 5.4% in June and the inflation rates facing all other identified age groups have also increased, with the majority running ahead of the […]

The credit crunch has hit the card market in the form of increased rates and fees, comparison site Moneyfacts has revealed.
Research from the site shows there have been 19 increases to credit card purchase rates since April. There have also be 14 cash rate increases, five cards that have increased balance transfer fees and two […]