Financial Articles

Welcome to our new financial article section. Over the coming weeks we will be adding new financial articles that cover almost all subjects that are of interest of UK consumers. These subjects will include investments, current and saving accounts, general banking issues, credit cards, insurance and more.

Banking

• What Is A Basic Bank Account?
  Approximately one in twelve of us have trouble opening a current account at a bank. When the Government got wind of this they decided it was unacceptable so they insisted that Banks provide service for people who have poor credit histories, are low wage earners, or simply have had financial problems in the past. These are Basic Bank Accounts.
• When Is A Building Society A Bank?
  Our High Street is full of both Banks and Building Societies. What’s the difference and when does a building society become a bank?
• Do I Need To Have A Bank Account?
  There may be ways of conducting your daily affairs without a bank account, but in today’s busy “Big Brother is Watching You” society it seems we may all need one; whether we all want one is another matter.
• The Pros and Cons Of Joint Accounts
  Joint accounts are one of those things that can very easily seem like a good idea at the time and then turn into a living nightmare if the two people involved fall-out with each other.
• Personal Account Charges and Penalties
  The banking industry goes through phases of being accused by various bodies and even Government institutions of profiteering and of taking advantage of its customers with high fee charging. We take a look at some of these fees and ask whether there is anything that can be done about them.
• What Is An Overdraft and Is There A Good Way To Use One?
  With most bank accounts you are automatically entitled to an overdraft. So what are they and is there a good way to use one?
• Are High St Banks Outdated?
  There was a time not so long ago when the news was full of stories about all the major financial institutions in this country shedding staff. For those companies that operated branches sitting in the High Street they were often the first place for the cull to happen.
• How Banks Have Changed
  The Bank Manager was at one time a respected member of any community. In the 1960’s it was not by chance that the creators of BBC’s “Dad’s Army” Captained the hapless Home Guard platoon with a pompous but well-meaning Bank Manager. Have things really changed that much?

Insurance

• What is Car Insurance?
  It’s all very well thinking about getting a car, but what do you know about insurance? For one thing, it’s illegal to drive without it, so what’s it all about?
• Car Insurance For Women
  What are the pros and cons to the specialist insurance companies that concentrate on providing insurance for female drivers?
• Driving Abroad and Your Insurance
  Driving in countries like the USA or Canada you will be covered for insurance because you will sort it all out when you book the hire car. But what about driving in Europe?
• Known Or Unknown, Are Big Insurance Companies Better?
  If you go to a broker for your insurance the chances are they may well come up with a highly obscure company that will offer you the cheapest quote.

Credit Cards

• The True Cost of Credit Card Balance Transfers
  It’s well known that the seller markets responds to buyer demands; it’s a basic law of economics. But it’s doubtful whether the early economists could have perceived the way the credit card industry reacts to the borrowing habits of the public!
• The Benefits of Credit Cards
  Love them or hate them credit cards are here to stay. The next time you whip out your little plastic friend spare a thought for what life was like before they came along.
• Cashback Credit Cards
  Cashback is just one of a long list of incentives on offer from the credit card companies to get your business and then to hang on to that business.
• The Disadvantages of Credit Cards
  The key word for credit card use is ‘easy’. Credit cards make things easy: so easy to buy, so easy to order, so easy anywhere in the world. And so easy to get into debt and that’s a ‘downer’. Are there others?
• Credit Surfing – What is it?
  There has been a huge increase in competition in the UK credit industry. Offers that were unimaginable just a few years ago are now common place.
• Don't Make It Personal – Why You Need A Business Credit Card
  This article focuses on the need for business customers to have a buiness credit card in place for any expenses that they accrue.
• Flashing The Cash
  Loans have been a part of domestic finance for several centuries and lenders keep coming up with new ways to lend money to borrowers. One method that is beginning to catch on is the cash advance loan.

Mortgages

• What Is A Mortgage?
  With the price of property ever increasing and no sign of the long awaited bursting bubble of the housing market, we ask what can young first time buyers do to gain their freedom and set up a home of their own in such an expensive arena and what is a mortgage anyway?
• Choosing The Right Mortgage
  The market is flooded with different types of mortgages, but how do you know which one is right for you? The decision has to be yours, whether you take advice from an Independent Financial Advisor or do your own research.
• Different Types Of Mortgage
  Rather like a full house in poker there seems to be a wide selection of mortgages on the market, but aren’t many of them the same kind of product?
• What Are Tracker Mortgages?
  With a multitude of mortgages available what are the benefits and disadvantages of the product known as a tracker mortgage?
• Why Does The Interest Rate Of Your Mortgage Change?
  The biggest difference between a mortgage and other types of loan is the fact that the interest rate changes throughout the term of the loan. Why is this? And which type of interest-rate arrangement is best?
• Variable Mortgages
  Variable mortgages are for those whose incomes are not particularly stretched. What are the ups and downs of entering into a standard variable mortgage?
• Your Home Is At Risk If..
  “Your home is at risk if you do not keep up repayments on a mortgage or other loan secured on it”. Words that have to be printed on any promotional material for mortgages or home-owner secured loans. Is this the only reason you should keep paying your mortgage?
• Paying Off Your Mortgage Early
  Twenty five years is the average period of a mortgage… Twenty five years is a long time! The dream of many people is to pay off their mortgage early. Can it be done?
• Repossession – How and Why
  Your home is the security the lending company holds in case you stop making repayments into your mortgage. The worst that can happen is, they will repossess you house. But why does this happen?
• The Dangers of Negative Equity
  The great thing about buying a property is that it’s a guaranteed investment, prices just keep going up, right? Wrong. We look at what happens when the bubble bursts and prices drop.
• Re-Mortgaging – The How and Why
  There comes a time in the life of most home owners when they stop and ponder on the wisdom of re-mortgaging. Hundreds of thousands of people do it every year. We look at why they do it and how to do it.
• Your Credit Rating And Your Mortgage
  Your credit rating is something that contrary to popular belief you can have some control over. Here’s how and how it might affect your mortgage application.
• Borrowing Against Your Endowments
  Endowments, that is life assurance policies used to accrue funds with which to pay off your mortgage have been hauled through the gutter in various newspapers and have become the subject of solicitors trying to make even more money out of what they call a scandal. The so called endowment scandal is nothing of the sort.
• Joint Mortgages
  Joint mortgages can be a useful way to get on the housing ladder, whether the person you take one out with is your life partner or simply a friend. So what are the pros and cons?
• The True Cost Of Your Mortgage
  It’s easy to say “go and research the market place to find the cheapest mortgage”, but is it that easy to actually do it and how do you know that you have really got the best mortgage deal when you’ve finished?
• Insuring Your Mortgage Repayments
  Some people like to make their lives as safe as possible. When borrowing large amounts of money to provide a roof over your head it seems sensible to insure those payments against loss of earnings due to ill health, redundancy, or accident… Or does it?
• The Advantages Of Getting A Self-Build Mortgage
  With the spiraling cost of the UK housing market, more and more new homebuyers are looking at the alternative option of building their own home. If the idea of building your own home sounds romantic enough to you, the following are some of the advantage of such a scheme and how you go about arranging a self-build mortgage loan
• Don’t Forget The Extra Hidden Costs Of Getting A UK Mortgage
  For most of us, buying a new home is both one of the most exciting and stressful times of our lives. It goes without saying then that this is not a particularly good time to find out that you may be facing a bill of thousands of pounds in extra hidden costs for getting the mortgage to buy the UK property.
• Can You Rely On Your Family To Help You Buy Your First Home?
  At no time in its history has the UK housing market since such a marked increase in the average value of its housing than in the last 20 years. Today, regardless of whether you come from the North-east or South-east, more and more young Britons are having to stay at home much longer and also to look more ingenious ways to try and raise the large deposits they’ll need in order to help them purchase that first home. The big question is, can you rely on your family to help you buy your first home?