What is PPI?
PPI may be called credit insurance, insurance protection or some other name. It is a type of insurance product that indemnifies borrowers in the event of their becoming ill, disabled or unemployed. Death and family bereavement may also be included in the terms and conditions of a PPI policy, which ensures that loan or credit-card repayments are made on time until the borrower is able to resume payments or the outstanding balance has been repaid in full.
The problem with PPI is that many policies were mis-sold to customers. Finance agreements such as secured loans, unsecured personal loans and credit cards often included details of PPI in the small print. Few credit applicants read the terms and conditions in full, so many people were signing up to pay for products they simply did not want. Some forms required applicants to opt out of PPI. Worse still, some of the biggest lenders in Britain approved PPI for customers who would never be able to rely on it, such as the self-employed.

PPI Claims
In early 2012, the British Bankers’ Association (BBA) decided not to appeal a ruling that allowed borrowers to claim back money spent on mis-sold PPI. The floodgates were opened by the decision, but PPI claims were around long before the BBA buckled under legal pressure. The Financial Services Authority (FSA) reported that almost one million complaints about PPI had been received in the last two quarters of 2011.

As more people realised that they might have been mis-sold PPI, claims against lenders soared – but so too did the number of claims-management firms offering people help. While professional legal assistance is sometimes needed, many claims-management firms were not so much offering expert guidance as they were attempting to take more money from borrowers.
Making a PPI claim is not difficult and more often than not the services of a claims-management firm are completely unnecessary. Following several landmark legal battles, high-street lenders have abandoned hope of reducing their PPI liabilities. Many have decided that the most sensible – not to mention cost-effective – way to proceed is to provide a direct claims channel for customers to make PPI claims.

Lloyds TSB, for instance, dedicates a section of its website to PPI claims. Customers simply enter their loan reference numbers along with several other details on a form. The information is then submitted for internal review. Most PPI claims are made because borrowers were unaware that PPI was optional when they applied for credit, so reviews are a formality in the majority of cases. After one or two discussions on the phone or in writing, most lenders will settle the PPI claims in full within a couple of months.

There is certainly no need to contact a claims-management firm, which will charge a sizeable fee for a service that is completely unnecessary. Borrowers who intend to claim back PPI should start by contacting their lenders for further instructions.

While they present a great chance for you to pick up a top-quality car at a good price, the process of buying at one isn’t something you should rush. I’m sure you’ve seen auctions on TV before – whether it’s in a drama or a show like Bargain Hunt – and while it’s true that engaging in a frantic bidding war can be exciting, it’s important not to let your heart rule your head.

Remember that most cars at auction are sold ‘as is’, meaning that if you’ve made the winning bid you are committed to purchasing it, even if you uncover major mechanical faults with it before leaving the trading hall. Even if it looks fine from your spot in the auction room, you really shouldn’t bid on anything based solely on face-value.

Instead, it’s important to check out the information card that is attached to every car for sale. That way, you’ll get a better idea of how it performs and its history, as this document includes everything from the type of fuel it uses to its mileage. The auctioneer should tell you this data before the sale starts, but it’s worth finding out for yourself. After all, you don’t want to make a rookie mistake of bidding on a manual transmission car if you actually wanted an automatic!

If you’re after something in particular – perhaps a specific brand or model of car – it’s worth checking in advance to see when specialist sales are taking place. If you’ve got your heart set on going to BMW auctions to get your hands on an X3 or X5, for instance, you need to do some research in advance to make sure you know exactly when to attend.

Many companies publish a vehicle list online that allows you to search through what stock they have available and when in the week they are going to be put under the hammer. But if you don’t have a predetermined idea about what model of car you get, it’s still well worth turning up to an auction. One of the most exciting things about going to these events is you never quite know what will be up for sale, and you may come across your dream car while browsing the lot.

Whatever you’re after, make sure you’re in the auction in good time for when the car you want comes under the hammer. It’s easy to get carried away with bidding, but if you’re not careful you might spend far more money than you initially anticipated. Setting a budget before you arrive at the auction should, hopefully, mean don’t pay more then you wanted. Of course, it’s the person who has the highest bid that wins and auctions work on a first come, first served basis, so if you’re consistently hesitant then you might end up missing out altogether.

After you’ve won an auction, you’ll need to place a deposit immediately to secure your purchase. Depending on how much money you’ve bid on a car, the amount you need to put down can vary, but as it’s certain to be at least a couple of hundred pounds, you might want to stop by a bank to get some cash out first. Remember you’ll also need to pay a buyers’ premium on top of the car’s sale price so bear this in mind when setting your budget.

Are you looking to buy a car at an auction for the first time? If so, leave a comment to let us know what your expectations of the event are!

From the 30th of April the price of stamps is going to be hiked considerably. A first class stamp is going to rise 14p from 46p to 60p and a second class stamp is going to rise 14p from 36p to 50p also.

Obviously this means that if you make your stamp purchases before the 30th of April that you can save yourself quite a considerable sum of money, particularly as Superdrug are offering a discount on stamps until the 10th of April. You can save 5% off a book of stamps in Superdrug until the 10th of April so now is the ideal time to stock up and save even more money! This is a saving of 25p on 12 first class stamps and when you factoring in the new price increase from £5.52 to £7.20 you could save almost £2.00. Please note that terms apply and stamps are limited to 72 per person per day.

With modern technology leading people to communicate in many varied ways it is no wonder that a standard postal service is struggling to cope in this financial climate. With people sending text messages, e-mails, picture messages or calling one another there is a great deal of time and effort saved but this has brought about, in part, the rise of postal stamps by such a considerable sum.

Whether you are a technology phobe or a technology geek there is going to be a time in the future when you are going to need a stamp. Many businesses still like people to post Cvs, applications forms and other paperwork so a stock of stamps in every household is a very good idea, particularly before the prices increase.

If you have a function coming up this year such as a wedding, wedding anniversary or birthday party you may yourself saving a large amount if you can afford to purchase the stamps you will need now instead of next month.

As the value for a stamp is not marked on the stamp this means that regardless of whether the prices rise again in the future the stamps that you have now will not cost you any extra money to use.

Obviously this recently announced price increase has led to some people buying as many as they can afford and this is always going to save you a large amount in the long run. Royal Mail has been reporting queues in post offices throughout the country as people dash to make the savings but you need not visit a post office to collect some. You can purchase stamps from many high street stores including WHSmith and Superdrug and you can also purchase stamps with grocery shopping online from retailers such as Ocado and Tesco.

In a move that will earn Royal Mail some criticism and a lot of praise they have stated that sending Christmas cards this year will cost the same amount as it did last year for those customers who are on pension credit, ESA and incapacity benefit. This is a fantastic move in the current climate and will head thousands of pensioners and vulnerable people save themselves from the inflationary increase (and then some!).

Research from the Charities Aid Foundation shows it costs non-profit organisations 12p to raise £1 in donations, a rise of 2p compared with 2008.

Luckily, there are a number of low-cost ways in which you can get information about what you do to consumers who might want to make a donation.

Branded products
Items stamped with your charity’s logo are great to use as giveaways – perhaps in exchange for a donation – or to resell to raise much-needed funds.

The cheapest products include badges, stickers, personalised pens and keyrings. Ensure the goods you choose match your charity’s branding as much as possible to keep awareness of your organisation high; as well as placing your logo on them, go for a matching colour scheme.

You can also deploy printed products at fundraising events. Decorate the venue with branded balloons and give participants customised wristbands, stickers or other items to take home. They will then be reminded of your charity every time they see these things afterwards and might be prompted to make further donations or take part in more events.

If you have volunteers working for your charity, why not use personalised products to reward them for their time? They may be happy with not getting paid, but awarding them with even the smallest of gifts can put a smile on their face and motivate them to keep generously donating their time to your cause.
BPMA research shows the average cost per impression of branded goods is £0.003, lower than traditional marketing channels like TV and newspapers – so the initial investment should pay off over time.

Social media
With figures from Ofcom suggesting eight in ten UK consumers have used a social networking site, it’s not hard to see why social media is the hottest marketing channel at the moment.

While there is a certain amount of investment in terms of the time spent setting up accounts on sites like Facebook and Twitter and creating and replying to posts, the fact that these portals have a ready-made community containing people likely to be interested in your cause means this can be a cost-effective way of raising awareness.

The great thing about social networks is their suitability for viral marketing. Create the perfect tweet or post a compelling image, and you might well find your followers pass your message on to their friends, who continue to send it round – thus widening your reach and potentially encouraging donations.
Getting involved with social media is also a good way to promote your website. Experian Hitwise research shows obtaining one fan on Facebook can generate 20 extra visits to your site over a 12-month period.

Direct mail
Sending letters might seem a tad old-fashioned in the digital age, but the fact is people who have already donated to your charity are likely to welcome further relevant communications from you.
Ensuring existing donors stay onboard is crucial when it comes to keeping awareness of your cause at a high level, especially during the current economic climate. While there is, of course, a cost associated with printing and sending mail, exercising some savvy when dealing with suppliers and choosing carriers can help minimise your initial outlay.
A study by The REaD Group indicates almost one-third of adults most like to receive direct mail from charities, with email and advertising communications trailing behind. So the message is: don’t overlook traditional channels when promoting your cause. Just one sizeable donation directly resulting from a letter explaining what your charity does can make it worthwhile.
Do you have any other ideas that charities can consider when trying to raise awareness?

In such a scenario, financial planning becomes highly essential in order to meet any emergencies and unseen contingencies. This is equally true on whether you are looking to compare car insurance or even if you are looking to plan for your retirement.

One must make adequate plans and in turn, save and invest one’s hard earned money in suitable financial schemes in order to meet all the responsibilities and enjoy one’s pre and post retirement life.

There are many good investment options before the investor which promises short term and long term benefits. However, before planning to jump into the foray one must consult a certified financial expert. The experts will guide one to select the best saving and investment policy keeping all the needs and purposes of the investors in mind. Before investment one must thoroughly analyze one’s personal and family needs and also be clear about the future expectations. Some investors may prefer to invest in short term policies with fewer risks and easy gains while some like long-term investment policies with substantial risk factors.

Most- sought after investment options

Some of the most sought after investment options in the present scenario are in the banks’ fixed deposits, insurance sector, stock market, real-estate, Mutual Funds, Public Provident Funds, Equity, Gold deposits scheme and National Savings Scheme.

Each of the sectors of investment has their own terms and conditions with particular rate of growth and one option may not suit the other. It all depends on one’s needs and expectations as well as one’s income and deposits.

One can now avail the services of online financial expert and get to understand all the essential features of the policies. The expert will help you to draw the roadmap for one’s entire life savings and investment plan and thus enable you to get good returns on your savings and investment.

Equally, investment opportunities in highly growing sectors like insurance, real estate and others may open up new doors of prosperity.

16^th March 2012 – Cineworld, the UK’s leading cinema chain*, is today delighted to announce the removal of all booking fees for Cineworld cinemagoers nationwide and is introducing a further 10% discount for tickets bought online. Customers simply need to sign up to mycineworld via the Cineworld website (cineworld.com) to be eligible for the online discount.

The decision was taken after customer research** conducted on behalf of Cineworld showed that over three quarters (77%) of all cinemagoers had said that the removal of booking fees would encourage them to book online, and that more than 4 in 5 customers (86%) stated that discounted tickets would encourage them to pre-book. The move follows the highly successful trial in Cineworld’s Scottish cinemas last year.

Justin Skinner, VP, Marketing at Cineworld said, “This is a game-changer for the leisure and entertainment industry. Cineworld is delighted to be taking the lead in our industry by removing booking fees and lowering prices online.”

Following the announcement today by Cineworld that they will be removing all booking fees for online bookings, Which? executive director, Richard Lloyd, says:

“This is good news. Which? has long been campaigning for companies to put an end to hidden and disproportionate surcharges so we’re pleased that Cineworld is leading the way and hope that other companies follow their lead.

“The Government’s decision to ban excessive fees was a victory for consumers but this is just a drop in the ocean. 50,000 people supported our campaign to see these “rip-off” charges stamped out so Government must stick to its commitment and ensure the ban happens by December 2012.”

mycineworld is a free online service that currently allows customers to buy Cineworld’s cinema tickets 10% cheaper. It also gives customers the added convenience of faster ticket collection in the foyer and keeps them up-to-date with the latest film information and great offers. mycineworld is available on Cineworld’s iPhone and Android Apps, via mobile internet and on the cineworld.com website.

For more information and to sign up to mycineworld visit: www.cineworld.com

-Ends-

*EDI/Rentrak UK & Ireland Box Office 2011

** Research was conducted on behalf of Cineworld in October 2010 and 2011, sampling over two thousand cinemagoers.

About Cineworld Group

Cineworld Group was founded in 1995 by Steve Wiener, the current Chief Executive, and is now the leading cinema group in the UK & Ireland by box office and admissions. The Group operates 79 cinemas of which 73 are multiplex sites with five screens or more. In 2007 Cineworld successfully floated on the London Stock Exchange. In 2011 Cineworld cemented its position as the UK industry leader after it was confirmed as the UK and Ireland’s number one cinema chain by Box Office. In December 2011 Cineworld opened its first IMAX screen at Cineworld Edinburgh with cutting edge audio technology.

For press enquiries, please contact:

Joe Dawes

020 7413 3122

Joe.Dawes@hkstrategies.com

We all know that this is bad news, but most of us our hazy on what it could actually mean for our personal finances. So how could a double-recession affect you?

Well, for most people the main impact will be on their credit rating. An ailing economy makes lenders anxious, and that in turn means that they are reluctant to lend money to individuals or households with less than perfect credit scores. Some banks could clamp down on mortgages, making life difficult for first time buyers, and if you’re looking to set up your own business then financing the initiative might prove to be complicated.

If you think that a clamp-down on lending could affect you, then your first move should be to check your UK credit rating on a site such as Credit Expert. Once you’re familiar with your credit history, there are a number of things you can do to go about improving your chances of getting a loan. Credit Expert from Experian offer a credit report along with a free 30-day trial, so there’s no need to make a financial commitment.

Now you know your UK credit rating, it’s time to put some work into improving it. Make sure you’re registered on the electoral role, cancel any unused bank accounts and credit cards, and above all make sure that all the information included on your credit report is correct. It’s possible to have your credit rating seriously damaged by identity theft, but happily this is relatively easy to remedy.

Finally, you can increase your chances of getting credit by reassuring the lender of your credentials. Consider applying for loans with higher rates of interest, and be prepared to take insurance out on a loan. Remember, there’s no such thing as a credit blacklist so a rejection needn’t be irrevocable.

Now there is a new smart-phone app from the site which lets you find the best car insurance prices when the time comes to renew your policy. It can be downloaded for free from both the App Store and the Android Market, so if you have a handset from the iPhone or Samsung Galaxy ranges you will be able to experience the benefits of this application.

While there have been car insurance apps in the past, this is the first which will not cost you a penny to download or use. Of course, if you are not connected to a Wi-Fi hotspot, then it could use up a little of your monthly data allowance but that is the only concession to make.

Once you have loaded up the app, the finger-friendly touchscreen interface will let you enter your details along with the relevant information about your vehicle, just as you would if comparing prices on a PC.

With everything completed, the app will then scour more than 100 different insurance providers to find prices from as many as possible. The policies can be ranked based on your own criteria and you will also be able to see whether a particular offer includes extras such as windscreen cover as standard.

Prices are listed both annually and monthly, so the breakdown of how individual policies will affect your finances is obvious at a glance. It has been found that average users of the service can save £374.93 when they compare various policies, which gives anyone a very good reason to download the app today.

It is advisable to keep the app installed on your phone and not simply remove it once you have found a deal to suit you this year. This is because all of your details will be saved automatically so that if you need to come back and retrieve an offer or compare insurance for a new vehicle, you only need to alter the relevant pieces of information and not start completely from scratch.

At the moment, this application is one of the few ways to compare car insurance using your iPhone or Android device with minimum hassle and maximum results, so it is certainly worth downloading it to see how much you could save.

The first step is working out how much you can currently afford to save or pay into a pension fund and how much you will be able to put away in the future. There are many online savings calculators available free on the internet. They are easy to use and can let you explore how much your savings may be worth in the future or, alternatively, how to reach a savings target. Once you have entered your information, you should print or save this the results and refer to it annually, so you can re-evaluate the amount you save, if your current financial situation changes.

You should seek advice to see what options are available to best suit your needs. Financial advice services such as MoneyVista are easily accessed online and very simple to use. Money Vista is a new service, which helps you create your own financial plan. This will also guarantee that you are in the safest hands as you are supported by a panel of financial experts, and backed by the security and experience of Royal London. The great thing is that you will see your current position and your financial future and it will help you build a financial plan to achieve your goals.

There are many ever changing factors that you should consider throughout the whole process of planning your retirement, such as:

• Changing your retirement date.

Initially, the plan sets your retirement age equal to your state pension age, but you can change your retirement age at any time if you want to.

• Changing your life expectancy.

Life expectancy is the age to which you are expected to survive. Initially the plan uses a figure for the average person of your gender and current age using data published by the government, but again you can change this if you want to.

• Changing the amount you save.

You can use this option to see how your retirement income might improve if you start to save more. If you have set a target retirement income, you can explore how much extra you would need to save to reach that target.

• Changing the type of pension you get.

Initially, for any occupational defined contribution pension schemes and personal pensions that you have, Money Vista assumes you will buy an annuity at retirement that includes a pension for a partner if they survive you. This is assumed to be half the rate of pension you were getting.

With the likes of The Pampered Chef, Jamie at Home and Ann Summers increasing in sales year on year the amount of people holding parties in their home is also increasing. Some people may not be aware that they need to declare this income to the government and others may well be choosing to forget about declaring this. It is not just the party at home style companies that may be targeted, door to door sales such as Avon, Betterware & Kleeneze may also find themselves under scrutiny too.

Tradesmen and women working in the home improvement market, such as builders, roofers, bricklayers and electricians will find themselves being targeted. This is in addition to the owners of e-marketplaces
and electricians, both of whom will be under scrutiny in new campaigns expected to launch within the next two months. These campaigns have previously been announced by HMRC and are in addition to ones
targeting tutors, coaches, plumbers, medics and offshore bank account owners all of which have either been completed recently or are currently in progress.

HMRC claim that they will be using new technology to help them search the internet for the information they require to target specific people who are running businesses and making money online without declaring it. They will have several new campaigns in the near future:

Direct sellers – This will target people who are hosting parties either in their home or at the homes of others and will attempt to reclaim tax on income earned through buying and selling goods directly to other people or from commission earned by selling on the behalf of an individual or business.

Tradesmen – Tradesmen working in the home improvement field will find themselves within the 100,000+ people who work in construction that will be investigated by HMRC. Skilled and unskilled workers involved
in window fitting, roofing, bricklaying, joinery, carpentry and numerous other fields may well find themselves shocked when the tax office contact them regarding their tax return – or lack of!

Tax Returns – HMRC will be cracking down on people who fail to complete tax returns. This will mainly target individuals who do not complete a tax return yet are likely to be in the highest tax paying
bracket.

These are campaigns that will launch within the next few months and there are several others expected in 2012 including one looking at e-marketplace sellers such as those selling on eBay and Amazon and this will focus on individuals with a higher volume of sales than someone clearing their home of clutter slightly.

HMRC have stated that as with their previous campaigns their main focus will be on giving people who have not declared tax an opportunity to come forward, admit liability and work with HMRC to get their tax affairs correctly documented and up to date. This is part of a Government pledge to bring in an extra £7billion in revenue previously lost to people avoiding tax payments and committing fraud.