michael challiner

Sleep Tight My Lovely Furry Friend

In the UK 1 in 2 of every household has a pet, but less than 1 in 5 have taken out pet insurance to cover veterinary fees and other potential costs. If you are one of the uninsured pet owners, consider this: vets' fees, which account for 90 per cent of al... Read >

Make Money From Your Spare Room

With the recession taking a hold many cash strapped homeowners are finding clever ways to earn extra income. Willingness to compromise and a bit of creative thinking can turn your home from a money drainer into a money making asset. The options are depend... Read >

Pensioners Are Feeling The Pinch As Interest Rates Fall To A Record Low

The average rate of interest now being paid on deposit accounts is less than 1 per cent. Interest on other accounts, such as notice accounts, bonds and tax-free ISA's (Individual Savings Accounts) hit an all-time low last month since banking records were... Read >

Credit Card Companies Finally Have To Be Fair

Overnight interest hikes on their customers, will be a thing of the past, as credit card companies have agreed to end this practice. A new set of fair principles have been agreed with Government by card issuers. They include giving more breathing space to... Read >

Your Home Is Your Castle - But It Might Be Rented

Not everyone can afford to buy their home, and not everyone wants to. Renting is an option which is more popular now than at any time since Mrs Thatcher encouraged Britain to become a nation of property owners. There are things to be careful of before ... Read >

Parents Are Borrowing To Educate Their Children

An increasing amount of parents are applying for bank loans to put their children through private school, new figures show. Spending on private school fess reached an estimated 7.9 billion pounds last year, compared to 6.9 billion pounds in the year 2001-... Read >

Card Fraud Is On The Increase

New technology from a leading bank will mean that every credit card transaction will be scrutinised for fraud. The programme is being introduced by HSBC. It will affect 10 million accounts and millions of transactions. However, legitimate transactions may... Read >

High Interest Causes Store Card Debts

We must be honest! we are not big fans of store cards. Nevertheless, there are more than 12 million store card holders with outstanding balances of well over 2 billion pounds. And some 70 retailers operate store cards, mostly clothing retailers, departmen... Read >

Renting Is Not As Buoyant As It Used To Be

Homeowners who offer their properties to let instead of for sale during the market slump, could be in for a stormy ride when they realise it will not be easy. These 'accidental' landlords have increased sharply in number over the last year, and are not p... Read >

The Property Market Sleeps - Can We Wake It Up?

Estate agents are finding business sleepy and frustrating at present. It does seem that vendors are still willing to put properties on the market even if doubtful of the response they will get; and some are trying new initiatives. W and J Mulder want t... Read >

Repossessions Continue To Rise As Recession Carries On

Statistics from City watchdog the Financial Services Authority reveal some staggering figures regarding home repossessions: Repossessions climbed by almost 100 per cent last year, with 13,161 families being evicted between June and September alone - meani... Read >

Household Wealth Drops - Will It Ever Recover?

UK's families are worse off by 17 per cent after twelve months of sliding house prices and the collapse of the stock market.This fall is the highest for at least 40 years. On average each household's wealth has fallen 45,000 pounds because the both the... Read >

Payment Protection Insurance Has An Over-Haul

The Competition Commission has asked for a ban on selling payment protection insurance (PPI) when people take out credit agreements. However lenders say the price of personal loans will rise. PPI covers repayments if the holder is not able to pay due ... Read >

Credit Insurers To Be Hit By A Massive Rise In Premiums

Reinsurance premiums are expected to rise steeply in the months ahead as the credit crunch turns into a recession. As the renewal season gets into full swing, brokers expect that the major credit insurers, who offload risks to reinsurers through markets l... Read >

Wheelie Good Bike Insurance

When a student son or daughter leaves home to go off to college, very often their parents' help to subsidize their expenses to a certain extend by allowing them to include the contents of their student homes and such things as bikes on their own current h... Read >