michael challiner

Job Description and Car Insurance

One of the proudest moments of my early years as an actor was purchasing my first car, an old Renault Six. A couple of weeks after passing my test I walked into the AA office in central London to arrange some proper insurance cover. A few forms to fill ou... Read >

Banks Are Under Pressure to Cease Selling PPI

By the end of this month some of the country's largest high street banks will cease selling single premium Payment Protection Insurance known as PPI because of continuing pressure from the City Regulator. Payment protection Insurance is generally sold to ... Read >

Insuring Possessions At Uni - Advice To Parents And Students

Have you got an offspring departing for college or university? There are a host of things to think about, but the one that is often overlooked is insurance. OK, you need to insure the basics like pots and pans, towels and sheets - but there is also the TV... Read >

Credit Crunch Shopping For Bargins

Middle-class Brits are now turning to budget supermarkets, which have seen a 25 per cent sales boost. Tightening household expenditure has meant smart shoppers are searching for ways to make their money go further at the checkout. In a recent article in ... Read >

Tell The Truth When It Comes To Insurance

Insurers are increasing their efforts to stop "desperate" customers obtaining dishonest savings on their home and car policies as the credit crunch worsens. Concerned that financial stress will encourage some to lie on their proposals to qualify for ch... Read >

Protect Yourself From Identity Fraud

An ID fraud expert highlights the methods fraudsters use to steal your identity and explains what you can do to prevent it from happening to you. Identity theft is a silent crime - sometimes only noticed after a hard-earned credit rating has been damaged.... Read >

Are Your Downloads Insured Within Your Home Insurance?

In this age of new technology consumers are increasingly using digital downloads to access music, games, films, computer software programmes and ring tones. If your home were burgled and you lost your iPod, mobile phone and laptop your contents insuran... Read >

Repossessions Jump By More Than Half

Repossessions skyrocketed to 40,000 homes last year, up 54 per cent on the previous year, but 5,000 fewer than predicted. A family was thrown out of their home every 13 minutes because they failed to pay their mortgage. The Financial Services Authority... Read >

Car Owners Are Now Hit With Negative Equity

Experts have warned that due to plunging car prices thousands of motorists are in 'negative equity' on their vehicle loans. It means many car buyers are in similar positions to those whose mortgages are bigger than the value of their home. Altogether the ... Read >

Home Rental Market Flooded?

In the last few years the home rental market has been flooded as would be sellers started renting their homes instead. Indeed, during the last 12 months, in London the number of homes available for rent has increased by 67 per cent and demand for rental p... Read >

Differing Interest Rates

If you are considering applying for a loan, make sure that you do your sums. Keep an eye on the rates of interest you will be charged. Most companies that offer personal loans and credit cards feature in their advertisements "typical rates". This sho... Read >

Ahoy There - Anyone For A House Boat?

As house prices tumble it could be time to think about going for a paddle. Whilst property values across the UK have fallen by over 20 per cent in the last 12 months, the prices of residential house boats have remained relatively buoyant. There is a n... Read >

Six Ways To Increase The Amount You Can Borrow On A Mortgage

Those hoping to buy a new home or looking to re-mortgage may be alarmed to hear that under new borrowing rules they may soon be unable to raise a mortgage for more than three times their annual salaries. The Financial Services Authority (FSA) is alrea... Read >

Winners And Losers After Base Rate Cuts

After the recent cut, in the Bank of England's base rate, the divide between mortgage winners and losers is at its widest in living memory. Some very lucky borrowers now have interest on their mortgage which is next to nothing or nothing at all, these ar... Read >

Jobless Will Struggle To Remortgage

With unemployment rising fast in the UK, there is a growing "mortgage underclass" of borrowers who cannot break away from their lender even if the rate they are paying is wildly uncompetitive. Thousands of borrowers who mortgaged two or three years ago on... Read >