http://www.articlealley.com en-us editorial@articlealley.com Mortgages are traditionally taken out over 25 years, 30 years at a push – but house prices have got so high that many would be homeowners have found themselves completely unable to get on the property ladder. Mortgage lenders have found a solution �... http://www.articlealley.com/article_131639_19.html 21st February 2007 Critical illness insurance is designed to pay out a lump sum if you are unfortunate enough to be diagnosed with one of a list of medical conditions specified in the policy documents. There is a wide variation in the length of the lists, some covering a... http://www.articlealley.com/article_131638_19.html 21st February 2007 Immortality is no big deal. Just imagine getting up on a Monday morning 52 times a year for the rest of eternity. Really only two advantages of eternal life spring to mind – you could start reading ‘War & Peace’ and know that you would have time to... http://www.articlealley.com/article_131637_19.html 21st February 2007 Research has recently suggested that consumers who apply for loans and other forms of credit too often through comparison websites may risk damaging their credit rating. It is estimated that 8.7 million people have bought financial products such as loa... http://www.articlealley.com/article_131636_19.html 21st February 2007 No-one said it would be easy but giving up smoking is really worthwhile and it’s a perfectly achievable aim. Why not join the band of ex-smokers, starting from today? If are you now a reformed smoker, we have some even better news for you. You can e... http://www.articlealley.com/article_131635_19.html 21st February 2007 We’re all too used to hearing about rising prices. But there’s one thing that now costs less than ever – good life insurance! Intrigued? Read on … No-one likes to think about the worst that could happen. But proper life insurance cover could pr... http://www.articlealley.com/article_126957_19.html 06th February 2007 Britons are drinking too much, shout the headlines. Out of those who live in Great Britain, two thirds say they drink to excess at least once a week and almost a quarter hurt themselves while they are intoxicated. This is according to a report by the Drin... http://www.articlealley.com/article_126956_19.html 06th February 2007 Are you a smoker? Have you ever tried to give up the habit? The chances are that you have, but like any addiction it can be (and usually is) extremely difficult to stop, and even attempts to cut down rarely last very long. Part of the problem is that smok... http://www.articlealley.com/article_126955_19.html 06th February 2007 Growing older should be a time for sitting back after a lifetime of work and enjoying the fruits of your labours, without having to worry about whether those fruits will ripen to their full glory or wither and die on the branch. However, the increase in l... http://www.articlealley.com/article_126953_19.html 06th February 2007 The property market is in good shape. Prices continue to rise and sold signs are popping up like mushrooms. This is all wonderful news and we’re all going to be property-rich. Spare a thought for the first time buyer! Gaining that elusive first step... http://www.articlealley.com/article_126952_19.html 06th February 2007 You might have heard of an exit fee. It is the charge that the mortgage lender makes a person pay if they want to get out of a money borrowing agreement before the end of the term. Another name for it is a redemption penalty. Well mortgage lenders are ... http://www.articlealley.com/article_122634_19.html 24th January 2007 As landlords know, there’s a huge demand for small self-contain units, especially in University towns. But as from the start of this tax year, landlords are faced with the necessity to have a building licensed for occupation if the property is on at lea... http://www.articlealley.com/article_122631_19.html 24th January 2007 There are various ways of working out the interest rate on your mortgage and an unbelievably wide choice of mortgages out there. All may not be what it seems, however. Don’t make the mistake of thinking interest rates are the “be all and end all” of... http://www.articlealley.com/article_122629_19.html 24th January 2007 Bank of England interest rates have been steady since August 2005 and even that move was southwards. Why then are thousands of mortgage customers up in arms about an unexpected and unwelcome increase in the cost of their mortgages? Customers of the Not... http://www.articlealley.com/article_122628_19.html 24th January 2007 Buy-to-let is often seen by private investors as an interesting alternative way to make their money grow. Certainly it offers the chance of double benefits for the owner. There is the income from letting the property and the hopeful increase in the value ... http://www.articlealley.com/article_122627_19.html 24th January 2007 Obesity is becoming a real problem in the UK. In the past twenty years the number of overweight adults has snowballed and latest figures estimate that more than half of the population of UK women are classed as overweight or obese. It's even worse for men... http://www.articlealley.com/article_105521_19.html 17th November 2006 Thousands of women with family histories of breast and ovarian cancer could pay higher insurance premiums or even be denied cover altogether under new proposals from the insurance industry. The Association of British Insurers (ABI) is expected to lodge... http://www.articlealley.com/article_105520_19.html 17th November 2006 These complicated financial products combine life insurance and investment growth in one package. They were most commonly used as a way of repaying a mortgage and were most popular with homebuyers in the eighties and nineties. The reason so many peopl... http://www.articlealley.com/article_105519_19.html 17th November 2006 Like the ostrich, are you sticking your head in the sand when it comes to insuring yourself? According to recent statistics from the insurance industry, sales of the most basic personal protection insurance products, i.e. life insurance and income protect... http://www.articlealley.com/article_105518_19.html 17th November 2006 The cost of life insurance has fallen over the past few years and there's now more choice than ever, at prices that won't break the bank. If you have a family you could provide security for them by taking out adequate life insurance cover. In the tragi... http://www.articlealley.com/article_105517_19.html 17th November 2006 In the good old days (?) before the industrial revolution the economy of this country was largely based on agriculture, and so most of the working class employees spent long hours outside in the fields. Inevitably their skin would have been well bronzed, ... http://www.articlealley.com/article_102876_19.html 16th November 2006 Insurance companies are not in the business of taking on risks without first obtaining as much background knowledge as possible. This applies whether they are insuring your house, your car, your possessions or your life. There is however a difference in t... http://www.articlealley.com/article_102874_19.html 16th November 2006 There's a new critical illness policy on the market which attempts to go some way with regard to sorting out the perplexity regarding exactly what is, and is not, covered when it comes to claiming on the policy. Traditional critical illness policies t... http://www.articlealley.com/article_102873_19.html 16th November 2006 Alcohol is regarded as an antiseptic or a preservative in some cases, but its effect on life insurance costs can be anything but benign. You will almost certainly be asked for information about your alcohol consumption when you apply for life insurance, a... http://www.articlealley.com/article_102871_19.html 16th November 2006 How can any one know what's around the corner? It's probably something you'd prefer not to dwell on, but accidents and fatal illnesses can happen, with the result that your family could be left to look after themselves. Apart from the shock and distress s... http://www.articlealley.com/article_102868_19.html 16th November 2006 What does the term “inter-generational mortgage” mean to you? If you’re not up to date, then read on for more information on this revolutionary move. It seems that there is a distinct possibility that lifetime interest only mortgages, which we co... http://www.articlealley.com/article_95446_19.html 20th October 2006 Do you, in common with millions of other home owners, have a short-term mortgage? If so, it’s very easy to set up the monthly repayment and then get involved with so many other aspects of your life that time slips away and before you know it, the two or... http://www.articlealley.com/article_95442_19.html 20th October 2006 A helpful reminder from your mortgage broker may be just what you need to save yourself a whole lot of trouble. The FSA (Financial Services Authority) is very happy with the way rules for renewing two or three year home loans are working out, but mortg... http://www.articlealley.com/article_95439_19.html 20th October 2006 Maybe you’re planning ahead for your retirement? The popular choices for funding this important provision are mainly to be found in either the property market, via buy-to-let, or the stock market. Interestingly enough, if you’d invested £100,000 ... http://www.articlealley.com/article_95438_19.html 20th October 2006 Are you paying more than you need for your mortgage? If you’ve had a mortgage for a few years, do you know even what your interest rate is? Once the initial mortgage deal is done, you tend to forget about it. The payment goes out of your account with al... http://www.articlealley.com/article_95437_19.html 20th October 2006 Disabled people have lower incomes but often have extra costs associated with their impairment. This situation drives two out of five disabled people to seek loans and other forms of credit to meet the demands of higher living costs on a below-average inc... http://www.articlealley.com/article_90883_19.html 02nd October 2006 How do you find the best interest rates if you're planning to apply for a loan? Until relatively recently, it was simple. There were plenty of lists of comparative rates published in table form on various websites. You could take your pick and investigate... http://www.articlealley.com/article_90879_19.html 02nd October 2006 Following a complaint made by Citizens Advice in 2005, claiming that aspects of the payment protection insurance (PPI) market were severely harming the interests of consumers, a report has been published by the Office of Fair Trading. Payment protectio... http://www.articlealley.com/article_90870_19.html 02nd October 2006 You may be one of those fortunate folk who know precisely want they want when it comes to replacing your car. Or maybe you're the type who treks from garage to garage trying to find perfection. After a while all these cars merge into one and you can't rem... http://www.articlealley.com/article_90865_19.html 02nd October 2006 At one time, borrowing money from the bank would have involved getting out the best suit and grovelling to the manager. These days, banks ring customers at home and ask them if they want to take out a loan. In fact, they almost give you hard time if y... http://www.articlealley.com/article_90862_19.html 02nd October 2006 Not everyone needs life insurance. If you don't have any debts or maybe only minimal ones which would be covered by your disposable assets should you die, then you're fine. Not everyone has dependants and as long as there would be enough funds to settle y... http://www.articlealley.com/article_89170_19.html 27th September 2006 The recently over 60's are the post-war baby boomers. Their insurance needs are very different from that of a young family or someone just starting out in their first job. A typical 60 something couple will have raised their family, finished paying off... http://www.articlealley.com/article_89166_19.html 27th September 2006 The very best time to arrange life insurance is when it's furthest from your thoughts. Take a typical young man. He's at the start of his career, possibly still living at home, but thinking of looking around for a flat. He has a car and the insurance that... http://www.articlealley.com/article_89164_19.html 27th September 2006 Rule Britannia, Britannia rules the ��.. credit cards? Would you be surprised to hear that we lead the world the number of credit cards in circulation? There are around 74 million credit cards out there and outstanding balances add up to around �56bn. ... http://www.articlealley.com/article_89162_19.html 27th September 2006 Debt charities have reported they are hearing from an increasing number of people whose spending is out of control. On average, people who turn to the Consumer Credit Counselling Service for advice owe �31,000 which does not include their mortgage. Th... http://www.articlealley.com/article_89161_19.html 27th September 2006 The fastest growing sector of home loans market is what we class as specialist mortgages. Specialist mortgages have developed to serve the mortgage needs of people who don't fit into the more conventional model buyer. In the case of self-employed buy... http://www.articlealley.com/article_85749_19.html 01st September 2006 Insurance is very, very expensive for a certain group of drivers. Unfortunately, statistics prove that newly qualified young men are a particularly poor insurance risk. A risk that rises significantly between the hours of 11pm and 6am. Naturally all pa... http://www.articlealley.com/article_85741_31.html 01st September 2006 If you're taking out a loan, beware of being misled into taking out payment protection insurance. From a recent questionnaire, it appears that around 25% of consumers were under the impression that by taking out this expensive and often totally unnecessar... http://www.articlealley.com/article_85734_19.html 01st September 2006 It's hard to convince a would-be burglar not to bothering breaking into a house, when the figures relating to the sale of stolen goods say so strongly otherwise. A survey carried out by Halifax Home Insurance has revealed that one third of people buy good... http://www.articlealley.com/article_85714_19.html 01st September 2006 As a nation, we are getting bigger. By 2025, according to the latest government statistics, around 33% of girls and 25% of boys will be classifiable as clinically obese. 'Obese' is defined as overweight to the probable detriment of a person's health. In f... http://www.articlealley.com/article_85713_19.html 01st September 2006 Many people have dreamed of starting their own business, and it can certainly be satisfying. But what happens when you need a loan? If you're self-employed, even if you have an excellent credit history, you may find it hard. Even though the banks are more... http://www.articlealley.com/article_85261_19.html 31st August 2006 ME, also known as chronic fatigue syndrome, is a recognised illness. However, some of the big health insurers see it quite differently, as the case of Miss A demonstrates. Miss A has been living with ME for eight years, an aggressive form which has kep... http://www.articlealley.com/article_85258_19.html 31st August 2006 Not everyone will remember the road safety campaign aimed at toddlers and small children and called the "Tufty Club". Tufty's full name was Tufty Fluffytail and the cute and very sensible squirrel was the logo for the scheme. Road safety scenarios were ... http://www.articlealley.com/article_85256_19.html 31st August 2006 Banks, building societies and mortgage brokers are always on the look-out for opportunities for more business, so what is the consumer to expect in the way of mortgage types and offers? Re-mortgaging seems to be the buzz-word and this seems to be a sec... http://www.articlealley.com/article_85255_19.html 31st August 2006 You can buy pretty much everything over the Internet these days and this most certainly applies to insurance. But the process of buying something over the telephone or Internet means that you do not have the benefit of having a person in front of you to e... http://www.articlealley.com/article_85252_19.html 31st August 2006