ASA continues claims crackdown

By Simon Read

Another claims management company has been rapped by the Advertising Standards
Authority this week for trying to mislead borrowers about how it was able to
help them wriggle out of their debts.

UK Logical, a Yorkshire-based company, invited people who wanted to “Legally
Clear your Credit Cards & Loans” to get in touch with it. But the ASA
ruled on Wednesday that the ads would “mislead” readers about their chances
of being able to write off their debt. It also slammed the firm for not
making clear that anyone responding to the ad would be charged a £50 admin
fee.

The ASA said the offending ad “was likely to be understood by readers to mean
that UK Logical had an 80 per cent and above success rate at clearing
customers’ credit card debts and loans. Because we had not seen evidence
demonstrating that that was the case, we considered the ad was likely to
mislead readers about the likelihood of their debts being written off.”

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Beginner’s Guide To: Balance transfer cards

By Kate Murphy, moneysupermarket.com




There are hundreds of credit cards available, but with providers now more choosy, it is important to make sure you apply for the right card and one you’re likely to be accepted for.

Over the next few weeks, we’ll be looking at the different types of cards
available to help you identify which is most suitable.

This week, it’s balance transfer cards.

What is a balance transfer?

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Simon Read: Why wait to write off credit card cheques?

A government crackdown on unsolicited credit card cheques has long been
overdue. The cheques have seemingly indiscriminately been junk-mailed to
millions of credit card holders in recent years simply to encourage them to
overspend and boost banks’ profits. According to figures from uSwitch, 280
million of the cheques were sent out to 14 million people last year alone.
And the 3.2 million of those suckered into using the cheques helped the
credit card companies pocket an extra £571m in handling fees and interest
charges last year.

“Credit card cheques have wreaked havoc with the finances of unsuspecting
credit card customers for years,” says Andrew Hagger of moneynet.co.uk. He
points out that a £500 cheque can easily spiral by an additional £150 in
just a year with fees of around 3 per cent and interest charged at up to 28
per cent. “Sending these cheques to people with little financial discipline
or willpower is akin to posting candy through a school letterbox,” he says.

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Unsolicited credit card cheques to be banned

By Nicky Burridge, Press Association

PA
The Office of Fair Trading estimated in 2006 that people could be paying up to £57 million a year extra in interest and charges by using credit card cheques

enlarge

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What credit card ‘tarts’ should do next

Savvy credit card borrowers have long seen 0 per cent balance transfer credit
cards as a key tool for dealing with debt. In the days before the credit
crunch, “tarting” - the process of shifting otherwise expensive balances
from one promotional offer to another - was regarded as a way for borrowers
to beat banks and credit card companies at their own game.

Now, however, both reports from within the industry and anecdotal evidence
suggest tarts’ tactics may have begun to backfire. More and more credit card
applicants are being turned down - particularly for balance transfer deals.

In addition, the number of attractive 0 per cent offers on the market has
declined during the past year.

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Bank Of England May Cut Interest Rates By A Full Percentage Point

The Bank of England’s monetary policy meet tomorrow to decide what might be the largest interest rate cut since the committee formed and took responsibility for interest rates in 1997.

The nine members in the monetary policy gather for arguably their most important meeting since its formation.

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XL Airways Goes Bust, Thousands Trapped Abroad

The collapse of the UK’s third largest package holiday group has left tens of thousands of Britons stranded abroad. Crawley based XL Leisure Group, owners and operators of XL airways, went into administration yesterday which has left thousands of staff facing the axe.

The company which flies to around 50 destinations, mainly out of Gatwick and Manchester has seen all their planes grounded with immediate effect. The Company Chairman Phil Wyatt said he was “totally devastated” by the failure of XL Leisure.

Asked about the passengers stranded abroad, My Wyatt said there were “approximately 67,000 people awaiting return travel”. The CAA has said XL had over 200,000 advanced bookings.

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People Opt For Public Transport Amid Rising Fuel Costs

The impact of rising inflation due in part to the hike in fuel prices can easily be seen in the UK, where there has been a marked increase in passengers using public transportation services.

Tough financial conditions have forced more people to choose buses and other means of public transport, thus saving the money they would have spent on private cars and high petrol and diesel prices.

One of the major public transport operator is UK has revealed that they have noticed a substantial increase in passenger numbers since the first quarter of the year. The operator said, “the continuous hikes in fuel prices have encouraged using public means of transport”.

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US Government Sponsored Fannie Mae Restructures Its Top Management

US lender Fannie Mae revealed a new executive management team yesterday which it hopes will cut its losses and improve capital management.

Fannie said Stephen Swad, its chief financial officer, had chosen to leave the company after little more than a year in the job, while Enrico Dallavecchia, chief risk officer, was also leaving to pursue other finance and risk management opportunities.

David Hisey becomes the new chief financial officer and Michael Shaw the new chief risk officer. Both are existing Fannie executives.

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As Economic Gloom Descends, Britain’s Motorists Enjoy Shorter Journey Times

The credit crunch, high fuel costs and a biting economic downturn are proving effective in lowering the amount of traffic on Britain’s roads, a report revealed.

Trafficmaster, who collected data from 7500 cameras over a period between June 07 and 08 revealed that fewer people are opting to use their cars. Petrol prices topping 120 pence per litre, diesel as much as 140 pence per litre and people driving more slowly on the road to save fuel also helped to ease congestion.

Overall, 12 percent less congestion was found in the first six months of 2008, compared with January to June 2007.

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