Should you sell your gold?

Every day we are bombarded with adverts from companies wanting to buy our old gold jewellery. The price of gold is rising throughout the world and has hit $1,000 an ounce.
So should we sell now and how do we go about choosing the right company?
You can sell your gold at some High Street jewellers or use an online company where you send your items to them in the post. These companies will usually phone or e-mail you a quote which you can accept or reject but some will just send you a cheque which you need to return within a set period if you are not happy with the amount.
There are also gold parties and temporary units cropping up in shopping centres looking to buy your unwanted gold.
Some of the online and postal companies that have been around for years and also well known High Street jewellers are trustworthy in their dealings and you will get a fair price.
However some companies, such as the new ones advertising on TV, are only offering as little as20% of the value of the gold.
Gold dealing has become big business recently and many companies are forming just to make a quick profit and will close down just as quick when gold prices start to dip. These companies will care very little for fairness or customer service.
So before you sell your gold do a quick search on the company.
See how long they have been trading for and check online chatrooms and forums for any negative comments. If in doubt contact the Trading Standards to see if any complaints have been received. The current price offered can vary from £2 a gram to £7.30 a gram so it is worth shopping around. Remember the price of gold varies daily so your quotes will vary slightly from day to day.
There are alternatives to selling your gold. If you only need a short term loan you may be better going to a Pawnbroker. They will normally loan you half the value of your jewellery and charge in the region of 8% per month. This is not ideal for a long term loan.
Selling your old gold in the present climate can be a wise move, but be sure to do your homework on the company before you do.

Government to set up Consultation to look into Debt Management Companies

Many people who are in debt contact debt management companies.
These companies will negotiate on their client’s behalf and agree with the creditors to make smaller monthly repayments, usually over a longer period and sometimes freeze interest and charges.
Up to 150,000 people use these services every year and for a lot of people in debt this can be a lifeline.
However, lenders are under no obligation to accept lower payments and do not always help customers in severe difficulties.
Debt management companies charge a fee for their services which can be very costly and this is not always fully explained to or understood by their customers.
Citizens Advice and National Debtline will help people draw up plans to approach borrowers for free.
It is estimated there are 800 debt management companies operating in the UK and these are not currently regulated.
The Government has set up a consultation to look into the need for regulation and to see if customers are getting the appropriate help and advice to deal with their debts. As it stands these companies are able to behave and charge as they wish acting under no law or guidance.

Data held by Credit Reference Agencies

The data help by credit reference agencies:

• Name
• Date of Birth
• The electoral register
• Credit payment history
• County Court judgements
• Bankruptcy and administration orders
• House repossessions

Looking for an unsecured loan or credit card

Unless you are in great financial shape getting a loan or credit card is not as easy as it used to be.
Lenders are treating applicants on an individual basis taking into account their credit history and more people than ever are being refused loans and credit cards.
Companies are citing very different monthly interest rates with the best credit scores getting the lowest rates and the higher rates being charged for those deemed less creditworthy. So the applicant’s personal circumstances will determine the interest rate charged.
When applications fall into the high risk category, if the lender decides to go ahead, they will be charged considerably higher than someone with a good credit history.
It is not just new applicants that are being assessed. Existing credit card holders are getting letters saying that due to the economic climate their interest rate is being increased and in some cases their credit limit is also being reduced.
Of course, for those who are unable to get a credit card from the mainstream companies there are now lots of credit card companies who are targeting those with poor credit ratings and people who need to improve their credit scores. Aqua, Monument and Vanquis are heavily into this market and charge extremely high interest rates – up to 59.9% APR.
It is therefore very important that you check your credit rating and are fully aware of your financial position in order you can get the best deal possible when you are looking for a loan or credit card.

Ban on Credit Card Cheques

It looks like the Government are taking action to ban credit card cheques.

These are the blank cheques credit card issuers send to their customers giving them another way to spend money on their credit card account and getting further into debt then they intend to.
The Government have been under pressure for quite some time to ban these cheques.
Earlier this year they announced they would stop unsolicited cheques being sent out but that customers could opt in to use them.
The blank cheques are proving controversial because the charges for using them are not clear, with the user incurring a handling charge for each cheque used, the interest free period does not apply and the usual protection of buying with your credit card does not apply either.

The level of debt is rising with the recession, up to nearly £55bn in the UK and the Government wants the credit card companies and other lenders to take more responsibilty with its customers.

Research shows that 1 in 5 people have had their credit card limit raised within the last year without asking for it.

The government are also looking into the charges and fees charged by credit card companies.

Experian records 18% rise in pre-tax profits

Global information services group Experian has posted a pre-tax profit of $318 million (£216m) for the first half of the year; up from $270 million (£183m) for the same period in 2007. First half revenues totalled $2.02 billion; up 13% compared to last year with revenues from UK and Ireland increasing 4% to $475 million (£322m).

Chairman John Peace said: “Experian performed well in the first half, delivering good revenue, profit and cash performances, even though market conditions were exceptionally challenging.”

Experian is expecting similar growth in the third quarter whilst stating it’s full year objective remains: “to broadly maintain margins and to grow profits, while continuing to position the business for long term success”.

Experian is the parent company of Credit Expert, which offers 30 days free access to your online credit report.

HSBC fails to pass rate cut on to customers

Despite the Bank of England cutting 1.5% off the base rate two weeks ago, HSBC has finally announced today that its standard variable rate (SVP) will be cut by just 0.81% bringing it down from 6.25% to 5.44%. First Direct, which is owned by HSBC, will also cut their SVP 0.81% bringing it from 6.5% down to 4.69%.

HSBC is the ONLY major bank not to pass on the full rate cut to their customers.

Andrew Montlake of Cobalt Capital said: “It is disappointing that HSBC has only decided to pass on just over half of the latest base rate cut, and taken an age to come to this decision as well. HSBC has some attractive deals at the moment, but this half-hearted move suggests that it is unlikely they will pass on future cuts.”

Shortly after the Bank of England announced its decision to cut the rate of borrowing, Halifax, Lloyds TSB and Royal Bank of Scotland confirmed they would pass the full cut on to their customers. All three are part of the Government’s £37 billion bail-out of the banking system.

UK Mortgage approvals fall by a whopping 64%

Approvals for house purchases in the UK are 64% lower than a year ago.

The British Bankers’ Association (BBA) have reported that major banks in the UK approved 21,086 mortgages, down from 58,564 in August last year.

Also, approvals for remortgaging a property were down 28% at 47,765.

Experts advise that falling house prices, stricter lending criteria and the uncertainty on stamp duty are the main reasons for the huge drop.

The BBA’s members account for roughly two thirds of the UK mortgage lending.

Is it safe to leave your savings in the bank?

With the biggest financial crisis in decades do we need to worry about our savings?

We are seeing financial institutions and companies collapsing nearly every day. One of the biggest investment banks Lehman Brothers collapsed last week, Merrill Lynch was sold to Bank of America, AIG has been given a $20bn loan to keep it solvent, and in the UK HBOS has been bought by Lloyds-TSB.

Alliance & Leicester is being taken over by Santander and the Cheshire and Derbyshire building societies are being taken over by Nationwide due to financial difficulties.

All this and the credit crunch are causing investors and savers to panic and to worry about how safe their money actually is.

If you have your cash in a UK bank or building society then the first £35,000 is protected under the Financial Services Compensation Scheme (FSCS). However, this is not as straight forward as it appears. Some banks have more than one “brand” and use the same banking authority. For example The Royal Bank of Scotland and NatWest are both part of the Royal Bank of Scotland Group and Birmingham Midshires comes under Bank of Scotland.

Post Office accounts are covered by this compensation system as accounts are run by Bank of Ireland and ING accounts are also covered.

The FSCS is largely untested as to date no UK bank has collapsed so it is not known how long it would take to make payments if it needed too.

If you have savings of more than £35,000 and want to keep it in a bank account, it would be wise to look to spreading your money through various banks ensuring you are aware of who is related to who.

1.2% rise in UK retail sales

The ONS (Office for National Statistics) have revealed High street sales rose by 1.2% in August which is 3.3% higher than a year ago. Analysts had predicted a 0.5% drop after several gloomy surveys.

Clothing and footwear sales led the increase followed by back to school shopping – this is despite reports that consumers would be cutting back because of the current economic gloom and doom.

Consumers are cutting back on food spending which fell slightly by 0.2%.

While the latest monthly figures are positive, sales in the three months up to August fell by 0.8% compared to the previous three months which is the largest dip since November 1990.

Analysts are saying that following the latest bad news from the banking and finance industry it is very likely that retail sales will drop over the next few months. Consumer confidence is running low due to rising inflation, loss of confidence in the banks and rising unemployment.

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