Tuesday July 10, 11:24 AM
ED’S TITBITS: Money on the move
By Mike Collins
FIRST DIRECT FEE SCARES OFF 20,000
First Direct, the telephone and Internet bank, has lost 20,000 customers after it introduced a £10 monthly current account management fee in February. The fee was designed to liven up customers who paid
less than £1,500 a month into their account and has affected an estimated 195,000 of FD’s 1.3 million customers. The fee was also waived if people opened an FD savings account or bought a product like home insurance from it. The bank (TBHS - news) said that the fee was aimed at holders of dormant or rarely used accounts and said it was “very pleased” with the results. “Most customers have another product with us and were unaffected by the change,” a spokesperson said. I suppose you can’t blame FD for the move, as 40,000 of its basic accounts see no action at all and a further 250,000 record less than 10 transactions a month.
OPEN THE FLOOD DEBATES
Insurers are meeting with Government ministers to look at how best to deal with the massive cost of claims arising from the recent floods. Gordon Brown recently announced a £14m aid package for the affected areas, which seems like a drop in the ocean to me, especially since the insurance bill has been estimated at £1.5bn. The other big debate centres on those people who had no insurance cover. It’s hard not to be moved by their plight, but should they receive anything at all from anyone for neglecting to get home and contents cover? There are hawks and doves here: the hard-hearted say it’s just tough luck if people weren’t covered and they should absorb the cost themselves, while others maintain that everyone should get compensation, regardless of whether or not they were insured. Where do you stand?
YOU CAN’T HIDE YOUR LYING DRIVES
A survey conducted by uSwitch.com has found that 10% of drivers lie to save money on car insurance premium costs. The most common porkies were told about age, address and where the car is parked at night. This is absolutely astonishing to me, completely out of the blue - truly eye-opening indeed. I would have thought it’d have been at least 50%
I’D WELCOME ANY RESPONSES TO THE ARTICLE ON INTEREST RATES AND THE RIDICULOUS LEVELS OF DEBT PEOPLE HAVE RUN UP. IF YOU ARE IN THIS BOAT, DO YOU BLAME YOURSELF OR THE CREDIT COMPANIES? CONFIDENTIALITY WILL BE RESPECTED IF YOU WANT TO SEND US YOUR STORY.
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