Credit card companies sign up to new government agreement
It has today been revealed that the government has managed to secure the signature of credit card providers in the UK in an agreement aimed at protecting those with bulging debts. While the agreement as such does not cover the movement of interest rates, compared to base rates, there are a number of provisos to ensure customers are not hit with short sharp rises in payments.
The agreement will force credit card companies to give customers at least 30 days notice before they increase their interest charges which will give customers time to either repay as much of their debt as possible at the old rate or switch to a new provider. There are also restrictions on the movement of interest rates, per individual client, in the first 12 months after signing up to an agreement, as well as restrictions on the number of increases which can be introduced each year.
The agreement will also see the implementation of a vital payoff period during which customers will be given a "reasonable length of time" to pay off debts on an older card which may have been cancelled for some reason. This could prove vital to many in the UK as credit card debt reaches new and worrying highs.
Share this..
Related stories
Do budgets really work?
There are two basic types of people in the world, those who budget and ensure that there money will see them through and those who spend when they want to and hope for the best. In the good times both strategies can work but in the bad times the need to budget has never been more vital. Keeping a close eye on what is coming in and what is going out will let you plan ahead and try to avoid any di...
Read MoreKingfisher forced to issue indicative trading report
The UK retail giant Kingfisher, which owns DIY chain B&Q, was today forced to release a highly unusual indicative trading update to the city. This came about after the head of the company's investor relations division accidentally e-mailed a spreadsheet to a number of city analysts which detailed the forthcoming figures. So what exactly happened?
In a fairly run-of-the-mill investor...
The £200,000 cost of raising a child!
A report by LV= has cast further light on the overall cost of bringing up a child in the UK today. The insurance company has found that the average child will cost upwards of £200,000 to bring up with the vast majority of money being spent on childcare at around £54,000 between the ages of six months and 16 years. There are also other various costs which include nursery fees, education costs,...
Read MoreUnpaid overtime totals £27.4 billion in 2009
In a reflection of how difficult a year 2009 was for the UK economy, it has been revealed that a massive £27.4 billion was worked in unpaid overtime by UK employees. This equates to a record £5,400 per worker in the UK and is the largest figure since these records began. While many people would expect to "do a little extra" to secure their jobs in these difficult economic times the amount of wor...
Read MoreIs Alistair Darling on the way out?
The chancellor Alistair Darling has been fairly quiet of late with Gordon Brown taking centre stage yet again on the domestic and international front. There is speculation that the Chancellor and the Prime Minister have had another serious fallout regarding the UK economy and how to use taxpayers money to fund a recovery. This is not the first time they have disagreed strongly on the future direct...
Read More