http://data.parliament.uk/DepositedPapers/Files/DEP2012-1830/ScheduleofproposedbenefitratesfromApril2013.pdf

As the rest of the world curbs legal loan sharks, why not us? This map should shame the *politicians and regulators who have left hard-up British families easy prey for the world's legal loan sharks. It shows how we are fast becoming one of the last remaining countries where payday and doorstep lenders are free to charge the equivalent of 4,000% or more annual interest on their loans. More than half of the countries in the European Union have placed caps on how much lenders can charge, including France, Germany, and Spain, according to the Centre for Responsible Credit. Two-thirds of individual states in the USA have done the same, like Florida, where lenders can charge no more than 10% of the amount lent plus a $5 fee. The latest country to crack down on payday parasites is Australia, where lenders are limited to charging 20% of a loan under £1,300 upfront and 4% a month after that. Yet here in the UK, our payday lenders peddle loans costing 4,000% annual interest. They dispute these "annual percentage rate" figures, saying the actual costs are more like 300% to 400% - as if that was fine. http://blogs.mirror.co.uk/investigations/2012/11/as-the-rest-of-the-world-curbs.html?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+mirror%2Finvestigations+%28Mirror+-+Investigations%29

Hi Thanks for offering assistance in this matter. In the early 1990s I took out a Lloyds loan for £10,000 & was told that I would not be able to have the loan without PPI even though I had a secure job & was in good health, I was 22 at the time. Please note that I dont have any of the agreements in question & that the loan was sold on face to face tearms with my bank manager at the time. The loan in question ran from 1993 to 1998. I recently contacted Lloyds & expressed that PPI was not optional, I was told that PPI was a condition of the loan & was not asked if I had any other insurance or employment benefits. After waiting 6 weeks they replied with a letter of refusal to pay out on the PPI. This is what the letter stated! After considering the evidence & documentation available to me, I have not found sufficient evidence to agree with your alligations that your PPI policies were mis-sold. As such I am unable to uphold your complaint. Having completed all of these steps, I went to look at your complaint as a whole to ensure that we acted fairly towards you in relation to the sale of your PPI policies, given appropriate weight & balance consideration to all available evidence. I am sorry that you felt the need to complain about your PPI policies & appreciate that my decision may be dissapointing to you. However, I can assure you that I have fully investigated your complaint & all the surrounding circumstances. Your complaint Durind a telephone call on August 29th 2012 you said: 1) It was not made clear that PPI was optional 2) You were told that PPI was a condition of the loan 3)You were not asked if you had existing insurance or employer benefits. Findings In order to address the concerns you have raised , I have reviewed all the available sale related evidence, I have established that you applied for your loan PPI policies. To further assist my investigation I have also taken the following in to consideration. Your telephone complaint Our knowledge of our sales process & documentation at the time. It should be noted that prior to 2005 the sale of PPI was not regulated by the FSA. However, we were members of the of Association of British Insurers (ABI), which expected its members to conduct business with upmost good faith & integrity. All your complaint points have been fully considered . For clarity, I have addressed your allegations under the following headings. Optionality - Were you made aware that the policy was optional? Information & Disclosure - Did we give you enough information & help so you canmake an informed decision? Were our services & status explained correctly? Optionality - Relating to complaint points 1 & 2 I can confirm that ithas never been a requirement to take out a PPI policy in order for a loan application to be accepted. In addition, taking out a PPI policy would not have improved the chance of your application being accepted. I am also aware that the sales process at the time clearly demonstrated to you that your PPi was optional & I have concluded that the adviser did not mislead you in any way. I have therefore come to the conclusion that you were made aware of the optional nature of your PPI policies. Information & Disclosure I can varify that the adviser had no alternative policies to consider or offer to you. I am also aware that only where it was practical to do so we would have taken steps to identify your needs. However, we would have put you in a position where you could make an informed choice about the transaction that you were entering into & the insurance that you were buying. When considering the information available I can conclude that the documentation that we provided to customers at the time contained sufficient information to ensure you could make an informed decision as to wheather the policies met your personal requirements. It cannot therefore be concluded that the information & disclosure was inappropriate in the circumstances. Conclusion In light of my findings, I feel that our advisor acted fairly & reasonably throughout the sale. I believe the information provided at the time was a fair presentation of the feature of the policies & explained the policies' exclusions & the total cost of the insurance. I am also of the opinion that it was clear, fair & not misleading & therefore allowing you to make a fully informed choice. My review has not highlighted any failings with the sale that would lead me to believe your decision tp purchase the PPI policies would have changed. So I have 28 days to provide further supporting evidence, I have contactrd the FOS & they are taking on the case, however, due to backlogs it may take a year. I appreciate any help & advice on this matter

My friend started a business at the start of the year which I was helping him set up. He took out a 3 month license on an industrial unit which ended at the end of February and wasnt renewed as the business never really got off of the ground. I was acting as his advisor at the time due to having a bit of business knowledge and helped him through the process of finding a unit and also dealing with attaining the license for it. Fast forward to last week and I receive 2 Bailiff Removal / Magistrates Liability Order / Warrant Of Execution orders for Non Domestic Rates addressed to both myself and my friend T/A (his company name) totalling around £1700 and informing me that a bailiff had attended to remove goods from my property, the letters both referencing the local council authority which the unit was licensed. Being bemused but with an incling to it being something to do with the business I ring the council to ask what was going on and it turns out they had contacted the estate agent who was in charge of the license and had been (falsely) informed by them that myself and my friend had taken out a 6 month lease on the property dated from December 2011 to May 2012 and we were being chased for fees for this period. I quickly informed then that 1. It wasnt my company so why was my name even on the account in the first place? and 2. That the unit had only been taken for 3 months so why was the account being billed for 6 months? Being rather snotty she said that they'd been sending correspondance to the unit and other contact addresses and had no reply from us (obviously due to the unit having to be vacated) so proceeded with court action for the 2 outstanding bills but may be able to wipe them if we could provide them with a form which would entitle us to small business rate relief. She then emailed this through which I got my friend to fill out and took this to the council along with the license agreement which clearly states the agreement was with him and not me and only for a period of 3 months. The woman in the council office took all of this into the back office and then came back and said the original debt could be wiped but we would still have to pay around £120 in court fees and £283 to their bailiff. and that because they weren't informed in the first place that the business was my friend's and not mine also (this information they were falsely given by The Estate Agent) and that it had already been through court and that they wouldn't be able to take my name from the bill. I have 2 issues here: 1. That i've somenow become become liable for £400 for a business that wasn't mine due to the estate agent giving false information. 2. That both of these liablity orders were issued for periods the unit wasn't even occupied, one from the period 1 Dec 2011 - 1 Apr 2012 (the license was only up until the end of February) and another one from 1 - 14 Apr. Meaning the second one wasnt even valid in the first place but still has racked up fees of £60 court + half of the £283.50 for the baliff. I've spoken to my friend who's agreed to write a letter to the council and the baliff expressing that the business was his and not mine. Also stating that this been proven by them being provided a copy of the license agreement which was in his name and for them to stop contacting me and to take my name off of the bill. Will they accept this or ignore it and keep harassing me? From my estimations, the second bill was never valid in the first place and ontop of this, the bailiff has overcharged on everything so the charges should only be £50 tops for the baliff's lawful fees and £60 for the court fees for the first bill? Does anyone know how I should proceed from here?

Hi everyone. Not sure I am in the right place, forgive me if not ....Anyway, I have had a visit from a bailiff to my home address for unpaid business rates...I havn't been self employed since Feb 2010, after closing my business due to slow trade. I have no buisness stock (as everything went within a few weeks on ebay etc, for a very, very, low price. This was sold in desperation, as I had to be out of the property, and had no where to store this), but the bailiff has come to levy on my home goods. I am quite happy to pay what I owe, but can the bailiff levy on goods in my home address? Jayne

Good morning, just a quick question (hopefully), my husband is currently on IB at £121 per week. I am receiving ESA assessment money. Not had the form to fill in yet even though have been on Cont Esa for 10 months. By all accounts I should be put into the support group but have not got my hopes up lol. My question is when hubby goes over to Esa what monies should we receive as a couple.? Thanks in advance for any info.

If I have taken a loan out on APR 12:4% Variable rate,which at the time of taking out the loan in 2005 was 7:0% over HSBC's base rate,should my repayments not have reduced as the interest rates have reduced over the last 7 years?

This briefing summarises the consultation paper by section, and provides some initial analysis and comment. The LGA will make its further analysis available to member authorities to assist with the preparation of consultation responses. These are due with DCLG by 24 September 2012. http://www.local.gov.uk/web/guest/briefings-and-responses/-/journal_content/56/10171/3651530/ARTICLE-TEMPLATE

Hi - I have been checking the info that GMAC gave me for an interest only mortgage, on reading through their tariff booklet and Mortgage Guide 2000, for Interest Rates it says the following: "The interest rate charged will be based on "LIBOR" plus an additional amount (a "margin") e.g.3% over the Libor rate. This means that if LIBOR were at 7%, the interest rate would be 10%. The margin applied will depend on the type of scheme you are taking and your personal and financial circumstances and this will be set out in your Mortgage Offer." OK - I notice that little bit about your circumstances, which sounds like "we will hit you with an enhanced rate if you have any adverse credit" - lol, then says: "To help you understand how a change in the interest rate might affect your monthly payments, a typical example is given below assuming a 3 month LIBOR rate of 7.56% on a mortgage loan attracting interest of 3%, giving a total charging rate of 10.56%. EXAMPLE: Based on a residential, interest only mortgage loan of £50,295 (Initial mortgage loan of £50,000 with a £295 arrangement fee added on a property valued at £75,000 repayable at the end of a 25 year term. Included in the calculation of the total amount payable and APR are: Arrangement fee £295, T.T. fee£30, Non block Insurance fee of £40.00, Valuation fee £220, Legal fees £350, Redemption Admin fee £155 payable at the end of the 25 year mortgage loan term. 300 gross monthly payments of £442.60. Total amount payable £183,905.00. The APR is 11.3% assuming that the 3 month LIBOR remains at 7.56% throughout the 25 year term. For each 1% change in the charging rate, the gross monthly payment would change by £41.91p." Hope this is helpful.

Hi all, As the country, europe, world blunders further into the abyss (optimist obviously); I wonder what the BoE can do to help. An interest rate cuts seems likely at some point ; but lots of lenders 'dis-connect' themselves from this to maximise their profits. My question though is: Is it technically possible for the BoE to set a base rate below 0%? i.e. could they have a base rate of -1% for example; in order to help mortgage holders meet their obligation. I assume this is a real dumb question; as I don't believe less than 0 has ever existed before!!! Cheers

Hello all I am currently on jsa and thinking about going self employed, My idea is to sell things on ebay. For instance phone covers and this and that see gangs of other's doing it so thought i would give it a shot. I live in a 1 bed house alone, I plan to use my desktop in my bedroom as my base of command! So to speak, Stock will be limited to a few box's as i plan to get involved with drop ship rather than carry a lot of stock, My question for you guys is will i be liable to pay Buisness rates for my bedroom? This will be my full time ocupation sharing my bedroom with a desk and pc to opperate from the rest of the home will not be associated with the online buissness. HELP As if i am liable for buissness rates its going to be a non start as it will wipe out any profits i hope to make, As i will be building this up from the ground, slowly slowly catchy monkey!

In July 2008 when the bank rate was 5% my mortgage provider made a strong effort to persuade me to change my mortgage from a tracker to a fixed rate. this I did and fixed it at 6.29% for 5 years. 212 days later the bank rate was 0.5% With the latest practices which have come to light I wonder if the banks, with all their expertise, suspected that rates were going to fall dramatically. Should they then have informed me of their rate expectations. Obviously those employees doing the selling were acting under instruction. I wonder if there are some 'buried' emails somewhere setting out those instructions and the reasons why.

I overpaid my business rates by about £400 in January & needed to travel abroad for a few months. In January I was told that I should apply for a rebate upon my return and a cheque would be issued to me. I returned in May & applied for a rebate. 2 weeks later I get an email from the council saying they can't give me a rebate, because a cheque had been issued and cashed already. I was out of the country & at no point received a cheque. I'm not sure what to do. The council say they can't be of any more help and are considering the matter closed. Surely if a cheque has been fraudulently cashed, that's between them and their bank. I'm not sure where I stand with this. Can anyone offer some advice?

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