Tag: Direct Debits
Always take the time to make an online life insurance comparison
by The WebClinic on Jan.27, 2012, under Life Assurance
Like most people I find balancing the household finances at the end of the month a struggle. With three children all under eight and me not in full time work we need to watch every penny and I have become adept at making the money last and would be described by the popular press as a “Thrifty Mum”. I am probably not alone when I’m not only able to list all of my direct debits but also able to say the amounts I pay each week for each of them and the day they come out of our bank account. The control this gives me allows me to avoid worrying too much as I couldn’t cope with the thought of not being able to do so and the crisis I would be in would threaten everything I and my husband have worked together for. I have become very canny at looking out for offers and religiously cut vouchers out of the newspaper and keep an eye out for when the deals are on at the local Tesco supermarket.
One of the most helpful ways of saving money I’ve come across in recent years is to use the comparison websites to make sure that you aren’t paying a penny more than you have to on your household bills. I will regularly log on and do a life insurance comparison or a check to see if our buildings and contents insurance can be bought cheaper than we have it already. Changing electricity and gas suppliers is always worth considering as they tend to put up prices for people who don’t switch providers like the banks and building societies do for those who don’t move their money to the best savings accounts. I believe that we can save about one month’s salary a year by switching or threatening to switch suppliers. Sometime purely mentioning the fact that you are about to change provider to your existing provider will mean that they will drop their price by a huge margin. Its well worth trying, the alternative is too awful to contemplate.
Personal Finance. Credit Agencies Refused Access To Information About Student
by admin on Jun.15, 2010, under Loans and Credit
Personal Finance. Credit Agencies Refused Access To Information About Student Loans
These days, when you apply for a mortgage, loan or other form of credit, the lending industry will automatically scrutinise your personal credit history. In practice, you hardly need to tell them anything as within a fraction of a second, the lenders computers will lock into your credit file held by any one of the big three credit agencies; Experian, Callcredit or Equifax And you’ll be amazed what they know about your finances!
For many years now banks, building societies and other lenders have been providing information about your finances to the credit agencies. They know about every credit applications you’ve made, the occasions you’ve been late or missed paying a loan, mortgage or credit card, the balances on your loans and credit cards and whether you just pay off the minimum each month – even your credit limits! The agencies also accumulated lots of other information about you provided by public records, the voters’ roll and the public register of court actions where all county court judgements are recorded. Their computers then statistically analyse all this information and assess your application. So in this context, the credit industry argues that the more information they have about you, the more accurately lenders can make lending decisions.
Yet within this mass of information, there is one notable omission. Despite representations to the government, information about student loans and their repayment history’s, is not provided to the credit agencies. The data is refused because student loans are a debt to the taxpayer, not a commercial business.
Prior to September 1998, graduates repaid their student loans by mortgage style direct debits collected once the graduate started earning over 15,000. But more than 59,000 of graduates from before 1998 graduates are understood to be in payment arrears to the tune, on average, of around 2,750 per graduate.
After September 1998, the system of collecting student loans changed. These days, repayments are deducted directly from salaries by employers along with national insurance and income tax. This method is far more efficient and avoids the possibility of bad debts.
The credit industry argues that it needs the information on student loans as they can represent a significant strain on the graduates’ finances especially following the introduction of top-up fees which results in the average student loans being much larger. These loans are repaid at the rate of 9% of the graduates’ income in excess of 15,000 and can represent a significant drain on their monthly income.
Therefore, to fully assess graduates’ financial situation the credit industry argues that it needs student loan information. The Association Consumer Credit Counselling Service agrees. A spokes person said, Knowing whether a young person has a student loan and whether it is being paid back, is useful.
Yet despite the pressure to share its information, the Department for Education and Skills remains steadfast in its decision to refuse permission to the Student Loan Company to provide information to the commercial sector.
Even the Citizens Advice Bureau wants this decision changed arguing that lenders need information on student loans to help ensure that graduates avoid taking on so much debt that they can’t maintain their repayments.
But for now at least, the situation remains. The credit industry cannot obtain any history about student loans.
