Insights

All Topics
All Months
Reading Time | 2 mins 21 Jan 2016

Wage growth slowed in late 2015

Reading Time • 2 minsWage growth has slowed down while unemployment has fallen to 5.1%, the lowest on record. According to the Office for National Statistics, the number of people out of work fell by 99,000 to 1.68 million from September to November 2015. Average weekly ea...
Read full article
Reading Time | < 1 min 20 Jan 2016

Cap in place for early pension exit charges

Reading Time • < 1 min

Chancellor George Osborne has announced an end to “prohibitive” charges faced by those accessing their pension pots.

The Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) will have a duty to cap early exit charges deemed as excessive for those eligible to access their pension pots.

The change comes in response to the Pension Transfers and Exit Charges consultation where it was found that nearly 700,000 (16%) customers in contract-based schemes, who are able to access their pension, had the possibility of facing early exit charges. 

FCA data showed that a significant minority of these people faced charges high enough to “effectively put them off accessing their pension freedoms.”

The FCA will be responsible for setting the level of the cap and will provide full consultation in the coming months.

Since the pension freedoms came into effect, 400,000 pension pots have been accessed with many providers offering customers a range of options to benefit their savings.

Chancellor George Osborne, said:

“We’ve listened to the concerns and the newspaper campaigns that have been run and today we’re announcing that we will change the law to place a duty on the Financial Conduct Authority to cap excessive early exit charges for pension savers.

“We’re determined that people who’ve done the right thing and saved responsibly are able to access their pensions fairly.”

Talk to us today to find out about your pension options.

Read full article
Reading Time | 2 mins 20 Jan 2016

Employment boost for Leeds

Reading Time • 2 minsLeeds based BW Legal has announced its plans to grow its team by 50 people.
Read full article
Reading Time | 2 mins 20 Jan 2016

Business advisors prove their value

Reading Time • 2 minsYorkshire’s largest independent firm of Chartered Accountants has been awarded the highest rating possible at its first time of entering the prestigious ‘Investor in Customers/Clients’ (IIC) accreditation.
Read full article
Reading Time | < 1 min 20 Jan 2016

Early pension exit charges to be capped

Reading Time • < 1 minChancellor George Osborne has announced an end to “prohibitive” charges faced by those accessing their pension pots.
Read full article
Reading Time | < 1 min 19 Jan 2016

New measures introduced to reduce insurance fraud

Reading Time • < 1 min

New measures recommended by the Insurance Fraud Taskforce (IFT) are to be introduced to challenge insurance fraud and lower costs for customers.

The IFT was set up in January 2015 to assess the scope of insurance fraud and recommend steps to tackle the problem. 

The main issues it highlighted were that insurance fraud is not always recognised as a criminal act, a level of popular distrust of the insurance industry and a wide-ranging lack of understanding as to how insurance works.

The new measures will help tackle fraudulent activity ranging from organised crime to opportunistic fraud. The recommendations include:

  • improving customer trust in the insurance sector and identifying all instances of insurance fraud as a criminal activity
  • encouraging data sharing and collaboration between the insurance sector and regulatory bodies
  • clamp down on unnecessary whiplash claims, which are a major source of fraud.

Neither the IFT nor the government has commented on when the recommendations are likely to be legislated.

Harriet Baldwin, economic secretary to the Treasury welcomed the news to tackle insurance fraud:

“These recommendations will galvanise our collective efforts to tackle insurance fraud, and will ultimately reduce costs for consumers.”

James Dalton, director of general insurance policy at the Association of British Insurers, added:

"The industry will do whatever it takes to protect honest customers from the dishonest minority, including ensuring that customers understand exactly what they are covered for, so that they can get the most from their insurance legitimately.”

Talk to us today to find out more information on insurance fraud.

Read full article
Reading Time | < 1 min 19 Jan 2016

New measures to reduce insurance fraud

Reading Time • < 1 minNew measures recommended by the Insurance Fraud Taskforce (IFT) are to be introduced to challenge insurance fraud and lower costs for customers.
Read full article
Reading Time | < 1 min 18 Jan 2016

Blue Monday could cost 93 billion

Reading Time • < 1 min

Monday 18 January, or ‘Blue Monday’, has been dubbed the most depressing day of the year and could cost the economy £93 billion, according to employment law experts ELAS.

Research by the University of Exeter shows that someone searches the term for ‘depression' every 2 seconds, making way for a swathe of unauthorised absences or sickness. Unauthorised staff absences tend to increase around this time of year as employees get back into their normal working routine after busy and expensive festive periods.

Businesses have been warned that this could affect workplace productivity. Stress and other mental health conditions are thought to lead to around 70 million lost working days each year in the UK.

ELAS have listed 3 tips for businesses to promote a healthy work life balance and ensure that their workforce is as free and productive as possible:

  • promote good health – identify those with issues and provide support to manage health problems effectively through recognition and management
  • flexible working options – offering flexible working schedules can reduce levels of sickness and absences
  • managing absenteeism – managing absences effectively will help to stem the impact of absenteeism.

Peter Mooney, head of consultancy at ELAS, said:

“It’s important that employers fully understand the effects that stress can have on both the individual and the productivity of a business.

“Blue Monday, and indeed January as a whole, is a period during which many unauthorised absences, or sickies, occur and employers should be aware of the pressures staff may be under and be proactive rather than reactive in their approach to the ‘Monday Blues’.”

Contact us today to find out how you can improve your workplace productivity.

Read full article
Reading Time | < 1 min 15 Jan 2016

Buy-to-let continues to rise

Reading Time • < 1 min

Buy-to-let lending decreased towards the end of last year, but overall was substantially higher than the previous year, according to the Council of Mortgage Lenders (CML).

Buy-to-let loans went from 24,700 in October 2015 to 23,300 in November 2015, down by 6% but were substantially higher compared to November 2014.

Total house purchase lending totalled £10.7bn in November, down by 9% in October but up 18% on last year.

First-time buyers borrowed £4.2bn for home-owner house purchases, down by 9% in October. This totalled 27,900 loans, down by 8% but 10% higher compared to last year.

The CML figures also show:

  • home movers took out 32,300 loans, down 10% but up 9% compared to November 2014
  • home-owner remortgage activity was down 9% compared to October
  • compared to November 2014, remortgage lending was up 24%.

These figures come ahead of the new stamp duty surcharge of 3% that comes into effect from April 2016.

Paul Smee, director general of CML, commented:

“As expected, mortgage lending activity eased back as the normal dip in the winter months began. There was still growth across all lending types in November compared to the year earlier suggesting continued improvement. 

“Our forecasts anticipate that gross lending will continue a slow but steady upward trajectory over the next two years.”

Talk to us today for more information on buy-to-let lending.

Read full article
1 … 95 96 97 98 99 … 340