POUND NOTES
HOUSEHOLD SPENDING COOLED BY BAD WEATHER IN MARCH
THE Beast from the East kept shoppers away from stores in March as people huddled in the warmth of their homes amid the big freeze.
A report from the British Retail Consortium (BRC) and KPMG, covering the final days of February to the end of March, said the period was volatile as the run-up to Easter helped to offset the impact of the “seemingly endless” cold weather on sales.
Meanwhile, Barclaycard said spending at garden centres plunged by 26.4% annually – the biggest fall since Barclaycard’s records on this started in September 2014.
HOLIDAYMAKERS LEAVE GETTING INSURANCE UNTIL THE LAST MINUTE
RESEARCH from GoCompare shows the vast majority of holidaymakers only arrange travel insurance just before they go. More than half (58%) of holidaymakers who bought through GoCompare in 2017 did so within a week of departure.
In general, cancellation cover would enable a holidaymaker to reclaim the costs of their holiday, up to the cover limit and minus any excess, should certain circumstances arise before taking the trip.
GoCompare’s consumer advocate, Georgie Frost says: “It’s shocking so many people treat travel insurance as an afterthought, with many sorting it on the actual day their holiday begins, meaning they have no protection from the valuable cancellation cover provided by most single trip policies.”
BANK INITIATIVE HELPS PEOPLE BUILD CREDIT HISTORY
TSB is partnering with start-up LOQBOX to give people options to build their credit history that don’t rely on spending and paying off debt, but on savings instead.
Customers select a monthly amount to save over a year – between £20 to £500. They then buy a digital savings voucher worth 12 times the monthly savings commitment and use 12-month interest-free finance to buy it.
At the end of the 12 months, not only has the customer built up their credit history, but they get their lump sum of savings returned to them, TSB said.