MONEY MORSELS

Mega mortgage

COVENTRY Building Society is offering a top ten-year fixed rate mortgage at 2.49 pc. It has a £999 fee and borrowers need at least a 35 pc deposit. On a £150,000 loan, the monthly payments are £672.

M&S ranks last

MARKS & SPENCER and its parent bank HSBC have come bottom in a customer satisfaction survey. The British Bank Awards, run by Smart Money People, quizzed 6,500 customers. First Direct, also owned by HSBC, came top for service and value.

Pension shortfall

WOMEN receive £47,000 less than men in pension contributions from their employer during their working lives, a study shows. This is due to lower pay, career breaks for family reasons, and because men often work for larger businesses, the report by insurer Zurich found.

Fraud alert

MORE than one in ten callers to the Financial Conduct Authority report a financial scam and ask for the next steps. The City watchdog has issued more than 150 alerts about unauthorised firms on its website in the past six months.

Offer flies away

EASYJET has axed its ‘price promise’ that allowed passengers whose flights got cheaper after they booked to claim back the difference in credit vouchers. You can still claim if you booked before February 21, or if you are a loyalty club member.

Remortgage rush

HOMEOWNERS are rushing to remortgage over fears that interest rates on home loans are rising. Banks and building societies handed out £18.9billion in mortgages in January, the highest figure for that month for nine years.

Savings struggle

ONE in six parents aged over 40 believe they will need financial help from their children. A study by wealth management firm MetLife found that one in three say they are behind on their retirements savings.

Insolvency fears

A FURTHER 18,000 people will be unable to pay their debts if interest rates increase by just 1pc, official forecasts say. Around 257,800 people are expected to become insolvent by April 2020 if interest rates stay the same. But this could rise to 275,900 if rates rise to 1.25 pc, says The Insolvency Service.

Stamp duty high

THREE-QUARTERS of first-time buyers paid stamp duty when they bought a house last year — up from 53 pc a decade ago, according to Yorkshire BS.

The £125,000 threshold where you begin paying tax is unchanged since 2006, despite house prices rising 35 pc.