MONEY MORSELS
Fee cap
PENSION firm Old Mutual is to cap charges for customers under 55 who cash in pensions early. The charge is now capped at 5 pc, and Old Mutual will refund all charges over 5 pc levied since January 1, 2009.
Motor probe
CAR finance firms will be visited by mystery shoppers to check if they give enough information about the risks involved. The Financial Conduct Authority raised concerns after the number of car finance deals last year jumped to 2.3 million from 1.2 million in 2008. It is looking at whether customers are being signed up to poor-value deals.
Energy price hike
SIX energy firms have hiked their standard variable gas and electricity tariffs by an average of £55 a year in the past four months. If you are with Good Energy, Ebico, Bulb, iSupply, ENGIE or E.ON, you should shop around for a cheaper deal, warns comparison site uSwitch.
Cheap home loans
MORTGAGES are at their most affordable in a decade, reveals Halifax research. Mortgage payments accounted for less than a third of homeowners’ disposable income at the end of 2017, compared to almost half in 2007. In Northern Ireland and Scotland, home loans took up just a fifth of household income; in Greater London they made up nearly half.
Junior Isa deals
NS&I has boosted the rate on its Junior Isa by 0.25 pc to 2.5 pc, giving an annual payout of £103 to parents who put away this year’s maximum of £4,128. If you saved the same amount with Coventry BS, which pays 3.5 pc, you would get nearly £145. With Nationwide, which pays 3.25 pc, you would get £134.
Fraud alert
ONE in five people over 60 has been contacted by a con artist about their pension or savings in the past three months. Thousands received texts, emails or calls from rogue firms. Many offer to put savings into overseas funds or other risky schemes, according to a report by Retirement Advantage.
No complaints
CUSTOMERS had 173 million issues with products and services last year, but only reported a third to the firms responsible. Ombudsman Services found that people didn’t pursue problems as they believed they could only get a result by kicking up a big fuss.
Pension offence
RECKLESS bosses who raid their workers’ pensions face jail or huge fines under new rules. It follows scandals at firms such as BHS and Carillion. Under the crackdown, company bosses who are found to be ‘grossly reckless’ with a pension scheme or who purposely imperil it will be guilty of a criminal offence.