1. Rate cut will see the '8p-a-month mortgage'
2. Savers can get better rates at auction site
3. Rates 'headed for zero' as Bank cuts to 1%
4. Interest rates cut to 1% as economy fails
5. Is this the death of the high rate cash Isa
6. Revealed: the worst banks in the UK
7. Bank running out of interest rate options
8. House prices in shock 1.9% January jump
9. Car makers raise prices 5% after bailout
10. Aviva gets cold feet over £1,000 windfalls
Every penny counts. And now the recession is official our readers are keen to recoup money in any way – especially if it’s from the Government.
The most read story, by a very long way, was a deadline warning for thousands of parents to claim Children's Tax Credit Relief. It could pay as much as £1,049, but disappears for good in less than a week (January 31).
Pensioners should push for their own rebate with a 'con' on pension credits. The State assumes pensioners receive 10 per cent interest on savings when means-tested credits are calculated. With the base rate at 1.5 per cent, savers earn nothing like that. A pensioner with £16,000 tucked away could be losing £850 a year from this error. Pension credits have long been unpopular with our readers. Danny from Essex wrote: ‘Gordon Brown can dole out hundreds of millions to his banker buddies to protect their jobs…but he is too mean to increase the state pension to a living level!’ Have your say at thisismoney.co.uk/pension-credits.
Following last week’s bank bailout II and the descent of RBS to penny status, we also explored the impact of a multiple banking failure on public finances and the UK’s £50,000 savings compensation guarantee. Despite assurances that bankrupt Britain remains an unlikely scenario, readers have learned to expect the unexpected in this crisis: our poll showed only 16 per cent still have total faith in the UK savings guarantee.
- Andrew Oxlade, Editor, This is Money
Most read stories of the past week...
1. Childrens Tax Credit Relief: How to claim
2. Pensions credit 'con' punishes 550,000
3. Banks shares crash on RBS £28bn loss
4. Financial crisis: The impact on UK banks
5. 'Sterling finished' claim after 6 cent slump
6. New £200bn bailout for UK banks
7. Peter Oborne: We're a nation on the brink of going bankrupt
8. How to escape the big savings trap...
9. Lloyds down 31% amid taxpayer stake threat
10. UK officially enters recession as GDP falls 1.5%
Most read stories published in the past week
1. Find the best savings as rates tumble
2. HSBC delivers 2.99% mortgage deal
3. Bank funding fears send shares plunging
4. Parents must act now to save £1,000 in tax
5. Stay warm without relying on the heating
6. Equitable Life victims win payout victory
7. 'Soaring gas bills' if Russia keeps tap off
8. Mortgage lenders tell borrowers to overpay
9. Estate agents' sales drop to record lows
10. Will the gold rush continue in 2009?
UK banks are running low on cash and may get more taxpayer funds, despite growing opposition. Our new poll shows nearly 68% of our readers against further bailouts.
Bankers are not alone in receiving State help. Shoppers had a VAT cut and struggling homebuyers may get mortgage holidays. Even consumer finance companies, which flourished in the boom, may get money in return for making car loans cheaper.
But all this recession-busting is costly and readers, who initially welcomed Gordon Brown's frenetic activity, are worried. Today’s 68% reader opposition compares to just 49% after the first bailout in October. Danny F of Essex wrote: ' The Government in panic is pouring public money into all banks which ask for it without properly determining the true solvency position of each candidate.'
The fear is that billions have already been spent and credit remains restricted. Fresh attempts may be as fruitless and lead to even larger future taxes.
And with many middle-ranking City workers still preciously guarding six-figure salaries, Middle England workers have no appetite to gamble their future income on more bank bailouts.
- Andrew Oxlade, Editor, This is Money
So what will happen in 2009? In the last Web Week of 2008 we promised predictions on thisismoney.co.uk.
Mortgage lenders, keen to call the market in the boom years, mostly decline now. Nationwide says the market is too volatile to call, or maybe it fears a realistic forecast will add to the gloom.
Neil Woodford, a star manager at Invesco Perpetual, is more candid. He presciently warned of a 10 per cent house price fall for 2008. This year he expects 20 per cent. But he also warned, prematurely, of a 30 to 40 per cent fall starting in 2004.
Elsewhere, our reports predicted a sterling recovery, which is nascently underway, and a half-point cut in the bank rate, delivered on Thursday.
We will also revisit this week a theory we have highlighted for seven years - that a long Japanese-style deflationary spiral, sparked by the economic impact of Britain's retiring baby boomers, will begin around 2008.
But as this column has warned before, all predictions are a best guess, and previous success does not guarantee correct future calls. But with a healthy pinch of salt, they help spice up financial websites.
Our reader polls at thismoney.co.uk/vote are a good starting point. They predict oil prices to climb to
$60 a barrel, the FTSE 100 to end 2009 between 4500 and 4750, for sterling to recover to €1.40 and, most optimistically, that the bank rate will return to three per cent. Pass the salt.
- Andrew Oxlade, Editor, This is Money
>> See the top stories of 2008
Most read articles published in the past week
1. Nationwide: house prices plunge 15.9% in 2008
2. House prices: Will your home sell in 2008?
4. Guru predicts 20% fall for house prices
5. Bank cuts interest rates to record 1.5%
6. Has your mortgage rate been cut?
7. Should you take a risk to boost savings?
8. Sterling
The top 20 of most-read articles summarise a miserable 2008 - banks went bust, house prices plunged, the economy lurched toward recession and we all worried about the safety of our jobs.
In the top slot, Financial Mail Deputy Editor Simon Watkins's Taking Stock column warned on Icelandic banks in March: 'Of course, no one can be sure that disaster looms for anyone, but the figures on credit default swaps show clearly where investment professionals think the big risks are. You have been warned.'
In February, Thisismoney's banking correspondent Alan O'Sullivan presciently asked whether Iceland's Kaupthing Edge could be the next Northern Rock. It collapsed in October. Kaupthing's defence epitomised the smoke and mirrors used to fool savers, shareholders, regulators and even the media: 'Unlike Northern Rock, the bank can rely on the large liquid assets of its corporate banking arm. It also says the method of calculating its debt - which takes into account complex lending instruments - is unfair.'
I take solace that we flagged these dangers but wish I had organized our online warnings more effectively - our best savings rates tables, for example, now highlight which banks have doubts about their strength.
- Andrew Oxlade, Editor, This is Money
Most read news and features in 2008
1. Iceland's banks top riskiness league
2. Could Kaupthing Edge be the next Rock?
3. How to save safely with banks and building societies
4. Your guide to measuring bank strength
5. Official figures for the UK's best paid jobs
6. Fixed-rate bonds offer best rates for years
7. How safe is...Nationwide?
8. How to make your child richer
9. Is buy-to-let on the brink of collapse?
10. Cheapest foreign currency rates
11. How safe is...HBOS?
12. The stock market slump of 2008
13. Eight steps to fix all your finances
14. How safe is...Anglo-Irish Bank?
15. How to get the best travel cash and cards
16. How to buy a bargain home in a slowdown
17. Fifty years of Premium Bonds
18. The Forbes top 100 billionaire rich-list
19. The best (and worst) paid jobs in Britain
20. All your savings questions answered
...And the top five pages overall (including round-ups and tables)
1. Best savings rates - General savings
2. Best savings rates - Fixed-rate accounts
3. How to pick the best Isa
4. Interest rates: News and predictions
5. Best savings rates - Cash Isas
6. Your guide to banks safety and strength
7. How to save safely with UK banks and building societies
8. Ten steps to reclaim unfair bank charges
9. Premium Bonds winning numbers
10. Best savings rates - Cash mini Isas
11. Savings compensation: Bank ownership
12. Currency exchange: Latest tourist rates
13. 50 ways to save money...
14. Bank charge letter templates
15. Look up your new road tax
Most read stories published in the past week
1. How to earn an income from your savings
2. UK banks lose £1bn by Wall St fraudster
3. Call for 0% UK interest rate after Fed cut
4. Building societies deliver savings gift
5. Pound dives further as rate cuts signalled
6. Analysis: HBOS debts spur turmoil
7. Property auctions are place to get bargains
8. Barclays: House prices will drop another 15%
9. Flight from the Costa too mucha
10. Sterling sinks: euro is now worth record 95p
Traditionally, people rightly forget about finance in the run up to Christmas. That yuletide luxury has been gobbled up by the credit crunch. The number of visitors to thisismoney.co.uk continues to rise as the need for information and advice rise in the crisis.
This week, readers were interested in tumbling US interests that spurred calls for zero borrowing costs in Britain, and in an alleged hedge fund fraud in New York that has left UK banks badly exposed. The top story was from Financial Mail's Stephen Womack, answering the burning question for savers.
The top story list (top), however, masks the issue of the week – a proposed bailout for Indian-owned car maker Jaguar. Of 47 comments in 12 hours, nearly all rejected help for a company owned by one of the world’s richest men, Ratan Tata. There were even calls for failed High Street icon Woolies to be ahead in the queue.
Enjoy the top reads and have a very merry Christmas!
Most read stories published in the past week
1. Mortgage rate rip-off: banks stand accused
2. Has your mortgage rate been cut?
3. Savers lose again as Bank slashes rates
4. Stampede as savers hunt for best deals
5. What to do with a mortgage windfall
6. Rics: Glimmer of hope for home sellers
7. 50% off as Woolies and Tesco slash prices
8. 'It's bargain city', says property jackal
9. Anger as home packs made more complex
10. Bank rescue plans are 'worse than worthless'
Banks who have short-changed mortgage customers following recent rate cuts found unlikely support last week... from customers.
Some lenders have been rightly criticised for pocketing extra revenue from the bank rate cut from 4.5 per cent to two per cent since last early month rather than making mortgages cheaper. Many need the money to shore up their own battered finances.
Our most read story this week, 'Mortgage rate rip-off', attracted nearly 70 comments, many in support of banks. Brian from Leicester said: ‘I don’t usually stick up for the banks but in this instance they are entitled to set mortgage rates according to perceived risk. It was their failure to do this in previous years that helped us into this mess.’
James from Cambridge added: ‘They cannot afford to pass on the cuts in interest rates. Does Gordon Brown want the banks to struggle even more?’
Lax lending by banks helped spark a global economic crisis. Yet they win support for not passing on rate cuts designed to ease the problem. There’s a partial explanation: two of the other most popular stories focused on the plight of, yes, you guessed it… falling rates for savers. Vote on this issue.
- Andrew Oxlade, Editor, This is Money
(This blog post also appears as a column in the Mail on Sunday)
The financial crisis eased in November from October's state of red alert when many of Britain's banks were teetering on the edge. 
That meant demand for information fell - but not much. We had nearly 1.4 million readers (unique users) in November, up 55% on a year ago. They looked at nearly 11 million pages. And of those pages, nearly 90% were viewed from readers in the UK. It makes This is Money the UK's most popular specialist financial news website.
The cherry on the cake were further improvements in average time spent on each page, up from 74 seconds to 91 seconds, and the typical time spent on the site, up from 5 mins 49 secs to 6 mins 17 secs.
So, once again. Thanks for visting - and thanks for all the nice comments here.
- Andrew Oxlade, Editor, This is Money
Here are the most read editorial pages on the site (doesn't include stock market data)...
1. Best savings rates - Fixed-rate accounts
2. Interest rates: News and predictions
3. Your guide to bank strength and safety
4. Libor rate latest
5. Has your mortgage rate been cut?
6. Best savings rates - Cash Isas
7. Latest oil price charts and analysis
8. A round-up of the best fixed-rate savings
9. House prices to tumble with lending set for first fall
10. Interest rate rise calculator
11. Buy one £20,000 car, get one free
12. Will UK interest rates fall to 0%?
13. ICICI Bank: A measure of strength and safety
14. Savings compensation: Bank ownership
15. Interest rates slashed: Bank rate cut by 1.5%
16. 50 ways to save money
17. Best savings rates - General savings
18. Easy steps to getting the best Isa
19. Nationwide: How to measure its strength
20. Look up your new road tax
21. Ten steps to reclaim unfair bank charges
22. Fixed-rate bonds offer best rates for years
23. Pre-Budget 2008: Top 10 predictions
24. How safe is...Anglo-Irish Bank?
25. The recession map of England
26. Tracker mortgage rates hit the buffers
27. Fixed-rate savings bonds: new best buys
28. Saving Gateway will beat cash Isa rates
29. Pre-Budget Report: Key points at a glance
30. Houses prices slashed £100k to close sales
31. 0% bank rate would crush savings
32. Bank will drop rates 'as low as necessary'
33. How to protect your savings income
34. Building societies set to take a beating
35. Should I leave my money in Icesave?
36. House price crash calculator
37. ICICI calms doomsayers over stability
38. How safe is...HBOS?
39. Pre-Budget Report 2008: NI sting for £40,000 earners
40. Shares soar as 'guru' calls the bottom
No surprise that it was another volatile week for stock markets and currencies following the dramatic cut in the bank rate the previous week.
The FTSE 100 fell every day, bar Friday, leaving it down 4% over the week. It went from 4403 points to 4235.
The pound fell from e1.22 to e1.16 and from $1.56 to $1.48.
The weakness in the FTSE 100 and sterling were largely due to a bleak quarterly inflation report from the Bank of England on Wednesday.
It was translated as greater prospects of an even weaker economy and for lower interest rates. Some economists now believe rates may fall below 1% in 2009. In early October most had forecast a low of of 3%.
The other big issue was tax cuts, with the debate moving to 'which ones' rather than 'if'. Have your say on it here.
- Andrew Oxlade, Editor, This is Money
Don't miss: Why 1.7 million people read This is Money in October
Top stories published in the past week
1. ICICI calms doomsayers over stability
2. Interest rates could hit 1% as Bank of England predicts inflation to plummet
3. Brown sends strong signal on tax cuts
4. Should I leave my money in Icesave?
5. Rightmove loses 300 estate agents a month
6. Rics: House sales at a 30-year low
7. Midas share tips: Dogs of Footsie crash out
8. Nationwide: Mortgage market to fall by 80%
9. Darling: Economy will bounce back in 2010
10. Icesave: Your questions answered
11. Thick-skinned bankers from a different planet
12. 'I paid next door's water bill for 16 years'
13. Homes can be seized for credit card debt
14. Help! We owe £52,000 on cards and loans
15. Tracker mortgages: are there any left?
16. Property guru Phil Spencer hit by crunch
17. How to protect your savings income
18. Newspaper and magazine share tips
19. Millions without pension expect to retire early
20. Homes can be snatched after two missed payments
21. Warning of charges for cheques and ATMs
22. Should you lend to the Treasury?
23. Elderly to feel a savage cut in income
24. Now it makes sense to buy property
25. 0% balance transfer deals begin to fade
Top pages overall in the last week
Best savings rates tables: General savings
Best savings rates tables: Fixed-rate accounts
Has your mortgage rate been cut?
Your guide to banks safety and strength
Interest rates: News and predictions
Libor rate latest
Best savings rates tables: Cash Isas
A-Z of financial terms: a quick definition
Interest rate rise calculator
How to save safely with UK banks and building societies
The financial services industry has various euphemisms to deploy when it wishes to display its displeasure at some new regulatory constraint thrown its way.
Usually, when a trade body expresses 'surprise' at some proposal that could hit its members' pockets, it can be translated roughly as 'you've got to be kidding'.
When a group 'agrees - up to a point', it actually means 'not on your life'. And a pledge to 'work closely with the authorities on these proposals', is code for 'over our dead bodies, sunshine.'
By this measure, you imagine the sentiments behind the press releases pinged off in response to the Competition Commission's plans for payment protection insurance (PPI) would have been unprintable.
They range from the relatively measured 'FLA highly disappointed with Commission's PPI recommendations,' from the Finance and Leasing Association, through the vaguely hysterical 'PPI ban is devastating for borrowers,' from the Association of British Insurers, to the frothing 'Competition Commission simply wrong on PPI,' from the British Bankers' Association.
So what has got so firmly up their noses?
Today the Competition Commission published it’s provisional proposals for PPI. It is the beginning of the end of its work on PPI that started in February 2007. PPI is the insurance sold alongside loans, credit cards and finance packages to cover repayments if the borrower is unable to work through accident, sickness or some cases of unemployment.
The charge list against PPI is long but includes, in no particular order, that it is overpriced, sold to people that can never claim on it, in many cases cannot be cancelled or refunded, will not cover many of the most common causes for unemployment, may pay out only a fraction of the amount owed and has been forced on to customers with pushy sales tactics, sometimes without their knowledge.
This is Money has argued for change in the PPI market since 2002 and later launched a campaign on the issue. We regard the proposed changes, if enacted, as a significant victory.
As insurance correspondent, I have covered several cases of customers who have suffered huge losses as a result of PPI policies that were mis-sold or could not be cancelled.
We have even produced a guide and template letters for anyone that thinks they may be able to reclaim PPI premiums.
Chief among the 'remedies' the commission proposes is that PPI may no longer be sold at the same time as the credit or loan being taken out.
Sellers will have to wait 14 days before they can re-contact borrowers to see if they want to also buy the insurance, rather than offering it when the customer takes the loan.
A small change you might think, but it will make a huge impact. If carried out, it means that the PPI sellers that have made huge profits out of the product (banks, shops, credit card lenders, car salesmen) will now have to rely on the customer proactively choosing PPI. They will no longer be able to apply sales processes that have often left borrowers feeling they have no choice but to take the insurance.
It also means that customers will be better able to compare prices for PPI across the whole market. Buying the insurance from an independent seller, one that is not also selling the accompanying credit, is much cheaper so the traditional sellers that have enjoyed the run of the market will likely have to lower their prices to compete.
The trade bodies wail that this change will effectively kill the market for PPI at a time when unemployment is rising. PPI may be flawed, they say, but we should not throw the baby out with the bathwater.
Luke warm welcomes have also come from the price comparison websites. These sites have cast themselves in the role of 'consumer champion' and, as such, have acknowledged the benefits consumers could reap from the changes. Yet they, too, have expressed fears that fewer policies will be sold, reducing the commission they make, and that the costs of loans may have to rise if the revenue from PPI is removed from lenders.
Being pragmatic, it is probably fair to say far fewer PPI policies will be sold if these changes come to pass.
But this betrays the fact that borrowers don’t actually see the need for this insurance unless it is being aggressively sold to them. Loans rates may have to rise but at least prices will then be transparent. At present, the financially savvy avoid PPI, benefitting from cheaper rates while the rest subsidise them, partly through unnecessary PPI.
If rising unemployment is making PPI more necessary, consumers will surely appreciate its value and will seek it out for themselves. The Commission’s proposals allow for this.
Or else, they will see that PPI sold on the terms that sellers have been offering is grossly over-priced and brings limited benefits. In which case, the market deserves to die.
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