THEGAYUK

Tag: Money Matters

All the latest breaking news on Money. Browse THEGAYUK’s complete collection of news, articles and commentary on Money.

  • Male Motorists Hit Hard With Car Insurance Rises

    Premiums for male motorists have risen by almost double that of females compared to this time last year.

    • – Car insurance premium prices up in Q3 2014 vs Q3 2013 – first year on year rise since 2011 peak

    • – MoneySuperMarket urges drivers to compare insurers to find the best deal for them

    Male motorists have been hit the hardest by rising car insurance prices, as year-on-year their premiums have increased by 3.2 percent, almost double the 1.8 percent increase for women, according to the latest analysis from MoneySuperMarket.

    The UK’s number one comparison site analysed 55 million car insurance quotes run on the site between April 2010 and September 2014, and found the average premium for male drivers has increased £14 from £425 in Q3 2013, to £439 on average this year. This compares to a £6 increase for women, with cover now costing £360, up from £354.

    This is despite the ECJ gender neutral ruling coming into force in December 2012. This prevents insurers charging men and women different amounts purely on the basis of their gender.

    Overall, car insurance premiums are up across the board when looking at Q3 premiums for all drivers, over the last three years. Premiums were flying high in Q3 2011, with a peak average price of £512 a year. This fell steadily – dropping to £456 on average in Q3 2012, and bottoming out at a wallet-friendly £394 in Q3 2013. This year has sadly seen the first premium price increase for all drivers, with overall premiums rising to £401 for annual cover at the end of September.

    Kevin Pratt, Car Insurance Expert at MoneySuperMarket said,

    “Premium prices do fluctuate, and while we’ve been in a deflationary market for car cover for the last few years, costs are now creeping back up. What is surprising is that, despite the fact that gender neutral pricing has been in place in the car insurance market for several years, it turns out that men are still paying more. Insurers look at a wide range of factors when calculating premiums, such as postcode, profession, make of vehicle, driving history and points on a licence. Clearly, for whatever reasons, men are registering higher when it comes to insurer risk profiling, and they’re paying more than women as a result.

    “For car insurance, the key message is always to keep an eye on your renewal premium, and always to shop around and seek out the best possible deal for your circumstances. With premium prices currently trending upwards, it is even more important to make sure you aren’t paying over the odds on your renewal.”

  • MONEY: The Real Cost Of Leaving Equipment On Standby

    MONEY: The Real Cost Of Leaving Equipment On Standby

    Wondering why your energy costs keep rising and your bills are mounting, well a new report shows that households in the UK waste £227m a year on leaving appliances, like TVs on Standby.

    (more…)

  • Life Assurance Policies Up 140% For People Living With HIV

    A new report out today shows that those men and women living with HIV are taking out more life assurance as new policies soar by 140%.

    However, the report also highlights that the average amount for which people are insuring themselves has decreased year-on-year to just £114,607.

    In 2013 the amount that people were insuring themselves for £134,667 and £134,130 in 2012, showing a decrease of just over £20,000 a survey showed.

    Chris Morgan, Marketing Manager of Unusual Risks, Mortgage & Insurance Services says,

    ‘It has come as a complete surprise that the average sum Assured of an HIV Life Assurance Policy has decreased over the last year to £114,607. However, at the same time over the last twelve months we have also seen a rapid increase in the number of people taking up HIV Life Assurance products.

    ‘We believe the volume of people taking HIV Life Assurance has increased by around 140% over the last two years, which seems to have had an effect on the average sum-assured being taken by policy holders. We are of course delighted to see that more people with HIV are protecting their homes, mortgages, families and children’.

    In last year’s HIV Life Assurance Survey it was established that 70% of Life Insurance providers now offer cover to people with HIV. However, the terms and premiums they offer vary wildly between different insurance companies. Those looking for HIV Life Assurance are urged to seek specialist advice before applying for insurance.

  • House prices have risen 31 PER CENT in London

    New research from comparison site Gocompare.com has highlighted the disproportionate growth in the London housing market when compared to the rest of the UK since the last general election in May 2010.

    Under the Conservative-led coalition, average house prices in the capital have risen by a staggering £103,323, on average, from £331,711 in 2010, to £435,034 this year. This means purchasing a property in London four years ago is the equivalent of having a second income of £25,830.

    However, the figures show that the story isn’t the same across the entire country, as only five of the nine regions of England and Wales enjoyed any rise whatsoever over the four year period. The house price data also shows that the North/South divide is alive and well, as the North West, North East, Wales and Yorks & Humber regions all experienced a drop in house prices.

    Though London house prices have risen by a staggering 31.15%, excluding the capital the rest of England and Wales only saw a rise of 0.16%, or £217.38, on average. Of the other regions, the South East experienced the most growth with a 7.8% (£16,384) rise in property values, which is still nearly four times lower than the boom enjoyed in London.

    Conversely, the North East suffered the biggest drop in house prices as values fell by 8% from £107,717 in 2010 to £99,001 in 2014, an average slump of £8,716.

    Matt Sanders mortgage spokesperson at Gocompare.com commented, ‘It’s no secret that London is a particularly expensive place to live, however the difference between house price rises in the capital when compared with the rest of England and Wales really does lend weight to the phrase ‘London prices’.

    ‘These figures will do little to comfort Londoners looking to get on the property ladder. However, those in other areas of the country should be reassured that despite talk of rising house prices across the UK, outside of the capital, there hasn’t been a big change in the affordability of property. And even with the recent tightening of mortgage lending rules, with low interest rates and competitive mortgage deals available it’s still very much a buyer’s market.

    ‘With the European elections behind us and British political parties now focusing on next year’s general election, balancing the housing market and preventing a London bubble, must surely be a key issue.’

    For people overwhelmed by mortgages, Gocompare.com has a collection of mortgage guides available on their website, including guides for first time buyers and information regarding the government’s Help to Buy scheme.

  • Student Loans Company Slammed After Data Breaches

    The Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO) has criticised the Student Loans Company Limited after a series of data breaches involving customers’ records.

    The business reported several incidents where information held about customers, including medical details and a psychological assessment, had been sent to the wrong people.

    An ICO investigation found that not enough checks were carried out when documents were being scanned to add to customer accounts, and more sensitive documents actually received fewer checks.

    ICO Head of Enforcement, Stephen Eckersley, said:

    ‘For the majority of students, the Student Loans Company represents a crucial service that they rely on to fund their studies. Students are obliged to provide personal information to the loans company, both while they receive the loan and in the years when they are paying it back, and they are right to expect that information to be properly looked after.

    ‘Our investigation showed that wasn’t happening. We’ve spoken with the company and made clear that changes need to be made, and a formal undertaking is now in place.’

    The Student Loans Company Ltd has signed an undertaking committing the organisation to ensure proper checks are carried out before correspondence is sent out, as well making staff better aware of its data protection policy.

    The SLC was established in 1989 and is owned by It is owned by the UK Government’s Department for Business, Innovation and Skills (85%), the Scottish Government (5%), the Welsh Government (5%) and the Northern Ireland Executive (5%).

    SLC spokesperson said:

    ‘These data breaches took place in 2012 and we apologise to the three customers whose medical details were disclosed to the wrong recipients.

    ‘Our investigations found that these data breaches were caused by human error when we were manually assessing the eligibility of students applying for Disabled Students’ Allowance (DSA). Those customers whose details were disclosed were advised of this.

    ‘When we realised our mistake, we immediately contacted the person or organisation the information had been sent to, to apologise for our mistake and to make sure the details were deleted. We also reported the breaches to the Information Commissioner’s Office and will continue to keep them updated.

    ‘SLC takes our responsibilities seriously to protect customer data under the Data Protection Act. We have put in place additional quality checks and are confident these will prevent this from happening again. We are also investing significantly in new technology and systems to improve our service to customers.”

  • LGBT tourism to reach $200 BILLION in 2014

    Tourism is on the rebound according to experts, who expect the LGBT spend on travel and tourism to rebound to a staggering $200 BILLION in 2014.

    BIG SPENDERS

    The outlook is good especially for those who are gearing their marketing and products towards the LGBT community, as the collective spend is believed to be in excess of $200 billion (£120 billion).

    The latest findings from the Out Now market research group suggest that the top markets for tourism were: Europe (USD$66.1 billion) USA (USD$56.5 billion) and Brazil (USD$25.3 billion).

    In terms of most sort after destinations France led the way by more than 6%, the LGBT2020 Research found.

    ALL SIGNS POINT TO FRANCE

    Founder of the The Villages Group Rainbow in France, Danny Silver said:

    “France is the ultimate destination for the LGBT community. Having lived here for many yearsnow I have seen the progress which has been made in transforming the nation into a LGBT-friendly destination; the legalization of gay marriage last year was a significant step in the right direction and with Paris hosting the Gay Games in 2018, I can only see LGBT tourism to France going one way – up!

    “Indeed for older members of the LGBT community, often more concerned with cultural and safety issues in other destinations, France offers a truly welcoming atmosphere with numerous gay-friendly restaurants, bars, beaches and accommodation choices such as our project, The Villages Group Rainbow located in the Languedoc-Roussillon region of SW France.’

    France was highly rated in last year’s ILGA Rainbow Map, which measures how LGBT friendly each country is in Europe. It was given a rating of 65%, which is shared with Belgium, Norway, Sweden, Spain and Portugal.

  • COLUMN | Money Worries

    So, there I was, plodding along in a job i didn’t mind, plotting and planning my escape route for when I’m ready when – you guessed it – the rug goes out from under, REDUNDANCY.

    That dreaded word for most people, but especially when you’re the wrong side of 40. I’m far too cute to starve!

    Knowing I had some time before the end was nigh, I started to put my plots and plans into action. My idea was to use the redundancy to live on for a few months and establish my own arty/crafty business, with some writing, selling photographs and eBooks thrown in – a real 21st century portfolio career. I had a website in place, I opened several online shops with major online retailers, I created eBooks and added them via Amazon, I found sites willing to sell my images in all types of formats and sizes, I signed up to sell my Instagram images, I wrote for free on online sites – truth be told, I spread myself so thin I couldn’t see what it was I wanted to do and make sure I did it.

    The straw that broke the camel’s back was opening my own stall/shop within an existing retailer – totally the wrong thing to do, too much of a financial gamble and no research beforehand. Wrong location, wrong audience, wrong choice!

    Did I care? Not a bit – I was off and running, without a clear goal in sight and no map to guide me…

    Who needs a solid job with a dependable pension? Does such a thing exist anymore? Who wants to be a wage slave, living for the end of each month and being a weekend millionaire?

    An honest answer? Me! I’ve spent nearly 4 months self-employed and made a grand total of bugger all. My accountant is going to pee himself when he sees my end of year figures. Turns out that writing for free is a hobby, having a shop that costs you 3 times as much to run as it takes is not good business practice and if anyone tells you that you can make a fortune online, pushing your goodies via Twitter and Facebook – you have my permission to stick their smart phone where the sun don’t shine.

    I’ve come to a startling revelation over the past few months – whilst I enjoy what I do in terms of being creative (writing, making stuff, drawing things and taking snaps) I enjoy paying my bills more. There is no short cut, it’s a hard slog – but it’ll be worth it eventually. My redundancy is nearly gone, so its back to full time employment I fear, but I won’t give up the dream – I just prefer it with heating, lighting and food on the table…

    Visit Chris’ shop at

    www.jonesyinc.co.uk or www.etsy.com/shop/jonesyinc