High street lenders have been increasing the number of loans and deals available to first time home buyers, but this could still fail to stimulate the market, amid fears that credit scores will need to be near perfect.

According to This Is Money, 332 deals are currently available to buyers with a 10% deposit, whereas two years ago the figure was 114, and last year it was still only 199. The average two-year fixed-rate is lower, at 5.51%, when it was 6.10% last year and 6.48% two years ago.

These figures, according to Moneyfacts, represent a saving of £89 per month on a £150,000 loan, when compared with the same borrowed amount two years ago.

HSBC has said it will lend a massive £3 billion in order to find 27,000 first-time buyers, whilst Halifax and Nationwide are also offering deals intended to spark and stimulate interest through appealing investment opportunities.

However, these deals are entirely dependent on the credit checking process, and many buyers find themselves falling at this hurdle. It can stem from simply avoiding the electoral roll, or never managing a credit card, and whilst many will feel this shouldn’t work against them as a potential buyer, they are stumbling blocks for gaining credit.

Having a proven financial history will help a lender to recognise you as a responsible borrower, capable of managing finances and paying back the owed instalments and interest payments on time and in full.

As a first time buyer you may also want to check home insurance deals, as comprehensive buildings and contents cover is popular among home owners.

Banking group Barclays has extended deals with Aviva and Legal & General in order to provide its customers with more comprehensive options for general and life insurance products.

The current general insurance from Aviva, offered through Barclays, will be accompanied by new life assurance and personal accident products, available on a non-advised basis. Products can be added online, over the phone or in the branch.

Legal & General will expand upon its current mortgage protection distribution deal with Barclays by adding family and mortgage life assurance and critical illness cover, available on an advised basis.

Paul McNamara, Barclays’ managing director of insurance and investments, said: “We look forward to building on our already successful relationships with Aviva and Legal & General to provide our customers with a comprehensive range of competitive and easily accessible insurance, which they can tailor to their needs.”

“This agreement brings market leading capabilities to support Barclays aim (sic) of better meeting our customers’ needs across our channels, whether online, over the phone or through our extensive branch network.”

In a move designed to curb the UK’s current compensation culture, the government is planning to ban injury claim referral fees paid by lawyers to insurance companies.

Lawyers pay a fee to insurance companies for customer details relating to accidents and injuries, and then pursue the individuals involved in an attempt to coerce them into making a claim. These are often advertised as ‘no win, no fee’ claims; this encourages people to move forward with their own potential claim as they have nothing to lose and money to gain.

According to The Independent, insurers partly blame their own soaring premiums on the rising number of personal injury claims, although, conversely, insurers receive payments for passing on the details that are integral to the whole process.

Justice Minister Jonathan Djangoly, quoted by the BBC, agrees that premium hikes can, in part, be attributed to the vast quantity of loose claims, saying: “Many of the claims are spurious and only happen because the current system allows too many people to profit from minor accidents and incidents.”

However, insurance companies can receive as much as £1,000 as a single referral fee, and the BBC report highlights the fact that around 6% of car insurance profits come from these fees paid to lawyers for personal details.

If the fees were to be banned, the insurance companies may actually look to counter the drop in profits by further increasing premiums. The ban could actually push policy prices up.

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Motorists could see their cars clamped on their driveways if they fail to renew their insurance on time, under new legislation announced by Parliament.

The new rules, collectively known as ‘continuous insurance enforcement’, will require insurance renewal on all cars, even those tucked away on the drive. If an enforcer spots an uninsured car off the road, authority can be given to clamp the vehicle.

The only way to avoid this action for an uninsured car would be to declare it off the road with a SORN, or Statutory Off Road Notification.

According to This Is Money, motoring groups are deeply concerned that those who are on holiday, in hospital or simply forget to renew could be facing heavy punishment, including a possible £100 fine, for an innocent or unavoidable mistake.

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Research by Sainsbury’s Finance suggests that many ex-smokers are not taking full advantage of their healthier, smokeless lifestyle because they are not informing their life insurance providers.

According to the recent research, the average cost of a life insurance policy for a smoker is just shy of £210, whereas the average cost for a non-smoker is around £114; a huge difference of almost £100. It seems that, collectively, ex-smokers are paying £316million too much for life insurance, even though it would only take a short coversation with the insurer to instigate the savings.

For an insurer to class a policyholder as an ex-smoker, as opposed to someone in the process of quitting, then that individual must be free of nicotine-replacement products as well as cigarettes for a duration of at least one year.  The research found that 6.5 million ex-smokers with life insurance policies fit the aforementioned criteria, but 51% had not told their insurance providers.

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House insurance could become more expensive as a result of climate change, an insurance body has said.

The Association of British Insurers warned that insurance companies would have to pay out more for flood and windstorm damage as temperatures increased. The extra cost would in turn be passed on to policyholders in the form of higher premiums.

Wales and the south-west of England would be worst hit, the report said.

The ABI report, which used predictions from the Met Office, studied the financial effect of temperature increases of 2, 4 and 6 degrees Celsius.

A rise of 4 degrees could see the average annual insured losses from river flooding and flash floods in the UK rise by 14% to £633m by 2060, while wind storm losses could increase by 25% to £827 million each year.

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With the Christmas holidays fast approaching, the Post Office is reminding holidaymakers to take out travel insurance to cover their belongings should they be lost in transit.

According to the Air Transport Users Council, airlines could mishandle as many as 70 million bags by 2019 as the number of air passengers is set to double. Yet one in four holidaymakers still takes out no travel insurance before heading abroad.

Passengers who neglect to take out travel insurance could end up paying through the nose if their belongings go astray, as many underestimate the value of their luggage. Post Office figures reveal that passengers carry an average £1,113 worth of items in their suitcase; however, many set a much lower value on their luggage. This means that even those who have taken out a travel insurance policy may claim for much less than the contents of their suitcase are actually worth, in the event that their luggage is lost or stolen.

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An increasing number of hard-up children are staying insured on their parents’ car insurance policy into their late 20s and early 30s as the cost of premiums continues to rise.

As household budgets have been squeezed during the recession and unemployment has risen, the average age of sons and daughters registered as secondary drivers on their parents’ insurance has gone up from 25 to 31 years old.

The rise in the number of grown children adding themselves to their parents’ car insurance policy rather than taking out one of their own reflects the increasing number of youngsters who save money by continuing to live at home and take advantage of parental support.

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Cruise passengers have been urged to check their travel insurance after reports that a third do not have adequate cover.

A survey by insurance company All Clear has shown that around 34% of cruise passengers would not be fully covered by their travel insurance policy if they were taken ill at sea.

These passengers would also not be covered for pre-booked excursions that were cancelled due to ill-health, bad weather or changes to the itinerary.

Chris Blackman, head of product development at All Clear, said: ” A surprising number of people seem to rely on the basic medical provision on board ships. However, in all but fairly minor emergencies, this will not be sufficient.

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Plans to restrict the sale of the controversial payment protection insurance (PPI) have suffered a setback.

The Competition Appeal Tribunal has ordered the Competition Commission to reconsider whether a proposed ban on selling PPI alongside personal loans was appropriate.

The appeal against this restriction was made by Barclays bank, which argues that the proposed restriction on the sale of PPI limits customer choice.

PPI is designed to help cover the cost of bills and loan repayments in the event that you fall ill or are made redundant. The ban on its being sold in conjunction with the issue of a personal loan follows a two-year investigation into complaints over the high price and numerous exclusion clauses in the sale of PPI, which often aren’t properly clarified to the customer.

The Competition Commission said that it would study the appeal “closely”, but pointed out that if successful, it would affect just one part of its plan.

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