The Financial Services Authority is planning to make changes to the rules regarding packaged current accounts, amid growing concerns that banking representatives are not highlighting benefit eligibility criteria to customers.

According to the Guardian, the proposed changes would see compulsory eligibility checks carried out by banks and building societies.

Packaged savings accounts are designed to offer a multitude of benefits, all paid for with one monthly charge to the bank. Inclusive services are usually mobile phone insurance, ID theft protection, travel insurance and breakdown cover, although this varies depending on the type of packaged account, as some are more comprehensive than others and the differing charges for each account reflects this. Monthly fees are usually between £8 and £25.

As people in the UK look to find ways to save money, more and more are choosing these multi-benefit accounts as they are cheaper than requesting each benefit individually from relevant providers.

Many people are paying for these accounts and then finding problems when it comes to making use of the benefits; for example, someone over 70 might find out that their inclusive travel insurance was invalid from the start due to their age. A banking representative can plead ignorance, and whether there was malicious intent or not would not matter, as the customer has already willingly agreed to the account.

Sheila Nicoll, FSA director of policy, said: “For some people packaged accounts represent good value and convenience. But in other cases customers may find that the insurance cover they have paid for is useless.”

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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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The rate of inflation is currently much higher than the interest rates offered on savings accounts, and this means that UK savers are losing out on billions.

MoneyHighStreet has reported that, according to information from accountants UHY hacker young, inflation wipes £36 billion off the cumulative value of UK consumer savings.

Specifically, UK savers on average get a dismal 1.6% return on the cash they put away, whilst the accounts that should see bigger and better savings, such as ISAs, are not much better, with an average of 2.57%.

With inflation hitting 5.2%, according to April’s Retail Price Index, £36 billion is lost from £1 trillion worth of UK savings. The Consumer Price Index has an alternative figure for inflation of 4.5%, but this still equates to £29.42 billion that is lost.

Savers are advised to choose wisely when looking for a place to store and save their cash, and the best solution is to compare savings accounts.

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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Recent figures have indicated that the level of credit and debit card fraud in the UK is continuing to decrease. This encouraging news serves to highlight the growing efficiency of anti-fraud measures put in place to protect our finances, as well as the increased vigilance among UK cardholders.

According to the UK Cards Association, a total of £365.4 million was lost through credit and debit card fraud in 2010; whilst this is a huge sum of money, it actually represents a 17% drop from the 2009 figures. This has been attributed to the roll-out of chip-and-pin, and improved customer awareness.

It was also found that phone, mail-order and internet fraud dropped by 15% thanks to the Verified by Visa and MasterCard Secure Code anti-fraud systems that now operate on the web.

It’s not all good news though, as phone banking fraud totalled £12.7 million, equating to an unwelcome increase of 5%.

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No Smoking Day is upon us, and with that we receive a timely reminder of how much money can be saved through stubbing out the habit for good. Life insurer Aviva has released statistics showing that if smokers quit, they will pay significantly less on their life insurance premiums.

Women who hit 35 on their next birthdays, can save up to £40.56 if they’ve quite smoking and are on a 15 year level term assurance (without critical illness cover) and with a sum assured of £75,000. Men who are 25 on their next birthdays can, with 30 year level term (with reviewable critical illness cover) with a sum assured of £125,000, can net a saving of £151.56 annually.

Astonishingly, a smoke-free 45 year old male will make a maximum saving of £276.60 annually for his 10 year level term policy (no critical illness cover), with a sum assured of £50,000.

Aviva revealed that 15% of their customers are still smoking, and, according to the Office of National Statistics, two thirds of British smokers do want to quit. The habit comes at both a financial and physical cost, with information about quitting available at smokefree.nhs.uk. This site will provide you will details about how smoking affects your health, and also allows you to operate a smoking cost calculator. If your pack of 20 cigarettes costs £5, and you smoke 20 a day, it is costing you £1825 annually; the equivalent of 30 Premier League tickets, or 6 weekends in Paris.

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With all this snow and ice freezing up car engines cooling systems, you’ll want to crack open the anti-freeze. However if you’re a pet owner as well as a driver, you’re going to want to make sure that you you screw the lid back on tight or clean up any accidents. According to the RSPCA and the Feline Advisory Bureau household pets, and cats in particular, are very fond of the taste of anti-freeze and will happily lap up any spillages.

Unfortunately it’s also extremely damaging to an animals’ kidneys and ingesting even the smallest amounts can prove fatal. The RSPCA has published a list of symptoms of antifreeze poisoning in pets and recommends that you contact your local vet immediately if your pet shows any of the following:

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Following the pound’s recent comeback against the euro, British holidaymakers travelling to Europe this summer are in for more good news, as fuel prices have plummeted across the continent by up to 12% for unleaded petrol and as much as 31% for diesel, according to a recent Post Office survey.

Switzerland was cheapest for unleaded petrol at just 91p a litre. However, driving in Austria and Spain can work out even cheaper if you opt for a diesel-powered hire car. The cost of diesel is just 83p a litre in Austria and 87p a litre in Spain. Unleaded petrol in all three countries now costs around 34% less than in the Netherlands, the most expensive of 12 destinations surveyed by the Post Office.

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More than 60,000 cars have been sold under the government’s scrappage scheme, figures released today show.

Business Secretary Lord Mandelson said that the strong uptake of the scheme, which was launched just two months ago, showed that the initiative was a success. Consumers know a good deal when they see one. These figures speak for themselves,” he said.

However, the scheme’s popularity could mean that the £300 million of government money allocated to the scheme could be exhausted far sooner than the March 2010 deadline. Over a tenth of the funding had been used up by the end of May.

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The Pensions Regulator has warned that pensions are at a greater risk of fraud, dishonesty and risky behaviour by employers who want to make savings during the recession.

The body has called on employees, trustees and pensions professionals to act as whistleblowers if they become suspicious that employers are not fulfilling their pension obligations.

“Employees and pension scheme members should report any concerns to trustees, whose duty it is to protect their interests. Trustees should contact us,” the regulator said.

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