What happened to the stiff upper lip that we Brits are meant to be famous for? In contrast to the Americans, who seem to want to find fault with somebody else for everything, in Britain we were once noted for putting up with a great deal and never trying to file compensation claims right, left and centre. This might be a popular conception but it does not seem to be backed up by the statistics, at the very least if were to trust a study that was commissioned by an online legal research company. This company looked at key cities across the nation to assess the amount of work compensation claims as well as other legal cases and came across some eye-opening results.

It was declared that Cambridge was on top of this list of cities in England in relation to the tendency to file claims and more than one of every 4 residents of the city had been involved in a claim of some type.

Read more…

• 0 Comments

Over 6 million UK households have been identified as financially vulnerable by the Consumer Credit Counselling Service (CCCS).

A study by the national debt charity found that 3.2 million households are “already in financial difficulty”, classed as being three months or more behind with debt payments or facing action from creditors, while a further 3 million are finding it difficult to make ends meet and are “at risk” of getting into problems.

The CCCS Debt and Household Incomes report paints a worrying picture of vulnerable families struggling to cope with the effects of the stagnant wages, benefit cuts and soaring prices.

The analysis of CCCS client data, carried out by the Financial Inclusion Centre (FIC) on behalf of the charity, showed that lower income households, those earning up to £13,500 a year, have unsecured debts totalling 20% more than their annual income.

Over a third of lower-medium and medium-higher income households, those earning between £13,500 and £25,000 a year, have no money left at the end of the month to service their unsecured debt.

Families earning between £25,000 and £50,000 owe 95% of their annual income in unsecured lending. A quarter of

Read more…

• 0 Comments

Nowadays it is very difficult to come to a decision that has something to do with money. Cash has been very popular all over the world. Many want it and several people even adore the things that money could do for them. However in times during the emergency money sometimes becomes very invisible. It is indeed painful to get caught in any forms of accidents especially if you don’t have any money left to manage the things that it left you. It becomes an extra burden to the family to become part in any forms of mishaps particularly when it comes to money issues.

There are even people who became really stiff when it comes to money. Theyd even choose to risk the safety of their family just to insure that they still have money remaining. It is a good sign of valuing money however it is not to risk the lives of the loved ones in exchange for money. C

Read more…

• 0 Comments

The summit, which will start at 1000 GMT, could prove a critical moment in determining what role private sector creditors play in further aid to Greece, and how EU leaders will stem the threat of debt contagion to Italy and Spain.

“Our agenda will be the financial stability of the euro area as a whole and the future financing of the Greek program,” Van Rompuy said in a statement posted on Twitter.

“I have asked the preparatory work to be brought forward inter alia by the finance ministries,” he said, indicating that senior finance officials would meet ahead of time, probably on Wednesday July 21, to agree the agenda. With th

Read more…

• 0 Comments

Last week was filled with disappointing data. So much so that Goldman Sachs downgraded their forecast last night:

Following another week of weak economic data, we have cut our estimates for real GDP growth in the second and third quarter of 2011 to 1.5% and 2.5%, respectively, from 2% and 3.25%. Our forecasts for Q4 and 2012 are under review, but even excluding any further changes we now expect the unemployment rate to come down only modestly to 8% at the end of 2012.

The main reason for the downgrade is that the high-frequency information on overall economic activity has continued to fall substantially short of our expectations.
…
One key question in coming months is whether final demand recovers to the 2%-2% pace that is probably necessary to keep GDP growth near trend and prevent the unemployment rate from rising more noticeably.

Before we get to the data, there were a couple other key stories last week: 1) the European bank stress tests disappointed most analysts (only a few banks were required to raise capital, see from the Financial Times: Banks stress test pass rate under fire), and 2) the debt ceiling negotiations continued, although this appears to be almost over (see: Debt Ceiling Charade: Almost Over).

On a monthly basis, retail sales increased 0.1% from May to June (seasonally adjusted, after revisions), and sales were up 8.1% from June 2010.

Read more…

• 0 Comments