Recover your finances with Debt consolidation loans UK
If you find yourself drowning more and more into debts, you must look forward to debt consolidation loans UK. These loans consolidate multiple debts into a single manageable loan.
In most cases debt consolidation loans UK are secured i.e. they require a collateral to be placed. The equity in the property can be used as collateral. Secured debt consolidation loans UK, are the best to pursue when you have credit card debt. Credit card debt considerably carry higher rate of interest. If you place your home or car as security you can draw relatively lower interest rate with smaller monthly payments. Homeowners can easily go for this loan.
If you hardly have anything to put as collateral, you can opt for unsecured debt consolidation loans. These are ideal for tenants.
If you have a bad credit history, opting for debt consolidation loans UK can be a prudent decision. It will not only let you get rid of debts, but will also help you improve your score. The lender however charges a high rate of interest so as to cover financial risk. In case of secured debt consolidation loans UK, the lender can even seize your property if the repayments are not made on time. Therefore, the borrower is advised to apply for the amount that he can easily repay.
Debt consolidation loans UK have many advantages. The loan procedure is simple and quicker. No upfront fee is charged. These provide you loans at lower rate of interest. By consolidating multiple debts into one, it makes you liable to a single creditor. This prevents you against humiliation by different creditors. Monthly installments are arranged according to the income and repayment capacity of the borrower
Debt consolidation loans UK can be used for other purposes as well. You can make home improvements, purchase a car, got out on a holiday or arrange a wedding.
Debt consolidation has become a common practice in the UK. One can approach any lender in the financial market. Banks and financial institutions are the conventional ones. Nowadays, online lenders are more prevalent. Most of the websites are promoting debt consolidation loans UK. Online lenders protect you against all hurdles. The borrower needs to fill up a simple online loan application form that includes details such name, address, phone number etc. This information given by the borrower remains confidential. It is passed to the lender through a secure server only. The online loan calculator will help you compute the interest rate and monthly installments payable on the loan. The borrower can also seek timely advise from online debt counselors.
Recover your financial stability with debt consolidation loans UK. Consolidating multiple debts will eliminate you worries and will help you regain your footing in the market.
Excessive Bank Account And Credit Card Charges Attacked As Unfair
Excessive Bank Account And Credit Card Charges Attacked As Unfair And Possibly Illegal
One missed credit card payment, or going overdrawn without permission, and suddenly a 30 charge can be incurred. Bank charges can seem unfair and too harsh given the frequently tiny amounts of unauthorized borrowing involved. Now it seems that the law could be in agreement.
Following on from an investigation launched in October 2003, eight major credit card companies were told in July 05 by the Office of Fair Trading (OFT) that the charges they levy for late payments were “disproportionately high”, and that charges need to be adjusted to better reflect the costs of managing late payment. Throughout the investigation, the credit card firms continued to maintain that the late payment charges they imposed were fair.
The legality of these charges are being questioned by a Scottish law firm, supported by the Scottish Citizens Advice, who are encouraging consumers to challenge the right of banks to charge such high penalty fees. With current high street credit card typical APRs ranging from 5.9% to 29.9% this is up to 25.4% points above the present 4.5% Bank of England base rate, and banks cutting the interest rates on current and savings accounts, many consumers see the levels of the bank charges as an additional means of revenue generation by the banks through excessive penalization of consumers beyond the actual costs involved.
“The law says if someone breaches their contract, for example you go over your overdraft without permission, the bank is only entitled to recover its actual loss,” Mike Dailly, Principal Solicitor at the Govan Law Centre told BBC Money Box, “If you get an automated letter from your bank for going over your limit, that costs about 50p. So why should someone get a 36 letter for that transaction?”.
In a previous press release, the OFT stated that it, considers that, in a consumer contract, a default charge is likely to be disproportionately high if it is more than a genuine pre-estimate of the damages that the card issuer would win in court if it sued the cardholder for breach of contract.
A representative of the British Banker’s Association told the BBC that the banks were not charging customers more than the actual cost, citing that the charges were to cover additional costs incurred due to a need for human intervention, to extract the item from the day’s work, to research the customer’s recent credit profile, and then a managerial decision as to whether to return the unpaid item.
The Glasgow based Law firm states that, The legality of bank charges has yet to be ruled on by a senior UK court but these will not be enforced if they are found to be ‘penalty’ or ‘unfair’ charges. Until a final ruling is made by the courts, they have drawn up a letter citing both Scottish and English case law along with the regulations which apply throughout the UK to help customers get their charges refunded.
Disclaimer:
All information contained in this article, is for general information purposes only and should not be construed as advice under the Financial Services Act 1986. You are strongly advised to take appropriate professional and legal advice before entering into any binding contracts.
Useful resources:
Credit card rate comparisons ( http://www.moneynet.co.uk/credit-card/index.shtml )
Current and savings account interest rate cuts further information ( http://news.ft.com/cms/s/faed1a82-8e9c-11da-b752-0000779e2340.html )
Will Your Asset Protection Strategy Survive The Final Judgment?
Did you know that… we live in a lawsuit-crazy society? I’ll bet you do know that. And I bet you also know that court judgments are getting more and more outrageous all the time. Unless you have some sort of asset protection strategy already set up, whatever assets you have built up can be wiped out from a lawsuit that does not go your way.
Asset protection is a means for protecting your valuables from future lawsuits and creditor collection attempts. While many people are looking for a solid way to do this, there are many ways where the asset protection options that they try are not going to work.
But, there are asset protection strategies that really do work. What you want to do is to search out the right ones and use them effectively. Asset protection, or more precisely having an asset protection strategy, is something that many more people should take advantage of. What I plan to do in this article is to help you not take the wrong path n your asset protection strategy.
The first thing to do is to have your asset protection strategy in place before you get involved in a lawsuit. I know, how do you know if and/or when you are going to be involved in a lawsuit? You don’t. But,you don’t want to wait until you are being sued.
If you are involved in a lawsuit and a judgment is placed against you, don’t try to “sell” everything to your spouse or cousin or business partner for something like $1. If you start to arrange your assets to avoid them being taken after the fact of a court judgment, then that is like “closing the barn door after the horses have escaped”. It is too late. That would be deemed illegal and is known as a “fraudulent transfer”.
The court will recognize the transfer for what it is, an asset protection trick to try to keep your assets out of the hands of your creditors. The “sale” would be reversed by the court and the assets would have to be given to the creditor anyway.
By the way, there are also other things to be wary of when involving a spouse, another family member or relative or even a business associate in an asset protection scheme.
If it is found that your scheme was in violation of the Fraudulent Transfer Act then you could not only lose the assets that you were trying to protect, but there is the additional money the you would lose in court costs, attorney fees and the costs involved in collecting the debt. Also, your “accomplice” could have a judgment entered against him or her.
Another thing to keep in mind is that if you involve another person in your asset protection strategy by “selling” them your assets for a few dollars, the assets would legally belong to the other person and they would be able to do what they want with those assets.
It has occurred only too often that the new recipient of the assets has turned around and handled the assets in a manner that benefits them, leaving the original owner with nothing. Even though you trust somebody today, you never know what will happen in the future. So, in this case we can say, “Let the seller beware!”
One more point about “getting rid” of your assets through sale to your spouse: In the United States, if you live in a “community property” state then everything that is owned by you during the time of the marriage is also owned by your spouse and vice-versa.
So, transferring ownership to a spouse in a “community property” state does not help your asset protection strategy and does not protect you from creditors. The current community property states are: Arizona, California, Idaho, Louisiana, Nevada, New Mexico, Texas, Washington and Wisconsin.
One asset protection strategy that does work and has been known to work very well is offshore asset protection trust or APT.
Here the assets are protected from lawsuits because they are in oversea territories and therefore untouchable in most cases. Of course, it is important to take note of applicable fraudulent transfer rules as well. As in most asset protection strategies, timing is very important.
Another asset protection strategy that has been shown to be very successful is offshore incorporation and offshore bank accounts. There are many benefits for incorporating offshore. Legally limiting the amount of taxes you pay on your income, and protecting your business against lawsuits are just a few of the ways an offshore corporation or IBC can benefit your asset protection efforts.
Forming an offshore corporation need not be any more expensive or time consuming than forming a corporation within your own country. Be sure to use a legitimate and established firm when setting up your IBC. Make sure your asset protection needs are being handled in the way you want and that you get answers to all your questions.
Keeping with the asset protection theme of protecting your wealth from lawsuits, the offshore bank account will also help address this issue. Most companies that offer offshore incorporation will also help you set up an offshore bank account.
It would be a good idea to keep the account in non-US funds. The accounts are usually offered with an international debit card, so you can access your funds from an ATM wherever you have access to one.
In conclusion… Laws are different from country to country, and from state to state. You need to get professional advice from a competent financial advisor as the first move.
Do not wait until you are already in financial trouble because then it would be too late. If you transfer assets in order to put them out of reach of your creditors at that time, it may be seen as fraudulent and illegal. You need to have an asset protection strategy in place before you are sued, and before anyone tries to take your assets away.
It is never too early to get a plan in place. Just remember the old expression, “If you fail to plan, you plan to fail.” Do it NOW!
Planning a business??? Finance it with secured business loans
Business these days are the most widely used source of income for a large number of people. Management of business is highly dependent on the flow of capital. If you want to know about the importance of capital in a business you can get the best answer from a businessman. Your plans, your ideas, your management all are ineffectual unless you have enough funds for there application. You need funds at every stage of business for its smooth functioning. Secured Business loans cater to your capital or financial requirements in your business.
A secured business loan can be easily availed, if you are ready to offer your house as a collateral or security. You can also offer any other property or valuable asset of yours as collateral. As the loans amount is secured by the collateral you can easily get the loans approved. These loans carry a low rate of interest.
While going for a secured business loans you have to decide and mention the purpose of taking loan, amount of loan required. You have to consider your ability to repay the loan amount.
The loan amount which you can apply for under secured business loans ranges from ₤50000 to ₤1000000 can also go up to 2 million. The repayment period lies between 3 25 years.
The loan amount can be used for various purposes, such as expanding of business or starting a business, purchasing office space, buying stationary, purchasing equipments like computers etc for the office, buying furniture and numerous other requirements.
There are certain advantages attached to these loans which make them popular. The repayment options are quite flexible and the installments are small according to your suitability. Ownership of your company is retained. The interest rate on these loans is tax- free. Can also be used as a tool for consolidation of your existing debts in business.
While you are applying for a secured business loans, you have to carry certain essential documents with you for the approval of the loan. If you are applying for loan for your existing business, then business profile, nature and length of business ownership should be mentioned. In case of a new business you have to discuss your business venture and how the business would be successful enough to repay the loan.
Secured business loans will give you the financial support when you need it. So dont hesitate to go for these loans as they will prove to be the best deal for your business.
What type of Asset Labels, Asset Tags, Property Labels, Identification
What type of Asset Labels, Asset Tags, Property Labels, Identification Labels do I need to buy for my School, Office, Company, College or University?
This article is designed to help people choose the correct asset labels for application in your School, Office, Company, College or University.
Asset Label Types
We have split asset labels into different categories and will explain their strengths and suitability and their applications.
1) Permanent frangible vinyl asset labels
2) Silver Voiding asset labels
1) Permanent Frangible Vinyl Asset Label
This label is suitable for most applications. These labels are much higher quality asset labels than the paper version and are more common in the field. The label material will conform to the majority of surfaces and forms a high-strength bond. This material has excellent initial grab and quite often (after initial application) will provide a good adhesion to many surfaces (when clean). The maximum strength of this label is attained within a 4 hour + period where the glue on the label hardens and makes the label impossible to remove in one piece
This is good for marking workstations, casings, monitors and smaller items. The grain on the computer plastics can be tricky to adhere to with certain asset labels, but the vinyl labels are very effective for this application. The material is also suited to varnished and smooth surfaces. These labels can be personalized with Code 39 barcodes, serial numbers and often with the logo printed too. Some companies offer further protection with a hologram label included to prevent counterfeiting. The vinyl labels are usually supplied on reels and most companies offer a turnaround within 33 to 5 days however some companies offer 24hr / next day service.
These are great for Hospitals, Schools, IT Department & Offices as when the adhesive sets it becomes very strong prevents people or children removing the labels in one piece.
This vinyl asset label material is suitable in many different applications such as:-
PC & IT Equipment, Monitors and LCD displays, Laptop Computers, Keyboards, Mice, Mobile Equipment including PDA’s, Networking Equipment, Fileservers, Hard Drives, Printed Circuit Boards, Painted Metal Surfaces, Wood, Plastics, Glass, Metals, Paper Surfaces, etc.
2) Silver Voiding Asset Label
This substrate is used primarily in situations where tampering needs to be revealed. The construction of the material utilises a two stage adhesive. The label will grab very well and on any attempt of removal, will leave the words VOID on the label and on the material it is stuck to. Even if you try to replace the label by sticking it down in the same position it is still apparent that tampering has taken effect.
This material is used in many different applications such as:-
Covering Memory & Expansion covers on IT Equipment, Sealing Paper, Card & Plastic surfaces, Calibration Seals, Sealing Postage Bags, Medicine Boxes and Cartons, Electronic Enclosure Boxes, HiFi & Stereo Units, Computer Cases, Mobile Telephones, PDA’s, Sealing Doors, NHS & Medical Equipment, Oscilloscopes, etc.
Read more about Asset Labels here
Purchase or Refinance Hard Money
Hard money comes in many flavors; one of the most common is mortgages. Using the owners equity in real estate, hard money lenders generally lend 65% – 70% of the value of real estate property. In general, hard money mortgages are used for commercial purposes. However, they can also be applied to residential properties. In this instance, the loan is generally referred to by its more genteel name: a non-conforming mortgage.
Lending criteria for hard money mortgages are fairly simple. The loan is based on the value of the subject property either real estate owned or about to be purchased by a borrower. If the borrower is buying property, the “value” of the real estate is defined as the actual purchase price of the property. If the borrower needs hard money for a refinance situation, the value is determined by a written real estate appraisal.
If you are looking for a hard money refinance loan, the lender will want to know when you purchased the property and what you paid for it. If you bought a property a month ago for a specific sum, the lender will be disinclined to lend you more than that purchase price. Once you own the property for about a year, especially if you have put some money, sweat equity, or both into the property, you can get a new appraisal and get a loan based on the new, improved value of the property. This is called seasoning. Be sure you have seasoned your property before going out for a refinance mortgage at a significantly higher value figure than what you paid for it.
For more information on private money lending see some of these websites:
http://www.californiaprivatemoneyloan.com
http://www.rocklandcommercial.com
http://www.interestratepolice.com
Options to Finance Your New Home
Are you feeling overwhelmed with the sheer number of different types of mortgage loans? Not sure which one will work best for your situation and needs? Read on for tips to help you compare the advantages and disadvantages to the most common types of mortgage loans.
First, it is important to understand the difference between a variable or adjustable interest rate mortgage and a fixed rate mortgage. With a fixed rate mortgage you gain the advantage of monthly mortgage payments that do not change; however, your interest rate may be slightly higher than what is offered with an ARM. With an adjustable rate mortgage while you will typically have a lower introductory interest rate, that rate may fluctuate over the duration of your loan. This can mean your monthly mortgage payments may become higher or lower, depending on whether interest rates are raised or lowered.
Beyond adjustable rate mortgages and fixed rate mortgages you also have other options in terms of how long you finance your home. The most common terms are 15, 25, 30, 40 and now even 50 year mortgages in some areas. Keep in mind the longer you finance your mortgage the less your payments will be per month but the more you will pay in interest over the duration of the loan.
There are also special types of loans offered which may offer certain advantages. These types of mortgages include FHA and VA home loans. A FHA home loan is often attractive to first time home buyers because it allows the purchase of a home with a lower down payment, in some cases as low as 3%. There are certain qualification regulations in order to be approved for a FHA home loan; however. You must have good credit history and enough income to cover the loan and your other financial obligations. Typically, all of your housing costs each month, including house note, property taxes and insurance cannot exceed 29% of your gross monthly income. In addition, your housing costs plus your other monthly long-term debt should not exceed 41% of your gross monthly income.
VA loans are made available to veterans of the U.S. armed services for the purchase of homes. With this type of loan you can purchase a single family home, condo, new construction or even a manufactured home. You should be aware that youll usually need to pay a 2% fee when the loan is closed. One of the best advantages to this type of loan is that 100% financing is available. In addition, you dont have to worry about private mortgage insurance, which is required in certain cases when you are financing more than 80% of the homes value. You may also be able to take advantage of a competitive interest rate.
Other options include balloon mortgages and hybrid mortgages. With a balloon mortgage you may be able to lower your monthly payments by agreeing to pay a portion of the mortgage in a lump sum at the end of the mortgage. The disadvantage to this is that you will have to come up with the money or try to extend the loan; which may or may not be available.
With a hybrid loan you can sometimes take advantage of a lower interest rate in the beginning of your mortgage, perhaps for three to five years, when you may be struggling more to make the payments. After this time period has passed, the interest rate will rise and you will be responsible for a higher monthly mortgage.
Excessive bank account and credit card charges attacked as unfair
Excessive bank account and credit card charges attacked as unfair and possibly illegal
One missed credit card payment, or going overdrawn without permission, and suddenly a 30 charge can be incurred. Bank charges can seem to be unfair and too harsh given the frequently tiny amounts of unauthorized borrowing involved. Now it seems that the law could be in agreement.
Following on from an investigation launched in October 2003, eight major credit card companies were told in July 05 by the Office of Fair Trading (OFT) that the charges they levy for late payments were “disproportionately high”, and that charges needed to be adjusted to better reflect the costs to them of managing late payment. Throughout the investigation, the credit card firms continued to maintain that the late payment charges they imposed were fair.
The legality of these charges are being questioned by a Scottish law firm, supported by the Scottish Citizens Advice, who are encouraging consumers to challenge the right of banks to charge such high penalty fees. With current high street credit card typical APRs ranging from 5.9% to 29.9% (source http://www.moneynet.co.uk/credit-card/index.shtml ) this is up to 25.4% points above the present 4.5% Bank of England base rate, and banks cutting the interest rates on current and savings accounts (see http://news.ft.com/cms/s/faed1a82-8e9c-11da-b752-0000779e2340.html ), many consumers see the levels of the bank charges as an additional means of revenue generation by the banks through excessive penalization of consumers beyond the actual costs involved.
“The law says if someone breaches their contract, for example you go over your overdraft without permission, the bank’s only entitled to recover its actual loss,” Mike Dailly, Principal Solicitor at the Govan Law Centre told BBC Money Box, “If you get an automated letter from your bank for going over your limit, that costs about 50p. So why should someone get a 36 letter for that transaction?”.
In a previous press release, the OFT stated that it, considers that, in a consumer contract, a default charge is likely to be disproportionately high if it is more than a genuine pre-estimate of the damages that the card issuer would win in court if it sued the cardholder for breach of contract.
A representative of the British Banker’s Association told the BBC that the banks were not charging customers more than the actual cost, citing that the charges were to cover additional costs incurred due to a need for human intervention, to extract the item from the day’s work, to research the customer’s recent credit profile, and then a managerial decision as to whether to return the unpaid item.
The Glasgow based Law firm states that, The legality of bank charges has yet to be ruled on by a senior UK court but these will not be enforced if they are found to be ‘penalty’ or ‘unfair’ charges. Until a final ruling is made by the courts, they have drawn up a letter citing both Scottish and English case law along with the regulations which apply throughout the UK to help customers get their charges refunded.
Disclaimer:
All information contained in this article, is for general information purposes only and should not be construed as advice under the Financial Services Act 1986.
You are strongly advised to take appropriate professional and legal advice before entering into any binding contracts.
Useful resources:
Credit card rate comparisons ( http://www.moneynet.co.uk/credit-card/index.shtml )
Current and savings account interest rate cuts further information ( http://news.ft.com/cms/s/faed1a82-8e9c-11da-b752-0000779e2340.html )
Author:
Michael Hanna
About Michael
Michael is a keen writer, and internet marketer living in Scotland:
Contact details:
E-mail: samqam@googlemail.com
Phone: 0131 561 2251
Michael’s Website: Taxi Belfast
Piggy Banks for Grown-ups: How to help yourself save
We encourage our kids to use piggy banks to save up for special purchases like bicycles and sneakers, but then we never consider taking our own good advice and employing the same means to save for ourselves as adults. But if anyone needs to save, its the grown-ups, even more than the children, because we are the ones with the strained budgets and awesome financial responsibilities and obligations to meet. Maybe we should revisit the concept of the piggy bank, to find out new ways to overcome the stress and hardship of trying to save money when it seems that every day it becomes an exceedingly more difficult task to accomplish.
There are some ways to save that use the same premise, but in more sophisticated ways. For example, dollar cost averaging is used by investors to average out the highs and lows of their stock market holdings, so that on average, they make more money than they would by trying to time the ups and downs of the market. This is done by buying a set dollar amount of stock at regular intervals of time, regardless of the price of the stock, and is most conveniently applied to shares of mutual funds, because they can be bought in dollar amounts that are sometimes easier to calculate. For instance, you can have your broker apply $100 every month to buy shares of a mutual fund. Some months you may get ten shares for that price, and other months youll get eight or eleven shares. But over time, you will steadily increase your holdings, which increases your assets in the same way that socking away money in a piggy bank works.
Another system that applies the same principal is to use automatic withdrawals and deposits that you can arrange with your bank. Each time you get a paycheck, for instance, you can have a portion of it transferred to a retirement account of savings account. Most of the time you wont even notice that the money is missing, and you can unconsciously or at least subconsciously start to save more money.
These methods of using piggybank philosophies to grow our money are strategically wise. Not only do they help us with the discipline of savings, but they also tend to do it in a way that is relatively painless and does not require the constant stress of making a conscious decision about whether or not to save.
Euro Impact on the East European Countries and Banks
Prague, 15 June 2001 (RFE/RL) — The German central bank (the Bundesbank) estimates that more than one out of every three German marks circulates outside of Germany — signifying billions of marks. The banks says the majority of them are in Eastern Europe and the territory of the former Soviet Union.
Because of the mark’s stability, and Germany’s role as a place of employment for Eastern European workers who send their money home, the mark has evolved into a de facto second currency in the lands to the south and east of Germany’s borders.
Montenegro and Kosovo have even adopted the mark as legal tender. Other countries have pegged their currencies to the mark through currency boards. Bosnia uses a unit of exchange called the “convertible mark,” which trades on a one-to-one basis with the German mark.
But the mark — along with the other currencies of the European Union’s 12-nation euro-zone — is about to disappear.
On 1 January 2002, more than 250 million people in Western Europe will begin exchanging their national currencies for the euro. Older currencies and euros will circulate together until the end of February. After that, the national currencies will no longer be used.
That does not mean the currencies will be worthless. Central banks will continue to exchange them for euros for several years to come. But for all intents and purposes, Western Europe’s national currencies — including the mark — will cease to exist.
Hans-Werner Sinn of Germany’s Ifo economic research institute has looked into all aspects of the coming changeover. He says Eastern Europeans, like their counterparts in Western Europe, will eventually have to exchange their marks for euros.
“Clearly, these Deutschemarks [German marks] will no longer be useful in the long run. So people will have to bring the Deutschemarks in to their respective banks and exchange them into euros. That will have to happen in the spring of next year [by the end of the February deadline].”
Antti Heinonen, the director of banknotes at the European Central Bank, or ECB — the institution that is coordinating the switchover to euros — says that the change should not cause many problems for most Eastern Europeans.
But the currency’s first challenge — in Eastern Europe at least — will be to replace the mark in people’s minds and mattresses.