http://www.articletrader.com/ Articles at ArticleTrader en-us http://www.articletrader.com/finance/insurance/winter-proofing-your-home.html http://www.articletrader.com/finance/insurance/winter-proofing-your-home.html Fri, 12 Dec 2008 04:50:15 -0600
David Rochester from Halifax Home Insurance said: "With home emergencies, prevention is certainly better than the cure, and much of the damage could be avoided if householders spent a small amount of time preparing for the bad weather."

So if prevention is better than the cure what can be done to help avoid unwanted cost during the winter months? Pipes freezing and bursting can cause thousands of pounds worth of damage which is going to push up your home insurance premiums a lot. Taking these simple precautions can save you a lot of money and hassle.

1) Check the location of your stop taps and ensure they are in good working order
2) Repair dripping taps and turn them off
3) Ensure tanks and cisterns are lagged and open the loft door to let heat circulate
4) Lag pipes in unheated areas, especially the loft. The best lagging for pipes is pre-formed tubular insulating material, available from most DIY stores
5) If you are going away, even for the weekend, leave heating on low or drain down the system
6) If a pipe bursts, turn off the stop tap and central heating boiler immediately and call a plumber
7) Lastly, if you experience flooding or water damage from a broken water pipe, be sure to watch the home for mold or mildew. Black mold can be a serious after effect to a flooded home that's far worse to deal with than the actual water damage

These seven simple precautions should help to avoid any burst pipes during the cold winter months. Frozen pipes are not the only risk to your home, winter storms can cause extensive damage to your roof which can be easily avoided if the roof is properly maintained. You can check your roof yourself for any loose tiles, but be warned only go up onto your roof if you feel capable enough. If you don’t feel confident enough then get a roofer to check it out as any maintenance costs will be a lot less than if your roof is damaged in a storm.

Taking these simple measures will help you save a lot of money on your home insurance premiums and with Christmas coming up the last thing anyone wants is a burst water pipe to sort out.

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Seamus has more articles pertaining to home insurance and other insurance related articles.

Source: http://www.articletrader.com ]]> http://www.articletrader.com/legal/personal-injury/how-to-avoid-suffering-from-whiplash.html http://www.articletrader.com/legal/personal-injury/how-to-avoid-suffering-from-whiplash.html Fri, 12 Dec 2008 04:48:45 -0600
The report published by the Association of British Insurers revealed that around 1200 people a day submit a whiplash claim. Simon Douglas the director of AA Insurance, said: "The cost of whiplash claims equates to about £66 for every UK car insurance policy … this is more than twice the cost of claims for accidents with uninsured drivers."It will become an "increasingly important" matter for the cost of policies in the future, he added.

Stephen Haddrill, ABI Director General, said: “Whiplash imposes unacceptable costs to individuals, businesses and the state. Insurers want to reduce whiplash, provide fast care and compensation and tackle fraudulent claims. “But we cannot do this alone. We call on the Government, road safety groups, the medical and legal professions and other stakeholders to work with us on a campaign to reduce this problem.”

If whiplash claims are costing so much money, what can be done to help stop whiplash injuries thus saving everyone money in the long run? As the ABI study showed the biggest cause of whiplash injuries is poorly fitted head rests. If head rest is fitted so the rest is directly behind the head instead of the neck (where it is usually placed) then it should provide adequate support so the head doesn’t jolt back suddenly when in a crash. The down side to this is that it is not the most comfortable position for your head to be in on long journeys. Basic safety precautions such as wearing a seatbelt is essential, some chiropractors also suggest basic neck exercises will help avoid strain if you where to be involved in a car accident.

Unfortunately most of us don’t have the time or foresight to carry out these measurers so it might be advisable to look into a car that has received a green or gold standard rating in the recent Euro NCAP safety tests. The cars which received this rating in the most recent tests were the, Volvo XC60, Alfa Romeo Mito, VW Golf VI, Audi A4 and Vauxhall/Opel Insignia. Many may not be able to afford a brand new car in this time of recession but it is defiantly worth checking out the Euro NCAP safety ratings for any perspective car as it could save you a lot of neck ach in the future.

So as the UK remains at the top of the whiplash charts it is down to the individual to try and save money and lower the amount of whiplash claims, which are costing every individual around £66 pounds. As we all know everyone is looking to save money and this could be a great way to save the pennies.

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Seamus has more articles pertaining to whiplash claims and other legal related articles.

Source: http://www.articletrader.com ]]> http://www.articletrader.com/legal/personal-injury/welsh-schools-accident-bill-reaches-%C2%A3600-000.html http://www.articletrader.com/legal/personal-injury/welsh-schools-accident-bill-reaches-%C2%A3600-000.html Fri, 12 Dec 2008 04:45:45 -0600
According to the BBC report Welsh schools have nearly shelled out £600,000 in the last three years due to accident claims. These accidents range from the bizarre (slipping on a carrot) to the typical (breaking up fights). Plaid Cyrmu AM Chris Franks used the freedom of information act to find out how much compensation was being paid out by the schools. Only 19 out of the 22 local authorities responded perhaps suggesting that the true figure may in fact be higher. Nearly half of the compensation paid out was from one authority with one of their legal bills amassing to near on £50,000 pounds. One legal expert said that all these figures where just an attempt to drum up a moral panic around compensation claims. This may be true but it seems that Chris Franks has found the root of the problem by saying that safety measures in schools need to be tightened.

Mr Franks continued to say that Mr Franks said: "The level of pay-outs in compensation and legal costs is perhaps a reflection of the arrival of no-win, no-fee lawyers. In the United States, claiming for compensation is so much part of the culture and that trait has clearly spread to the UK, although I believe people who suffer serious injury, whether in school or elsewhere, because of negligence should be compensated.”

"In the past many people who suffered minor injuries might have just dusted themselves off and carried on with life. There is a price to pay for everyone in terms of higher insurance premiums or perhaps even higher than necessary council tax bills.”

In response to Mr Franks comments Mr Moorhead, an expert on compensation matters said "with regard to the idea that this is a US-style compensation culture, this is an argument that crops up every time somebody looks at compensation figures? Generally, across England and Wales, the numbers of compensation claims are not increasing."

"£600,000 over three years may sound like a lot of money but it's not the sort of figure that would give me cause for concern. It's quite a small figure, it seems to me. It doesn't suggest there have been lots of claims or that people are getting money that they shouldn't get."

So accident claims may not be as high as the original sum of £600,000 and as Mr Moorhead said, people who are deserving of compensation are receiving it. So this time it seems that it might just be scaremongering on Mr Franks half, but he last made an extremely valid point that safety measures need to be tightened up so these accidents don’t happen in the first place.

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Seamus has more articles pertaining to accident claims and other legal related articles.

Source: http://www.articletrader.com ]]> http://www.articletrader.com/finance/mortgage/price-fall-of-homes-the-crisis-moves-on.html http://www.articletrader.com/finance/mortgage/price-fall-of-homes-the-crisis-moves-on.html Sat, 19 Jul 2008 00:00:00 -0500
The figures come amidst global financial instability and news that housing market activity is decreasing. The average cost of a house in the UK is now £179,110, just £2,027 more than this time last year, and according to Nationwide, prices will continue to fall.Nationwide’s Consumer Confidence survey has found that since September, when house prices experienced a boom, consumers’ expectations of house price growth have fallen sharply, with consumers, on average, expecting a 3 per cent fall in the next six months. Fionnuala Earley, Nationwide’s Chief Economist said:

“This fall coincides with turmoil in the financial markets and is likely to have been compounded by the problems at Northern Rock, but it also reflects the signs of slowing in the more visible annual rate of house price growth and house purchase approvals data. House price growth expectations responded dramatically to all of these factors.” The time for reselling a property and maximizing on conveyance opportunities is now, before the lash of the credit crunch may ruin any chance of home resale.

At the moment, the lack of mortgage finance is one of the most significant factor in falling demand for housing. The Council of Mortgage Lenders suggest that mortgage approvals have fallen to the lowest levels since 1991. Upto July 2007, mortgage lenders were very competitive and eager to attract customers with mortgage products such as 100% mortgages and high income multiple mortgages. However, the credit crisis has led to banks struggling to raise finance, therefore they have had to reduce their mortgage lending. To ration mortgages, they have removed many mortgage products, especially 'subprime' products. They have also increased the cost of many other mortgages.

In particular, it is becoming increasingly difficult for first time buyers to get on the property ladder. This is mainly due to the rise in house price to earnings ratio. In the past this problem was got around by banks being willing to offer 'generous' mortgages (e.g. interest only, self certification, 100% mortgages). For example, in the past, the Abbey National lent 5 times a borrowers salary. This increased generosity in lending helped to keep the market buoyant without addressing the underlying problem of overvalued house prices. The Credit crunch has now made this difficult.

For those who believe house prices can never fall, it is worth remembering the case study of Japan. In the 1980s there was a similar boom in house prices in Japan. But since the peak of 1991 house prices in Japan have fallen for 14 consecutive years, leading to considerable economic problems such as lower consumer spending. House Prices have also started to fall in the U.S.A. US prices have now fallen considerably since their peak in 2007. Traditionally, the view of the housing market is that it is not just an asset, but a place to live. Therefore, unlike the stock market, house prices won’t rise and fall due to speculation. However a lot of demand for UK housing is coming from buy to let investors. Many buy to let investors are in the market for the long term; however, now that prices are falling, some of these speculators are likely to leave the market causing a significant drop in demand.

In a research paper Alex Hamilton argues that much of the housing market is dominated by herding behaviour. (Source 2) This means that a lot of the rise in demand is caused by market sentiment rather than economic fundamentals. Now the market sentiment has changed people are less confident about buying. In a recent paper, the OECD stated that 15% of UK house prices were not reflected in economic fundamentals but 'froth' and 'speculation'

The UK housing market suffers from severe supply constraints as a % of the total housing stock. The number of new houses built is relatively small. Therefore a change in demand magnifies any change in price. It only takes a small rise in demand to increase prices. But similarly it could only take a small fall in demand to cause significant price falls as in 1991.


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Jamie is an author of several articles pertaining to Mortgages. He is known for his expertise on the subject and on other Business and Finance related articles.


Source: http://www.articletrader.com ]]> http://www.articletrader.com/finance/credit/warning-on-credit-card-cheques.html http://www.articletrader.com/finance/credit/warning-on-credit-card-cheques.html Sat, 19 Jul 2008 00:00:00 -0500
No wonder the UK has an endemic debt problem when the banks and credit card companies literally throw money at us. Almost every month we receive some nice blank cheques from the Credit Card company MBNA almost pleading with us to spend them on a ‘new car, holiday of a lifetime, flat screen TV etc’. But these credit card cheques come at a hefty price so beware.

Simply because they’re very expensive to use and there are far cheaper options out there if you want to borrow money. In a recent report it was revealed that 1 in 3 people who use Credit Card cheques are unaware that there is a charge levied and 2 out of 3 have no clue what the actual interest rate charged will be To add to the mix it was also revealed that 98% of Credit Card cheques are sent out unsolicited Typical charges on using the cheques are 2% plus of course the relevant interest rate that the credit card charges

Firstly, why use the cheques at all - why not just use your card instead? This way there’s no ludicrous 2% charge. Secondly, think very hard about what you’re actually borrowing the money for and perhaps more importantly how long. Credit card interest rates are typically very high (average 15%-20%) so borrowing money at these levels for anything longer than a few months is clearly bad financial planning. Better to try and take out a loan which you can get for around 5%-8% as long as you have a good credit rating - if you have any Defaults on your credit rating then see this article on how to get them removed.

When consumers don’t know what they’re doing or how things work then this is really nirvana for anyone selling them the products especially in the financial world. The Credit Card companies are rumoured to be making over £500 million a year just from the charges levied on these blank cheques. So be financially smart, rip these cheques up as soon as they come though the letterbox and if you must borrow money then at least try and do so at the cheapest costs.


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Jamie is an author of several articles pertaining to Credit Cards. He is known for his expertise on the subject and on other Business and Finance related articles.


Source: http://www.articletrader.com ]]> http://www.articletrader.com/finance/mortgage/british-citizens-choose-abroad-to-home.html http://www.articletrader.com/finance/mortgage/british-citizens-choose-abroad-to-home.html Fri, 18 Jul 2008 00:00:00 -0500
Although this is the biggest emigration wave in real figures, a larger percentage of people left during the 1930s and the middle of the 19th century. Many of those who have left the UK have retired abroad; the most popular destination for Brits was Australia; estimates suggest that there are currently 5.5million British citizens living abroad.The emigration has been more than balanced though immigration; 3.9million foreigners have arrived in the UK during the same period, including more than half a million in 2006 alone.

Many Brits who originally purchased investment properties abroad are selling up their UK homes to live abroad permanently, and a recent fairinvestment.co.uk survey revealed that 44 per cent of first time buyers would consider buying their first property abroad, while eight per cent said they had already done so.

Taking this into consideration, this is the reason why people in the UK have been advised to consider the benefits of purchasing a property in another country. According to Foreign Currency Direct, a growing number of British nationals are buying second homes overseas. Peter Ellis, head of the company, said this is because they are keen to take advantage of the lifestyle benefits that buying abroad offers, such as the better climate and healthier way of living. Speaking to the Daily Record, Mr Ellis added that many Britons are also enjoying the lower cost of living in many foreign countries, as well as the investment potential the property itself can provide.

He commented: “Buying property overseas is still an excellent investment and a great opportunity for a better quality of life.” According to Jet-to-Let magazine, property for sale in the United Arab Emirates is especially popular with British buyers. The publication recently included the country in a list of this year’s top ten overseas hotspots for the first time.

Brits who move abroad also reap the benefits of an active social life - leaving nearly half of the UK’s ex-pats wishing they’d left the country earlier. New research suggests more than a third claim quality of life significantly improved once they left Britain behind. The survey - carried out by Foreign Currency Direct - reveals 38 per cent make new friends fairly soon after moving, with a quarter learning a new language to help integrate them into their new community.

One in four also claim their move abroad has resulted in a better work and life balance - with most suffering less stress and enjoying more downtime in the sun compared to life back in the UK. And far from being brash and bold, many Brits want nothing more than to live quietly and enjoy both the lower cost of living and the sunshine. Peter Ellis, boss of Foreign Currency Direct, said: “With social, physical and now financial benefits being presented from foreign markets to the British investor, it appears that an increasing number of Brits are taking up the offer to seek the solace of a second home abroad.

“Buying property overseas is still an excellent investment and a great opportunity for a better quality of life.” The report also found that the increasing crime rate, bad weather and the high cost of living at home were the reasons for moving abroad.”


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Jamie is an author of several articles pertaining to Mortgages. He is known for his expertise on the subject and on other Business and Finance related articles.


Source: http://www.articletrader.com ]]> http://www.articletrader.com/finance/insurance/cycling-more-benefits-than-you-think.html http://www.articletrader.com/finance/insurance/cycling-more-benefits-than-you-think.html Fri, 18 Jul 2008 00:00:00 -0500
You don’t have to be super-fit to enjoy cycling, and it’s good for you! When looking to lose weight, diets rarely work long-term, regular exercise always does. Any type of regular exercise is of benefit, but cycling is particularly good because fewer injuries occur as a result. Cycling is also a great calorie user, which has various benefits.

According to the British Heart Foundation, cycling at least 20 miles per week reduces the risk of coronary heart disease to less than half that for non-cyclists. Cycling at a gentle 12 mph on a flat road uses 450 kcal per hour. It also makes you feel younger and reduces stress. It is also claimed that cycling raises the speed of your metabolism for hours afterwards, so your body continues to burn calories even after exercise.

Cycling is mainly an aerobic activity (except when going uphill). This is beneficial to the lungs which expand to push as much oxygen into the body as possible and the heart which beats faster to transport this oxygen around your body. A strong heart and powerful lungs form the basis of general fitness. Even if you cycle only a few miles per day, your muscles will gain the benefit, usually becoming trimmer and more toned. The main muscles you use when cycling are the upper thigh muscles, backside, and calf muscles.

Exercising releases what are known as endorphins into your blood - these create a feeling of contentment and happiness, therefore helping to reduce stress. Naturally, if you cycle in pleasant surroundings - your contentment level will be even greater!

My good friend George said “no” to her travel card, and hopped on her bike instead. From my observation, it worked out well- she has saved hundreds of quid a month, plus has lost quite a lot of weight- an all round package that you cannot say “no” to.


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Jamie is an author of several articles pertaining to Bike Insurance. He is known for his expertise on the subject and on other Business and Finance related articles.


Source: http://www.articletrader.com ]]> http://www.articletrader.com/finance/mortgage/how-hard-is-it-to-buy-that-house.html http://www.articletrader.com/finance/mortgage/how-hard-is-it-to-buy-that-house.html Fri, 18 Jul 2008 00:00:00 -0500
My intention is to jointly purchase a property costing £150,000. I would contribute £50,000, while my partner tales out a repayment mortgage for £100,000. I do not want any liability for the mortgage and do not want the others to be able to access my invested capital, but nor would my partner pay me rent or interest. I was investigating the possibility of the idea being put into action.

After researching in the Financial Times, I realized that I could contribute £50,000 to the purchase of a property without the need for you to charge interest or rent to the other contributor towards the house purchase. The property would be held as "tenants in common" (rather than as "joint tenants"), to enable you to control the passing on of your share on your death. I would also have to record your separate interests in the property by way of a declaration of trust, which should cover matters such as how decisions on the sale of the property are to be made.

It should also be possible for my partner to take out a mortgage in their name, but the lender will require that we give a joint charge over the property. If the property falls in value, my share could be at risk under the charge if the others don’t keep up on payments. Unless I guarantee the mortgage, I wouldn’t be liable for any interest payments, except in the event of default and repossession.

Realizing that my plan was feasible I decided to check with some of my other friends, who purchased a home with their partners as well. Two of my good friends selling their flat, and the intermediation of a solicitor would definitely be helpful.

My friend Chris and his girlfriend jointly own a second home, a London flat bought 8 years ago. Chris is a higher-rate taxpayer his partner is a standard-rate taxpayer. They are thinking of selling the flat and expect to make a profit of £150,000 between the both of them. Chris would like to transfer his half of the property on Lucy’s (his girlfriend) name. Their main concern was that if I his half of the property was transferred to his girlfriend shortly before selling, if it would it result in a significant reduction in our total CGT liability on the profit.

Francis Nation-Dixon, partner at Adams Remers solicitors, says you could transfer your half-share of the flat to your wife, either using a conveyance from both of you to her name, or by a Declaration of Trust passing the beneficial interest.

What does this really mean? Conveyance is the legal transfer of property from one owner to another. The conveyance process, if properly carried out by conveyance solicitors, ensures that the purchaser actually owns all the property, land and rights that have been paid for. ?Selling Your House (conveyance) i.e. the legal process involved in selling your house is relatively straightforward.

Taking this into consideration, I decided that I would implement my plan of purchasing Chris’s flat, which would now be in the ownership of his girlfriend, Lucy.


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Jamie is an author of several articles pertaining to Mortgages. He is known for his expertise on the subject and on other Business and Finance related articles.


Source: http://www.articletrader.com ]]> http://www.articletrader.com/finance/loans/how-much-does-the-loan-actually-cost.html http://www.articletrader.com/finance/loans/how-much-does-the-loan-actually-cost.html Fri, 18 Jul 2008 00:00:00 -0500
Many shops want to sell items on credit because they have strong links to, if not ownership of, the finance company. They can sometimes afford to sell the items very cheaply and then make their money on the finance deal. With many stores still charging in excess of 25% APR this can mean a very healthy profit for them on items which they sell for barely more than cost price.

APR is the gross amount of compound interest charged if no repayments are made. For example, imagine you borrow £100 from company A and do not pay anything back to them over the course of a year. At the end of the year you still owe them the original £100 plus another amount, let’s say £10, in interest. That £10 indicates that there is an APR of 10% 1.

An APR can be seen as the price of a loan, so that you can compare one with another. At the time of writing this it is possible to obtain a loan from an Internet lender in UK at 5.9%. This means that if you were to borrow £100 you would owe them £105.90 at the end of the year if you didn’t repay anything before then2.

An Example of the situation is as follows:

Mark and Michael both want to get a new computer and they look through the newspaper. Mark looks for advertisements for cheap credit while Michael drools over the specifications of the computers. Mark finds he can get credit at 6% APR. Michael finds just the computer he wants and it’s only £700 with easy credit terms and an interest-free period.They show each other the advertisements they are interested in. Michael’s interest in financial specifications are non-existent and Mark tries to show him otherwise.

Mark and Michael get the same computer and they are very satisfied with them. Mark pays off his low-cost loan over one year on a monthly basis. The total cost of the computer (including credit) is under £740. When the six months is up Michael still hasn’t sorted his finances out and takes the computer company’s credit terms. By the time he has finished paying for it, it has cost him over £1000.


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Jamie is an author of several articles pertaining to Secured Loans. He is known for his expertise on the subject and on other Business and Finance related articles.


Source: http://www.articletrader.com ]]> http://www.articletrader.com/legal/personal-injury/motorcycle-accident-claims.html http://www.articletrader.com/legal/personal-injury/motorcycle-accident-claims.html Fri, 18 Jul 2008 00:00:00 -0500
Most people in the UK if asked will normally answer any question regarding motorbike accidents with sweeping generalizations but more recent studies have shown that it is most likely to be either end of the motorcycles rider's scale that will cause an accident in the UK, not the general riders. In other words, the individuals most likely to cause a motorcycle crash are young inexperienced riders or older riders but with much more powerful machines than your average user. This is self explanatory really and once considered is also quite reasonable to assume even without the actual evidence available. Young riders are probably just as likely to cause a motorbike accident as their car driving counterparts are to cause a car incident. Rash driving and inexperience of the road in general will normally result in more than one motorbike crash (as long as the first is not fatal obviously) either by colliding with another vehicle or object themselves, or by being hit by another road user who did not see them due to the inexperienced motorcyclist positioning themselves incorrectly in a flow of traffic.

Of course, the more controversial motorbike accidents are those involving older drivers. Probably every road user at some point in their lives has almost collided with a motorcyclist driving like a complete idiot and that is the general image that we hold. Of course, we've all probably come across a dozen more car drivers acting like idiots but a possible motor bike accident seems to stick with us much more as the percentage of bad bike riders that we will come into contact with on the UK's roads is much higher than the percentage of bad car drivers so it feels like they are all bad. The usual suspects - overtaking other vehicles even with oncoming traffic heading towards them, driving in between lanes of traffic even though those lanes are still moving and cars are switching lanes, driving around blind corners at high speeds even though there may be stopped traffic round them and so on.

So how does this affect motorcycle accident claims? Unfortunately, when placing actual blame in a motorbike accident investigation a certain amount of bias will be automatically placed against the rider of motorbikes due to these public perceptions of these forms of transport. You have to remember, it is the police that generally provide all the statistics on fatalities and injuries for these studies so they are more than just aware of the likelihood of the incident being the fault of the motor-cycle.

So when looking for someone to blame for your motorbike accident injury you may have a slightly harder time and may have to have more conclusive evidence to prove that you were not the cause of your own demise. But, motorcycle accident compensation itself is not affected by the actual form of transportation. Even though motorcycle injuries are generally more severe than those experienced by car drivers due to how exposed you are, your compensation amounts are not penalised for having chosen to ride a bike.

In summary, motorbike claims are as standard as other road vehicle claims and despite the bias that will inevitably be in the minds of everyone who handles your case, as long as you have the proof and the documentation then your compensation will be obtained and awarded in the exact same manner with the exact same values.


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Jamie is an author of several articles pertaining to No Win No Fee, Compensation Claims, Accident Claims, Personal Injury Claims and other legal articles.


Source: http://www.articletrader.com ]]>