House and Home
Bank of America in lawsuit over wrongly seized parrot
Filed under: House and Home, Weird and Wonderful
This has to be one of the most outrageous stories I've seen for a while. The parrot in question belonged to Angela Iannelli of Pennsylvania, and was confiscated when Bank of America contractors entered her home, erroneously believing that she was defaulting on her mortgage and that the property was vacant.
Iannelli is sueing the Bank of America over emotional distress - it took more than a week to secure the release of Luke, her blue Macaw and she needed medication for her anxiety.
As far-fetched as this all sounds, it got me thinking what if, and this really is the stuff of nightmares, the bailiffs were at your house - would you know your rights?
Your options when a fixed rate mortgage comes to an end
Filed under: Mortgages, Loans, House and Home
Can there be a greater joy than your fixed rate mortgage coming to an end? That mortgage you signed up to years ago when rates were 6% and it seemed like a great deal at the time?
There probably are things – the birth of your first child perhaps, conquering Kilimanjaro – but halving your mortgage in one go is pretty peachy.
While it's tempting to simply gloat and then head off to the shops, the end of the fixed rate brings a notable, but pleasing, dilemma – how to spend your new cash?
Consumer gas and electricity debts hit boiling point at £728 million
Filed under: House and Home, Budgeting & Planning
About 5.5 million households in Britain today are in debt to their energy suppliers, with the average amount owed standing at £132, according to new research from price comparison site uSwitch.That is a 5% increase on the typical debt this time last year and means that collectively we now owe utility companies an incredible £728 million.
Even more worryingly, this amount is unlikely to fall soon, as consumers struggle with the cost of the cold snap, and the fact that energy prices have rocketed over recent years.
Millions paying over the odds for fixed-rate energy deals
Filed under: House and Home, Budgeting & Planning
Millions of people are paying way over the odds for their gas and electricity because they signed up to fixed tariffs at the top of the market.Energyhelpline.com, a consumer website, says customers on some deals could be paying an extra £532 a year, as gas providers are now cutting their prices following steep falls in wholesale costs.
E.ON becomes latest supplier to cut gas prices - by £3.50 a month
Filed under: Economiser, House and Home, Budgeting & Planning
E.ON has become the latest gas supplier to cut its prices – but by just £3.50 a month. You can buy a pint of beer with the saving, but not much else. Gas bills will come down by 6% from the end of the month, which means the average annual household bill for those paying by direct debit will drop by £42.
However, the energy giant is not cutting its electricity bills. It admitted that of its 5.5 million customers in the UK, many won't benefit from the cuts as they either get only electricity or are on fixed-rate deals. This means only about 1.9 million E.ON customers will actually benefit from the price cut.
New figures show house prices shock and perils of the housing ladder
Filed under: Property, House and Home
New figures reveal the scary ups and downs of the property market last year, holding a cautionary tale for buyers and sellers.The statistics, from property website Zoopla.co.uk, show that last year saw incredible ups and downs.
The first half of the year was downright terrible. The number of properties sold was down by over a third from a year earlier, and average prices fell 2.2% (from £205,607 to £201,067).
In the second half of the year, it was all change, as the number of properties sold was a third higher than the same time the year before, and prices soared 4.7% to reach an average value of £210,661 by the year end.
So what does this tell us? Apart from the fact that selling last June was a disaster.
Love thy neighbour and thy wallet will love you
Filed under: House and Home, Families
Modern day life moves too fast to bother with small kindnesses such as carrying an elderly neighbour's bags or giving up a seat for a pregnant woman on the local bus, according to a shocking new survey from healthcare provider Simplyhealth.It indicates that two thirds of Britons aged under 35 know only two of their neighbours by name, and more than eight in 10 would not offer to carry someone else's bags if they were struggling.
But having a bit of community spirit can improve your health and increase your wealth - so maybe it's time you started helping others to help yourself.
Give your home a spring makeover for less
Filed under: Property, House and Home
My parents have been planning to move for a while now, but with the economic climate as it is at the moment, they've given up all hope of selling up for a while yet. Instead my father (who is, by his own admission, a DIY King) has decided to gradually spruce up their house so that when the time is right to sell, he will have added some value to it.
As well as that, there's nothing better than some redecoration to make you fall in love with your home all over again. I have my suspicions that once he's finished, they're not going to want to move!
So if you're putting off selling, why not add a bit of colour to your home without having to shell out a fortune? You can have some and make your house worth a bit more.
Beware, your bin may be under surveillance, and it'll cost you
Filed under: House and Home
You'd be forgiven for thinking that no-one would be interested in your rubbish bin, that your potato peelings and crisp packets could hold no fascination for anyone - however unusual heir hobbies. But you'd be wrong.
Councils are suddenly showing a tremendous interest, because they've discovered they can use the information to squeeze even more cash out of you.
The number of councils installing microchips in bins has shot up 62% in the last year. Now, at least 2.6 million bins have a chip in them.
But why are they doing it, and how is this going to cost us?
Finally, energy companies start to cut prices, but there's a catch
Filed under: House and Home
As we reported yesterday, the gap between the wholesale price of gas and the price we pay has surged to new highs. British Gas was the one lone company that had reduced bills at all in response. However, today we have another name to add to the list, Scottish and Southern Energy. It has announced that from March 29 it will cut the average gas bill by 4% for customers in England and Wales, which works out at about £30. It has also cut its single fuel gas rates by 7% or £56, moving single fuel gas prices in line with dual fuel and leaving it the cheapest gas only supplier in the market, according to uSwitch
Great news!
Except, surprise surprise, there's a catch.
