It’s going to happen to everyone, we don’t want to think about it, but your untimely demise could have one of the biggest financial implications for those closes to you, It’s never nice to think about, but as a rule of thumb, if you have dependants such as a partner or children, then it’s generally a good idea to take out some form of Life Insurance.

When should you consider buying life insurance?

If you don’t already have life insurance, there are certain changes in circumstances that might lead you to reconsider, such as:

•Becoming a parent.
 
•Getting married.
 
•A change in your income level like becoming the main breadwinner in the family or a partner losing their job.
 
•Moving home, buying a house or taking out a substantial loan (for buying a car etc.).
Life Insurance policies.
There are two types of life insurance, whole of life and term assurance. As the name implies, whole of life cover extends throughout your natural lifetime, although this type of policy does usually attract higher premiums.

Term Assurance tends to appeal to those looking at paying lower monthly premiums on their life insurance.

Life Insurance from Asda- From only £5 per month!

How much cover will you need?
Ideally you should be looking at enough cover to ensure that your dependants are able to maintain their standard of living if the worse should happen to you. A ballpark figure is typically 10 times your current salary, although people without children may require less.

Is life Insurance expensive?

The good news is that Life insurance can cost as little as under £10 per month! Depending on the amount and type of cover you need, we have provided some links below that may give you an indication of the monthly cost you are looking at. Remember, it’s FREE to get a quote and is a good idea to shop around to find the best policy/cover for you!

Legal & General – Life Insurance from less than £6 per month – Free Quote

Asda Life Insurance – From only £5 per month

Compare Life Insurance Quotes in one easy to use website

Virgin Money Life Insurance

Until now a husband or wife who came across information showing their partner was hiding money could copy it, use it and put it before the courts.

But the court reversed the principle, intended to help the financially weak, in a case involving a millionaire.

Lawyers have described the judgement as “ground-breaking”.

It comes after property tycoons Robert and Vincent Tchenguiz attempted to use information about the financial affairs of their sister’s multi-millionaire husband at her divorce hearing.

Metro Bank says it will emphasise good customer service, including long opening hours seven days a week.

The bank will open 10 more stores in the next two years, and aims to have more than 200 in Greater London within ten years.

Metro Bank hopes to gain customers dissatisfied with their existing banks.

“I have opened 500 similar locations in America,” Vernon Hill, one of the bank’s founders, told BBC News.

“Britons are dying for revolution in the banking business, focused on service, and we are here to provide it.”

www.metrobankonline.co.uk

It is the first bank to respond in this way to long-running criticism of the policies and the way they have sometimes been mis-sold.

PPI is supposed to help people pay loans, mortgages or credit card bills if they fall ill or lose their jobs.

Its sale is now being restricted by the Financial Services Authority (FSA) and the Competition Commission.

Lloyds said it had stopped selling PPI polices last Friday, and the new policy would apply to customers of all its brands including the Halifax, Bank of Scotland and the Cheltenham & Gloucester.

“If people are interested in taking the insurance we will offer them a British Bankers’ Association (BBA) leaflet about the insurance,” a spokeswoman said.

This was more than 23 times higher than the number seized six years earlier, MPs were told.

An estimated one in 36 £1 coins in circulation are counterfeit, prompting a campaign by the Royal Mint telling people how to spot fakes.

Key signs of counterfeits include a poorly defined ribbed edge or an indistinct design of the Queen.

The UK Treasury said that the proportion of counterfeit £1 coins in circulation had only risen slightly in the last year. Attempts to tackle the number of fakes had led to the high number seized and returned to the Royal Mint.

The idea is one of several options being considered by Work and Pensions Secretary Iain Duncan Smith to make work pay.

He says the current system is “on the verge of breakdown”.

Labour have said the start-up costs of a new system – which would apply across the UK – could be as much as £7bn.

Mr Duncan Smith refused to be drawn on the cost of the changes but has claimed billions could be saved in bureaucracy, fraud and error with the introduction of a “radically” simpler system.

Officials in his department say £9bn a year is currently wasted in these areas.

* Strengthen your credit rating
* Enjoy a credit limit of up to £2,000 (minimum £250)

* A reward programme like no other, with Barclaycard Freedom automatically earn while you shop at participating retailers.

* With contactless payment technology, a new quick and easy way to pay for purchases of £15 or under.

* 29.9% APR typical (variable)

Apply for the Barclaycard Initial here.

With Credit still being tight for most people in the UK, there are certain lenders who will prey on the vilnerable, those who are already in debt and feeling desperate. Young people getting their hands on first credit and those who, let’s face it, have got in too deep.

Store Cards, may seem easy to obtain and look like a traditional way to get items and worry later, but unlike credit cards, they are usually linked to one shop or one group of stores, with higher APR’s than traditional credit cards. Interest usually accrues more and more because you don’t pay your balance back in full straight away.

Uncompetitive Credit Cards
Credit4everyone have listed credit cards which can help increase your Credit Worthiness, however, you should only use these cards if you can pay back the full balance, some of these cards such as the Vanquis card can cost as much as 59.9%! Be warned.

Using an Overdraft without permission
Overdrafts are not cheap at the best of time, however, an arranged overdraft can be a lot cheaper than one that’s not authorised beforehand. Bank charges and unauthorised fee’s will make paying back the overdraft harder! Speak to your bank at see if they are willing to help you before going into the red. If your account goes into the Red, go and speak with the bank, don’t hide away thinking you will deal with it soon!

Payday loans
Again, useful if a real emergency has risen, however, Payday loans can work out expensive. Txtloan for example will lend £100 for 7 days with the repayment of £110 which at first site appears to be excellent value, however, miss the repayments and charges of £20 are applied within the first 3 days and again a few days later, a one week loan repaid one month late could cost up to £200!

Money Lenders
Home Money Lenders offer easy cash loans direct to your door, collecting repayments weekly, the APR doesn’t reflect the cost of the loans as you are paying a service charge for the collections. Make sure if you are going to be taking a small cash loan you take it with responsible lenders such as Provident and not illegal money lenders. Illegal money lenders can do extreme things to get back their money and often cause a lot of heartache for families.

The bank was split into good and bad partners in the aftermath of the banking crisis with the better half sold to Santnder. The decision could affect 935,000 investors. B&B share closed at 20 in the final day trading before the nationalisation of the group. The bad part of the bank stayed with the Goverment.

The B&B Shareholders Action Group plans to appeal against the decision by Mr Clokey, of PricewaterhouseCoopers. The group had previously said that any valuation below 55p a share would be “tantamount to theft”.

Some pensioners are unlocking equity from homes as a last resort to pay off debts a report has found. Some pensioners are using the money to try and make retirement more comfortable and some are using the money to lend family money.

Age UK argues that during tough economic times, pensioners were finding it more difficult to live on a pension, and their savings were getting only small returns. Some were using equity release to pay for things such as home repairs.