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Just a quickie today, check out this article on the MSN network, it’s about the recession and reveals most and least affected locations in GB. Very interesting and goes to show that it’s an ill wind that blows no one any good, have a look…

Isn’t it good to hear that all your campaigning and hard work supporting the fight against the banks is having an effect? The lastest ‘good’ news is the reduction in overdraft fees on current accounts with Lloyds TSB. The lower charges will kick in from December when the partially Taxpayer-owned bank is to cut the daily and monthly fees for customers who go overdrawn without permission.

It will also halve to £10 the fee for a bounced cheque or e-payment, however the interest rate for an unauthorised overdraft remains at 19.3% and now customers in the red will incur a £5 a month charge as well. So, good and bad news really, they’ve given with one hand and taken away with the other, speaking about the changes, Lloyds TSB Director Mike Regnier said: “Our customers are telling us that they still think our unarranged overdraft fees are too high and we are responding to that very directly by cutting them.”

Unfortunately, the more you read about these cuts the worse it gets for Lloyds TSB customers as it has also decided to stop paying any interest on its standard current accounts. But it’s something and with the new coalition Government last month echoing Labour’s words to introduce unfair credit card charges and bank fees regulations if the banks don’t cut levies, lets hope more reductions are en-route.

Knowing whether to take out a Payment Protection Insuarance (PPI) policy has never been more tricky than it is in the current financial marketplace. Until a few years ago, it was a no-brainer, often included  anyway or pushed on customers, those who chose it had an easy decision to make as the lender often had a policy ready to sell.

Nowadays, the PPI industry has had a shake up, getting rid of mis sold PPI products and from July this year lenders will no longer be able to offer the insurance alongside a credit agreement. In addition to the damaged public opinion of the credit cover, people are also cancelling and turning down the insurance as a way to save money. Even considering all the mis-selling, whether borrowing without cover is a good idea; only time will tell.

Do you work in the Public Sector? If so, you’ll no doubt be watching the next few moves of the new Lib-Con leadership with intrepidation as they announce the harsh cut backs needed to reduce the deficit. Potentially thousands of nurses, teachers, policemen and other workers face the threat of unemployment as the Government try to support the recovery and save billions of pounds.

In essence, the jobs of some Public Sector workers may well be the sacrifices made for the rest of the UK population who work in the Private Sector. With this in mind, it’s a good time to see if you are owed money from mis sold PPI, but we would say that. It’s also time to consider switching or GETTING a PPI policy, and we don’t usually say that. Find a trusted provider, make sure they explain it to you and that you pay a fair price, this way, you could just protect your home, family and lifestyle from some Clegg-Cameron cuts.

With consumer loans in short supply and credit card providers being more picky about who they give plastic to, over 1 million consumers have resorted to sub prime credit card interest rates of 60%. We are, of course, talking about the Vanquis credit card and it’s backers, Provident Financial, are currently receiving around 2,700 applications a day for the high maintenence flexible friend.

This card is aimed squarely at borrowers who have a bad credit history but with few providers coughing up the cash at the moment, many middle-class families are also choosing this credit route. No surprise really if you consider that in the last 12 months, UK consumer credit card debt has risen by 15% to £61.5billion.

Bit of a stat-tastic post today all about lending in January 2010 and the whole of 2009, courtesy of recently released figures from the Bank of England. Check these beauties out:

- 48,198 mortgages were approved in January ‘10, – 17% lower than the 58,223 in December ‘09 but a whopping 43% higher than in January ‘09.

For a bit of context, researchers Global Insight believe 70,000 to 80,000 home loan approvals a month means ’stable house prices’ and experts attributed slow Jan ‘10 sales to poor weather (yes you read right) and the return of the Government stamp duty threshold to £125,000.

- **RECORD BREAKER** – UK banks wrote off a previously unheard of £4.12billion in bad credit card debt in 2009.

- £984million of mortgages were written off in 2009, double the £408million in 2008.

- In total the amount written off by banks (including cards, mortgages and other loans) rose from £6.9billion to £9.3billion.

- Total lending dropped from £13.53 billion in December to £10.24 billion in January.

- UK citizens borrowed £500million more than they repaid in January, a rare occurance with the populus having repaid more that we’d borrowed for five of the previous six months. An interesting comparison is that at £500million borrowed, the amount of credit being handed out in one month is still a long way from the £2billion a month during the peak of the recent boom time.

Last year, the Financial Services Authority (FSA) whacked a massive fine on mortgage lending company GMAC-RFC for starting repossession proceedings too early. Now, GMAC-RFC conducts no new business in the UK and as well as the £2.8 million slap on the wrist, the US based lender had to repay £7.7 million to the customers concerned.

The thing is, what GMAC-RFC did is just as bad as all the extortionate bank and credit card charges that other lenders charged leaving people overdraen and in serious debt. Yet those lenders go unpunished and have their actions sanctioned by a Supreme Court. As usual in this odd financial system we have, it’s one rule for one set of customers and another rule for another. Get it sorted, someone.

You heard it hear 2nd – The Recession’s over! According to the figures released today (Tuesday), by the Office for National Statistics (ONS), the UK economy, measured by gross domestic product (GDP), grew by 0.1% in the final quarter of 2009.

But before you get all excited and start buying Tesco Finest lasagne again, this number is only preliminary and the ONS will release a revised figure on Feb. 26th and another on March 30th that could see us still officially in a recession. However the ONS have said that they are just as likely to adjust the figure upwards as well as downwards so there maybe room in your budget for that lasagne after all.

Just a quick one today to point you in the direction of Msartin Lewis’ Blog, he’s been to No. 10 to discuss the future on bank charges and credit card charges. Looks like the PM’s on board with making sure the banks reduce fees and play ball, check it out here…

Did you hear? Alistair Darling’s hit the bankers where it hurts – in the pay packet. The Chancellor of the Exchequer has introduced a 50% tax on all bonuses over £25,000 as he asks bankers to pass the ‘neighbour test’.

Darling says all bankers must be able to look their neighbours in the eye and be proud that they make an honest living. The new levy will bring in £550 million over the next year which will go towards the budget deficit created by the banks. It’s expected that this harsh line will not be replicated in other countries but will affect the London based subsidiaries of foreign banking institutions.