OneGuyFromBarlick

Nice one Kev.

Kev.

Once all the PPI claims are finished being paid the UK economy will go into reverse due to that flow of cash being cut off! But by that time perhaps there'll be a new flow from pension scam claims etc.

Yes, some very serious economists have raised that point. They believe it is large enough to be a significant transfer of cash direct into the economy across all sectors.



Thanks to PE for this.

Its all very well having a GDP, (measured however you like), but, its not even accross the economy, it is not taxable or chargeable to government funding in any meaningful or predictable way, it does not relate to a specifi individuals or households circumstance, and when borrowing, for capital or revenue expenditure it is important that the funds raised are spent - a) appropriately to deliver useful benifits (like some rail or road links, some housing, whatever), and preferably (and this was Gordon Brown's problem-) at the best time in any economic cycle to maximise mutliplier effects of revenue back in taxation, and not inflationary presssures in the likes of the construction sector - (ie dont build homes if the private sector is delivering appropriate homes in the right places and time, but do if they are not)

See THIS BBC report on TSB's plans to close at least 82 High Street Branches in an effort to cut costs. There is also comment about the latest computer glitch.
There is no hope for customers like me who refuse to enter the world of internet banking. At the moment it's working but I can foresee a future when I will have to join the madding crowd!

The Chief Exec of this outfit has just been on Sky News.

Robinhood

He's called Vlad, and the word 'bargepole was the first to come immediately to mind.

Couldn't agree with you more David. I liked the last item on the glitch which allowed customers to borrow unlimited funds. I note they say that the accounts that took advantage were suspended. I suspect that thereby hangs a tale!
Another piece in PE this week about the Egregious Leadsom and her continued failure to come clean about her past experience in the City and in particular her husbands involvement in an off shore hedge fund run by a relation.
Also a piece about Jeremy Hunt (where are they now section) and his purchase of seven luxury buy-to-rent flats off another off shore company.
It can be quite depressing reading PE as it constantly uncovers details like this that escape general notice. There is a whole sub-strata of exploitation and dodgy financial activity right at the heart of our politics. (Not forgetting Jacob's involvement in the hedge fund that has decamped to Ireland...)

Thanks to PE I can tell you this little story which might explain one of the factors which has led to little or no replacement cladding being installed on blocks of flats.
A capital holder finances the building of a block of flats, or in the case of student accommodation 'pods', which are smaller. It then sells off 250 year leases on individual flats or pods to other investors. The rules for applying for government subsidy for new cladding state that the application must be signed by all the owners. This is virtually impossible when there are multiple owners. Ergo, no application and no funding towards re-cladding.

That's yet another aspect of the insidious `selling on' scam that's happening all around us now.

Quite right Tiz. The thing that strikes me about the Npower decision to leave the retail market is the customers who will be shifted to yet another supplier whether they like it or not. Customers are a commodity and not an asset to be nurtured. Same applies to banks, pensions and debt.

This report is on The Times front page today...
`Store credit schemes ‘push customers into record debt’' LINK
`Big-name stores are being urged to put opt-out buttons on their websites to stop customers using buy now, pay later schemes to get into unsustainable debt. Britain’s biggest high street stores are accused of pushing shoppers into record levels of debt as they pocket hundreds of millions of pounds from credit schemes that charge up to 30 per cent interest. The Money and Mental Health Policy Institute (MMHPI), a charity founded by Martin Lewis, the personal finance expert, made the call in response to the rise of schemes used by lenders and retailers including Marks & Spencer. The warning comes after a Times Money investigation found that as shoppers splashed out an estimated £2.5 billion on Black Friday bargains last week, companies such as Next and Argos are ramping up profits from selling expensive credit. Companies such as M&S, H&M and JD Sports have formed links with `buy now, pay later' finance firms to offer shoppers almost instant credit...'.

Isn't it funny how political circles are fulminating about Labour plans to push borrowing for essential services up to 46% of GDP (A quite normal level across the rest of Europe I hear) and ignore domestic credit and the levels of debt it has engendered. All the experts agree that one of the factors in the 2008 crash was unsustainable levels of personal debt. Since then it has been encouraged to help the wider economy by maintaining consumption, and again, I am told that levels of domestic and national debt are at a higher level now than pre-2008.
Add this to the list of rocks littering our serene path across the sunlit oceans of progress to a wider and better future and any sensible person starts to smell a rat.My little brain tells me that this is a fool's paradise!

Those bankers are sooo generous...
`HSBC to bring in single overdraft rate of 40%' LINK

Not quite a bank but...

Update address for TV licence, online. I input all the data, licence number, new address etc and they charge me £16.50 for doing their job for them. Bloody robbers

We don't have TV licences here. What does a TV licence entitle you to - watching TV!????

That does sound like a rip-off Kev!
Maz, licence is for having a TV set but it does give you access to free TV. Throw back to the old Wireless Licence which was 7/6 if my memory serves!
I saw that as well Tiz. Thank god I can avoid it!

It is a RIP off, I thought it was the official site as the redirect from my email sent me there. I have requested a refund.

You were redirected to a commercial site offering the service instead of the actual TV site? That's terrible if the email was from the TV licensing people. Makes you wonder what's going on.

I have also cancelled my debit card and opened a fraud case with my bank.

Moving house has got me used to legitimate companies ripping me off, £35 to cancel an insurance policy...

Glad you're fighting back Kev but of course the bottom line is that none of this should have happened. I think it's terrible and I commiserate with you. Who needs this sort of hassle? The answer must be that it's the result of companies chasing extra profit by what are at the very least, suspect policies and actions.

There are a number of TV licence scams doing the rounds at the moment. I received the most prolific one earlier in the week. Informing me that my direct debit had failed and that I needed to rectify this by re entering our bank details. Looked pretty authentic with a feasible email address and logo's etc. A quick google with a copy of the text from the warning put this one to bed. I already knew as we don't do our licence on direct debit anyway.

I think they ramp up at this time of year using a combination of the approaching Christmas season and the threat of the TV licence bogey man!

I used the link from a genuine email from tvlicencing, the browser redirected to the licenceplus website. They are a service reseller who charge a fee for what is a free service.

I put it down to my stupidity at the time made even worse by the fact that I do this stuff for a living...

Big Kev wrote: ↑06 Dec 2019, 10:32 made even worse by the fact that I do this stuff for a living...

You'll be getting the cakes in at work then Kev ?

I googled the TV licence websites yesterday, and even knowing that it's usually best to ignore the sites that come out top of the list, and go to the real site lower down I was not able to decide which was the kosher site.

Luckily I'm out of the TV licence game at the moment. Maybe not for long though.

Tripps wrote: ↑06 Dec 2019, 10:57

Big Kev wrote: ↑06 Dec 2019, 10:32 made even worse by the fact that I do this stuff for a living...

You'll be getting the cakes in at work then Kev ?

Yup