BEWARE! THE BANKS ARE OUT TO GET YOU!

[Stanley]

I shall be watching them. No way am I going to consent.....

[Tizer]

Mrs Tiz has been going through the process of converting a small private pension into an annuity and you wouldn't believe how difficult and tedious it has become. The providers are now obliged to read all sorts of stuff to you and enquire into your private affairs and finances. She's got it sorted through LV but the word gets out and there's still a man who keeps sending her emails claiming he can get her a better pension...but his pitch assumed that she would be eligible for an enhanced pension by default. Here's an example of one of his emails...

Because I’d like to help you secure the highest available income for your
retirement, I am very keen to give you a personal annuity quote based on your
health and lifestyle.

The reason is that if you have any health issues, or are a smoker or regularly
drink alcohol, we can normally substantially increase your annuity income with
what is known as an *enhanced annuity*. This can be by as much as 75%, or
sometimes even more.

*Having tried to call you, but without success, I wonder if you would call me on
*******. I can then explain how we can increase your income for you. It
will only take a few moments of your time. *

One last point. If you are following up a quote you’ve received elsewhere, we
offer you a valuable price promise. So confident are we of beating any other
quote on a like for like basis, we'll send you a *£100 M&S gift voucher** if we
can’t!

Please do call me when you get a moment. It could make a huge difference to your
retirement income.

[Stanley]

It's 17 years since I converted my pension to an annuity and all I had to do was say yes. I got a far better deal than I would now with all the questions and 'safeguards'. I thought I was hard done to at the time as the Benefits Agency had made me take it a year early but looking at the experience of other people since my Fairy Godmother was looking after me. Please tell Janet she has my sympathy!

[Tizer]

She still doesn't know how much she'll get because the annuity rates are volatile and changing every day in these difficult times. Having made her decision she has to wait weeks for it to go through and who knows what could happen to the markets in the meantime? My switch to an annuity a few years ago was like yours, I simply told them what I wanted and it was done - but not now. It's like applying for a mortgage but more annoying - you're not asking them to lend you money, you're handing over your money to them. And their commission rates are high too.

[Stanley]

Also from what I have gathered, deals like mine where I took a lower monthly payment in exchange for a 3% increase each year are no longer available. This has worked well for me and I haven't done any calculations but think I am in profit now. 3% compound interest is an excellent rate these days!

[Stanley]

See THIS for the basis of the ongoing row over the Student Loan Company which is quite evidently a basket case. It raises the question of which is cheaper in the long run, free tuition or mandatory fees. I suspect that a proper analysis would come down in favour of the old system of grants. Cutting costs isn't always the most economic way of running a public system. I fear that this will be the case in many of the 'improvements' introduced into policy since 2000.

[Tizer]

The Student Loan Company has racked up the interest rate to over 6% - and let's not forget it's compounded monthly - because it wants to sell the debts on to other companies. It's diabolical.

[Stanley]

And the bastards privatised it!
Still in the same area I think.... did you hear the interview yesterday on Today with the bloke 'justifying' the enormous pay the VC of Bath University is getting? See THIS for an earlier report. It made you cringe to hear him trying to defend her. It appears that the trigger for the latest reports is the fact that she sat on the remuneration committee that voted her salary and also voted against making it public. As one member of her staff told her in a public meeting "Time to move on. The trough is empty!"

[Tizer]

Yes, I heard it and it was disgusting. You'd think they were talking about a casino bank rather than a university.

[Stanley]

I suppose that if you have a highly paid post like PR spokesman for a high level group like the VCs of universities you have to buy and promote the ethos that your masters demand. Same applies to so many other organisations and the skill in presentation is to avoid the direct lie but get the message across no matter how spurious it actually is. Even a casino bank has a degree of regulation, these remuneration committees have none, it's simply a matter of what they can get away with....
What struck me about the budget yesterday was that under the surface loopholes are being created that mitigate the costs of the give-aways and open up new avenues for the tax lawyers. They will all be studying the fine detail over the weekend!
The end result as always will be no joy for us proles but new 'opportunities' for the wealth owning classes. All right! I am an old Leftie! but you know I am right..... It's a rigged system.

[Stanley]

See THIS Sun article that appears to lay bare an unintended consequence of the small print in the budget. It will lead to increased tax on people who have saved via Endowments and other Life Policies. If it isn't unintended it is a very sneaky tax on legitimate savings which the Chancellor should be encouraging. Note that it hits the small fry..... They don't immediately set expensive lawyers on to attack the Treasury.

[Stanley]

Another Brexit problem arises. I don't fully understand it but it is something to do with insurance based on EU investments. The BofE say that unless specific legislation is passed, some contracts could be frozen and the total amount involved is many £trillion.

[plaques]

Always happy at being pessimistic we are told the banks have passed the latest stress test. Link.. This may be good news for the banks but the question remains 'could you pass the same test?' So what was the test?
'Could the banks’ balance sheets withstand a 33% fall in house prices, a more than doubling of the unemployment rate to 8.6%, a 25% drop in the value of the Pound and a rapid rise in interest rates from 0.5% to 4%?'
What does this mean to to man on the Clapham omnibus?
A house price fall only really affects those wanting to sell their house. Those in negative equity would have to drop out of the market until things picked up.
If you were one of unfortunate enough to suffer unemployment during this time things could get tough but even worse for those in negative equity.
And what about a drop in the value of the £. (it's already 15% down due to Brexit) another 25% would see food and other goods get more expensive.
Interest rates at 4% would seriously affect mortgage holders piling more pain if you are already suffering from any of the above.
Its being so cheerful that keeps me going.

[Stanley]

I share your misgivings P and it appears that Mark Carney does as well because he added the codicil that whilst he was fairly confident the banks could withstand the hypothetical problems used in the stress test he couldn't be sure about the effects of Brexit and if this was added things could be different. My interpretation of this is that he isn't guaranteeing safety because he isn't certain what the problems could be. Not very reassuring but of course this bit will be glossed over......

[Stanley]

See THIS for news of the latest branch closures by RBS. I saw a figure last night that the number of High Street branches has dropped from 18,000 to 8,000 and of course that hasn't stopped yet. I understand the bank's point about the low footfall in branches but those few are the human face of their business and often the people who need a local branch most. I get the feeling that the banks would quite happily pass the messy business of dealing with humans over to someone else but they need continued access to them to sell their 'products'.

[Tizer]

Another possible accounting fraud at a supermarket company. The boss resigned with immediate effect, after the discovery of new information prompted the firm to ask PwC to perform an "independent investigation"....
`Poundland owner Steinhoff sees its shares crash by 60%' LINK

[Stanley]

I heard that report as well Tiz.....
Associated with the report on the increased use of overdraft credit for food and Xmas this year, the charity demanded that the banks should be stopped from giving out unasked for increases in overdraft limits. Same applies to credit cards!

[Stanley]

I heard a news item yesterday about the perils of entering into a leasing arrangement for car purchase. I can't find anything on the web about it but the gist was that many are finding that it isn't as good a deal as they were led to believe.
See THIS for a report on the worrying fall in car sales which is now entering its ninth month.

[Tizer]

This describes the different ways of buying a car that are now most common: LINK They can look OK but the danger comes when you want to change car and go back to the garage. There can be hefty costs associated with higher than agreed mileage or any slight damage to the car.

[Stanley]

[plaques]

Consumer Prices Index (CPI) rose to 3.1% in November, up from 3% in October. The normal way of dealing with this is to raise interest rates to subdue wage increases. But hang on, wage increases are not the root cause in this case so piling on rate increases will only pile on the agony. But lets look on the bright side. IF the inflation holds steady then in a years time it will appear to drop. This of course is only one of the mathematical illusions that is used to placate the ignorant. The truth is people will still be paying inflated prices even though a line on some chart shows it going in a downward direction. Never mind as we have just learnt you can always trust the politicians, can't you?

[Stanley]

I had exactly the same thoughts P when I saw the news....

[Tizer]

IF the inflation holds steady then in a years time it will appear to drop. This of course is only one of the mathematical illusions that is used to placate the ignorant.

Just like the `special offers' in the supermarket. They raise the price somewhere for a short while then, bingo, it's suddenly `on offer'.

[Stanley]

Cunning Wheezes Department Tiz. At the Co-op they raise the price but stick a flyer on the price label saying "Love Low Prices!" They took St Augur cheese off the shelf for a couple of moths then brought it back with a label saying "NEW!". Same cheese of course, higher price.
Remember when Heinz announced they were stopping making Salad Cream?
Where does inventiveness stop and fraud start?

[Tizer]

I know I go on and on and on about the banks and bankers but they deserve it - here's another example and it's not just Natwest. Most of the big UK banks seem to have a very poor understanding of internet security...
`NatWest bank spat prompts web security changes' LINK