Finance and insurance manager.

News - Should my business be VAT registered?

jweiss123 — Tue, 27 May 2008 04:30:20 +0000

Value Added Tax should be charged by VAT-registered businesses and self-employed people.

It is levied on the supply of their goods and services (output tax) and paid to HM Revenue & Customs.

However, because businesses also pay VAT on goods and services supplied to them (input tax), the amount of VAT actually paid is the excess of the output over the input tax.

VAT applies to most goods and services, but there are some , including financial loans, insurance and some types of training and education.

For supplies that are not exempt, VAT is generally charged at the standard rate of 17.5%, although there is also a reduced rate of 5% and a zero rate (0%) for some items.

The 61,000 question

Businesses and individuals are required to register for VAT and to charge it to customers once their taxable turnover for the previous 12 months reaches the VAT registration threshold (currently 61,000).

Registration is also required if turnover is likely to reach that limit.

You should also register for VAT if you buy in goods from other European Union countries.

Even if your taxable turnover is below the threshold, registration may still be advantageous; it enables you to reclaim VAT paid to suppliers and may increase the of your business.

However, VAT registration brings significant paperwork and should not be lightly.

News - Warning on firm’s selling tactics

jweiss123 — Sun, 25 May 2008 13:03:19 +0000

People in the Isle of Man are being warned about bullying tactics used by a company selling satellite system insurance over the telephone.

A number of have contacted the Officer of Fair Trading (OFT) about intimidating tactics used by the firm.

Customers say they are being pressured into giving their financial details to sign up for the insurance which, in many cases, they might not need.

Anyone who thinks they need extra cover should get other quotes, the OFT said.

Uncompetitive warranties

The off-island company is trying to sell insurance that covers repairs after the manufacturer’s guarantee ends.

OFT Chairman Quintin Gill said costumer should check they actually need extra insurance before deciding whether to buy cover.

“Don’t be pushed into something until you’ve had a chance to think it through and be very wary of supplying your financial details over the phone to companies that cause you any concern ,” said Mr Gill.

In 2005, the Competition Commission carried out an inquiry into the 900m a year market in the UK.

The Commission inquiry branded the sale of extended warranties “unfair and .”

News - Wales: A child’s right to play?

jweiss123 — Sat, 24 May 2008 11:30:07 +0000

For four and a half years Pembrokeshire County Council have encouraged community councils and local groups to run their own play areas, and have not been replacing playground equipment when it falls into disrepair.

But parents in some parts of Pembrokeshire say that not all communities are capable of running their own playgrounds.

Residents on the Bush and Park Estate in Pembroke Dock lost one of their play areas just after Christmas 2003.

They say they did not have the money, the time or the experience to run it themselves.

Jan Rees is the Chair of the Bush and Park Estate Tenants and Residents Association. She said:

“This is an area of very low pay and unemployment.

“It is all very well for the leaders to say, ‘go up to the sports centre’.

“This offers a free facility that should be a child’s right.”

Not far enough

Following resistance across Pembrokeshire, the council decided this week to alter their policy of handing over control of play areas to local communities by offering financial help with insurance and costs.

They will offer 500 to each group and will inspect the areas regularly.

But campaigners say this does not go far enough.

Who should be for maintenance and safety?

Councillor Sue Perkins who represents the Llanion ward in Pembroke Dock says that the local council should be responsible for the County’s play areas.

“It is going to be a post code lottery, and it will depend where you live as to whether you have a play area, or not.”

Wiston Community Council has run its play area at Clarbeston Road outside Haverfordwest for two and a half years.

Local parents and children raised substantial sums of money to match-fund grants to enable them to buy new equipment.

Community councillors and parents help to cut the grass, maintain the equipment, inspect the area regularly and continue to raise funds to cover insurance costs.

Self help

Ellmore Brown is a councillor on Wiston Community Council.

“We get the satisfaction of keeping the children happy, we are self sufficient in funding, and people have learnt to take .”

This kind of input by local communities into play provision is welcomed by Play Wales, the national organisation for children’s play, but they question whether it is right that they should take on the management responsibility.

Toni Chilton is Principal Development Officer with Play Wales, and he says:

“There are a whole range of issues surrounding management of public play facilities that are beyond many communities.

“The necessary infrastructure legally and otherwise would have to be in place, and there needs to be assurance that the area is maintained to an acceptable level.”

The Welsh Assembly Government says that if any community council disagrees with County Councils who have adopted this policy, they should take it up with the councils directly, but that its policy is to encourage a partnership approach to the provision of services.

Politics Show Wales wants your views. Let us know what you think.

That is the Politics Show Sunday 25 April at Midday.

If you want to have your say, you can call 0845 300 90 10, or e-mail via the website.

… Or write to: The Politics Show, Room 1060, BBC Wales, Llandaff, Cardiff. CF5 2YO

The Politics Show - we aim to get closer to your community with our presenter, Rhun ap Iorwerth. Tune in to BBC One on Sundays at Noon.

Disclaimer: The BBC may edit your comments and cannot guarantee that all emails will be published.

News - Consumer chief takes aim at finance firms

jweiss123 — Fri, 23 May 2008 10:25:58 +0000

Peter Vicary-Smith is the new head of Which, formerly known as the Consumers’ Association.

He replaces Dame Sheila McKechnie, who died in January.

For nearly fifty years, Which has been one of the UK’s most powerful consumer voices.

As National Consumer Week draws to a close and the Financial Services Authority (FSA) prepares to start regulating mortgages from 31 October, Mr Vicary-Smith tells BBC News there are plenty of battles for Which to fight.

Which has long said financial firms need to clean up their act - how well do you think they are doing?

There is still something rotten at the heart of UK financial services.

All too often banks and insurers are looking to just make a quick profit from their customers.

There is little thought given to the lifetime value of a customer.

The way financial services are sold needs to change, we need to get away from commission based selling

Treat a customer right and price yourself competitively and you will keep their business for many years and make more money in the long run.

Many retailers get this lesson but not financial firms.

Only if this short-term mindset changes will confidence return to UK savings and pensions.

What can banks and insurers do to raise their game?

We would like to see much more transparency in the credit marketplace.

It is often difficult for consumers to tell how much a loan or credit card will cost them.

In addition, lenders need to drop their policy of charging people penalties for repaying a loan early.

The way financial services are sold needs to change. We need to get away from commission-based selling.

Financial advisers recommending products, purely so that they can earn fat commissions, has done a great deal of damage to consumers.

Dame Sheila McKechnie famously described the FSA as being asleep on the job - do you think the watchdog is still snoozing?

The FSA has a conflicting remit.

Any reforms of the UK financial services system has happened after a scandal has broken

It is meant to protect consumers at the same time as promoting UK financial services.

Experience has shown that this circle cannot be squared.

If, for example, the FSA becomes aware that a UK bank or insurer is in does it reveal this in order to protect the interest of consumers, in the knowledge that it may sound the death knell of the ?

It boils down to one question, where does the prime duty of the FSA lie, with consumers or the industry?

Do you think the FSA is up to regulating UK mortgages?

Any reform of the UK financial services system has (only) happened after a scandal has broken.

Regulation has been reactive rather than proactive.

Admittedly, the FSA has suffered from the fact that it has only had sway over part of the financial services industry.

Taking over the regulation of mortgages is an enormous task as peoples’ homes are their biggest asset and the scandal over endowment mortgages has shown the damage that can be done by mis-selling.

What else do you think is troubling UK consumers?

We recently launched our bite back programme - an online consultation with our members.

The idea of bite back is to see what is on the minds of our members.

From surly shop assistants, food labelling to internet spam, people feel the drip, drip, drip of daily

So far bite back has shown that members feel that many UK businesses and public bodies have little respect for them.

From surly shop assistants, food labelling to internet spam, people feel the drip, drip, drip of daily irritations.

The concerns may not be major on their own but combined they highlight a culture of lack of respect for the consumer.

We plan to base our future campaigns on the feedback we receive through bite back.

Do you have sufficient clout to promote the interests of consumers?

My clout comes from 950,000 Which members.

We can make a real difference and have done so on many occasions in the past.

We are one of very few groups that has new powers under the Enterprise Act to request an Office of Fair Trading (OFT) investigation, a process known as a super-complaint.

The right to make a super-complaint gives our members a direct route to the government and ensures that a major issue will be investigated.

News - Fewer firms face finance censure

jweiss123 — Thu, 22 May 2008 09:16:24 +0000

The number of firms being found guilty of wrongdoing by the Financial Services Authority (FSA) has fallen in 2005, law firm Simmons & Simmons has said.

It calculated that the number of firms censured so far this year is 19, compared with 81 for the whole of 2004.

Late last year the FSA was criticised by an independent tribunal for “defective” enforcement procedures.

But the FSA insisted that the fall reflected market conditions rather than a policy of it acting more cautiously.

“We don’t judge ourselves by how many fines we impose. The number and level of fines simply reflects what is going on in the market,” FSA spokesman Rob McIvor told BBC News.

“At certain times we carry out more , while at other times there are fewer cases in the system.”

Mr McIvor added that any suggestion that the FSA was running scared and had reined in enforcement action was “half-baked, wishful thinking.”

Mis-selling case

Last December, insurer Legal & General took the FSA to the Financial Services and Markets Tribunal over a fine imposed for .

It was the first time a major bank or insurer had taken the City regulator to the tribunal.

The insurer alleged during its submission to the tribunal that the FSA had been unfair.

The tribunal concluded that mis-selling had taken place but in far fewer cases than had been presumed by the FSA .

As a result, the tribunal said that the fine imposed on Legal & General should be cut from 1.1m to 575,000.

But the tribunal, while cutting the fine roughly in half, decided that the FSA’s decision to impose a fine had not been unreasonable and that L&G should pay its own legal costs.

However, the tribunal reiterated its view that the FSA’s approach to the case had been opaque and subjective.

Following the tribunals decision a review of the FSA’s enforcement procedures was announced.

The results of the review are due to be published in July.

News - Ask the expert: Are my savings safe?

jweiss123 — Wed, 21 May 2008 08:24:21 +0000

BBC News Ask the Expert column gives readers a chance to have their financial questions answered.

Brian Capon from the British Bankers’ Association helps Your Money reader Elisabetta Tenenti.

Mrs Tenenti would like to know how safe are her savings and what kind of protection do savers have in the event of a UK regulated bank or building society going bust?

Brian Capon writes:

Deposits with all banks and building societies in the UK are protected under the financial services compensation scheme (FSCS).

The scheme covers the first 2,000 in full and 90% of the next 33,000 if a firm is unable to pay claims against it, for instance where a firm stops trading or is insolvent.

Do you have a question?

Send your questions to our experts

The maximum amount that each person can receive under the scheme is 31,700.

For the purposes of the scheme, where an account is held in joint names, each joint account holder will be treated as holding an equal share of the funds in an account, unless there is evidence to show otherwise, and will be entitled to claim compensation on their share.

If a depositor owes money to the bank or building society, this will be deducted from any deposits held before compensation is .

The scheme is funded by a compulsory levy on the financial services industry.

More information on the financial services compensation scheme, which also covers insurance and s can be found on the FSCS website www.fscs.org.uk.

You can check whether a firm is properly authorised through a useful search facility on the Financial Services Authority website www.fsa.gov.uk.

The opinions expressed are those of the author and are not held by the BBC unless specifically stated. The material is for general information only and does not investment, tax, legal or other form of advice. You should not rely on this information to make (or refrain from making) any decisions. Always obtain independent, professional advice for your own particular situation.

News - Ask the expert: Are my savings safe?

jweiss123 — Tue, 20 May 2008 00:55:42 +0000

BBC News Ask the Expert column gives readers a chance to have their financial questions answered.

Brian Capon from the British Bankers’ Association helps Your Money reader Elisabetta Tenenti.

Mrs Tenenti would like to know how safe are her savings and what kind of do savers have in the event of a UK regulated bank or building society going bust?

Brian Capon writes:

Deposits with all authorised banks and building societies in the UK are protected under the financial services scheme (FSCS).

The scheme covers the first 2,000 in full and 90% of the next 33,000 if a firm is unable to pay claims against it, for instance where a firm stops trading or is insolvent.

Do you have a question?

Send your questions to our experts

The maximum amount that each person can receive under the scheme is 31,700.

If a depositor owes money to the bank or building society, this will be deducted from any deposits held before compensation is calculated.

The independent scheme is funded by a compulsory levy on the financial services industry.

More on the financial services compensation scheme, which also covers insurance and can be found on the FSCS website www.fscs.org.uk.

You can check whether a firm is properly authorised through a useful search facility on the Financial Services Authority website www.fsa.gov.uk.

The opinions expressed are those of the author and are not held by the BBC unless specifically stated. The material is for general information only and does not constitute investment, tax, legal or other form of advice. You should not rely on this information to make (or refrain from making) any decisions. Always obtain independent, advice for your own particular situation.

News - Man finally confesses to murder

jweiss123 — Sun, 18 May 2008 15:17:28 +0000

A Wiltshire man who has always denied killing his wife has finally confessed to her murder.

At the time of his trial in June 2003 Randle Williams was called “evil” and “” - he even shed tears at his wife, Natalie’s funeral.

Three years into a life sentence he has admitted that he strangled and then drowned her in April 2002.

Before admitting murder to Wiltshire Police, he first claimed she had asked him to kill her.

Mrs Williams’ body was recovered from the river at Bradford on Avon less than two days after her husband told police she had disappeared after taking the dog for a walk.

She had first been strangled and then held under water.

Insurance claim

Williams dumped his sodden clothes in undergrowth 12 miles away.

Natalie had been strangled and drowned

When her body was discovered he was arrested-and then released by police.

Detectives then tracked him to a lay-by at Biss Bottom, near , where they found green bin liners full of his wife’s wet clothes and trainers.

Williams tried to hide his guilt, covering his tracks with an elaborate plan to claim a 500,000 insurance policy.

He was in financial trouble - the IT company he had set up had gone into liquidation and his debts were out of control.

He had applied for 665,000 life insurance for himself and his 33-year-old wife which included a 500,000 death benefit while the policies were being drawn up.

After his wife’s death, Williams tried to make a claim, not realising his wife’s had been turned down and not telling the insurers he had been charged with her murder.

News - Norwich Union jobs move to India

jweiss123 — Sat, 17 May 2008 14:28:37 +0000

UK insurance giant Norwich Union has told staff that it will cut 2,350 jobs in the UK and export the work to India.

Parent firm Aviva said operating costs in India were typically 30-40% lower than in the UK and that the move would also help it provide 24-hour services.

The Amicus trade union criticised the decision to move the jobs to India as “despicable” and vowed to fight it.

Amicus officials said there could be 500 redundancies, a figure that Aviva disputes.

Aviva already has offices in Delhi and Bangalore, where about 1,200 staff process general insurance claims.

It defended its latest move as being about adding as well as cutting costs.

The time difference between the UK and India would allow the company to move to round-the-clock claims processing and administration, Aviva said.

Job market fears

Unions have warned that up to 200,000 jobs in the finance sector could leave the UK over the next five years as companies take advantage of cheaper labour costs abroad.

India’s rise as a call centre star

UK firms size up Indian benefits

Average call centre salaries in the UK are about 12,500 a year, compared with 1,200 in India.

Aviva says it hopes the bulk of its job cuts will come through natural staff turnover or voluntary redundancies. The union warns that there will be hundreds of compulsory job losses.

However, according to Aviva only 12 workers faced compulsory redundancies when the firm moved 1,250 jobs
to India earlier this year.

Call centre or data input jobs tend to have a very high turnover of staff.

“This deplorable announcement by Aviva is based purely on greed - it ignores Aviva’s corporate social responsibility towards both its UK employees and customers,” said David Fleming, Amicus national secretary.

India gets 3,700 jobs

Amicus also said the decision would undermine the UK job market, especially for school leavers and graduates.

The UK has been complacent over the years, India is a fresh breath of intense competition

Sorabh, London

Have your say: Should UK jobs move to Asia?

The union has warned that 12 locations across the UK will be affected by the cuts, a figure denied by the company.

In July this year Norwich Union shed nearly 900 jobs in Norwich, Cheadle, Perth and Worthing.

During the past year, Aviva’s overall UK workforce has fallen by 3,000 staff to 36,000.

Global giant

Worldwide, Aviva now employs about 59,000 people, and by the end of 2004 the firm expects to have at least 3,700 of them in India.

AVIVA

Formed after merger of CGU and Norwich Union in 2000

UK’s largest insurance group

World’s seventh largest insurer

Operations in 30 countries

59,000 employees

25 million customers

Market value 10.8bn

Of the new posts created in India, 350 will be call centre roles servicing UK customers, while another 2,000 staff will perform back office work including processing of UK insurance claims.

About 150 jobs will be created to support Aviva’s general insurance business in Canada, although Aviva promises that there will be no job losses in Canada.

The company also says no jobs will be lost in Scotland, where it employs almost 3,000 people.

Aviva is the UK’s largest insurance group, and was formed in a merger of Norwich Union with CGU.

Aviva shares finished the day 1.8% lower at 470.5 pence.

News - An uninsured driver cost me £4,000

jweiss123 — Fri, 16 May 2008 11:40:46 +0000

A crackdown on uninsured driving has been announced. BBC News Online talked to one motorist who had to battle for when her car collided with an uninsured driver’s vehicle.

Saloni Mongia, 30, from London, is counting the cost of her car’s in an accident with an uninsured driver.

In late 2002, Ms Mongia allowed her sister to drive her new 18,000 Mercedes in the capital when the car was involved in a head-on collision with a BMW.

The Mercedes was a write-off and Ms Mongia’s sister suffered whiplash.

But Ms Mongia’s family drama was turned into a crisis by the fact that the driver of the BMW had no insurance.

I felt like I was being punished because the other driver didn’t have insurance

Saloni Mongia

“I thought having insurance meant I would be fine,” Ms Mongia told BBC News Online.

“However, it took me six months to get compensation. I spent the whole time without a car.”

Tortuous

Overall, Ms Mongia said she found the whole claims process tortuous.

“It was a real nightmare, my insurer was very uncooperative. I felt like I was being punished because the other driver didn’t have insurance.”

As the driver of the BMW had no motor cover, Ms Mongia’s insurer had to take its case to the Motor Insurers’ Bureau (MIB).

The MIB was set up by the government to cover the estimated 500m cost of accidents involving uninsured drivers.

It is funded by the car insurance industry, and adds an estimated 30 a year to the average motor premium.

“It can often take a long time to settle a claim following an accident with an uninsured driver,” Roger Snook, director of the MIB, told BBC News Online.

“One party to the accident is often uncooperative, and sometimes there is a criminal court case to be got out of the way.”

Plead poverty

Eventually, Ms Mongia received 14,000 in compensation and the uninsured driver was found guilty of driving without insurance and fined 140.

Crashes involving uninsured drivers cost 500m a year

“I find it incredible that I do everything that I am supposed to do and the accident costs me 4,000, while the driver without insurance is fined such a small sum.”

However, the fine imposed is not out of the ordinary.

According to the Association of British Insurers (ABI) the average fine for driving without insurance is 150, despite the fact that the maximum fine for the offence is 5,000.

“Defendants often plead poverty and the court is duty bound to take this into consideration,” Jon Sellars, spokesman for motor insurer MoreThan, told BBC News Online.

“The simple truth is that the justice system doesn’t treat driving without insurance as a serious enough offence.”

Hit and run

The car insurance market has long been stuck in a vicious circle.

A full no-claims bonus can knock up to two-thirds off an insurance premium

Read how to save on your car insurance

Uninsured drivers have more accidents, which push up the premiums of honest motorists.

This, in turn, makes insurance more expensive - meaning fewer people can afford cover.

As a result, Ms Mongia is far from alone.

More than a million uninsured drivers are believed to be at large on UK roads.

ABI figures show that uninsured drivers are nearly 10 times more likely to have been convicted of drink driving than a motorist with insurance.

Chillingly, the prevalence of uninsured drivers on UK roads has been blamed for a surge in the number of “fail to stop” incidents, commonly known as hit and run.

Crush

The ABI has long been calling for government action to tackle uninsured driving, suggesting that offenders be given community service orders and their cars impounded.

Police in Cumbria and Liverpool recently announced that they have and crushed hundreds of vehicles owned by uninsured drivers.

Police forces have started crushing the vehicles of uninsured drivers

“There is no silver bullet solution to the problem of uninsured drivers, but something has to be done to ease the burden currently falling on honest insured motorists,” Malcolm Tarling, spokesman for ABI, told BBC News Online.

Technology

On Wednesday the government publishes the Greenaway report into uninsured driving.

Professor David Greenaway, of Nottingham University, recommends a more co-ordinated approach to tackling the problem.

At present, uninsured drivers are usually detected only when they are physically stopped by the police.

But Professor Greenaway may call for the databases of insurers to be linked to that of the Driver and Vehicle Licensing Agency (DVLA).

Fines could then be automatically generated when insurance expires.

A similar scheme operates in Sweden where the percentage of drivers with no insurance is less than 1%, compared to an estimated 5% in the UK.

The combined database could even be linked up to CCTV traffic cameras.

The answer has to lie in technology and police being given more powers to confiscate and crush the vehicles of uninsured drivers

Jon Sellars, MoreThan insurer

Number plate recognition technology of the kind used for London’s congestion charge system could allow police to spot unregistered, untaxed and uninsured vehicles on UK roads.

Opportunity

One other option for Professor Greenaway would be to recommend that an insurance disc should be displayed in the windscreen of all motor vehicles.

If a car lacks a valid disc, police, traffic wardens and parking attendants could issue fines.

However, the insurance disc proposal is derided by the UK insurance industry.

“Any disc-based scheme is open to fraud, and is reliant on the vehicle being stationary when someone in authority is there to check it,” Mr Sellars said.

“The answer has to lie in technology and police being given more powers to confiscate and crush the vehicles of uninsured drivers.”

“The government is often accused of being anti-motorist. However, they now have a clear opportunity to do something that will be welcomed by honest motorists and insurers alike.”