The 7 Major Errors in Finance

A number of crucial errors can expose a business to severe difficulties and can lead to the business trading insolently and eventual liquidation. The following is not an exhaustive list however one that lists the major faults. The key task for any business is to identify, and then to develop a strategy to overcome and mitigate the exposure.

1. Excess Borrowing!

2. Wrong type of Borrowing, there are many options for a business to borrow or raise finance and can range from overdraft, business loan, factoring/invoice discounting, asset based lending, leasing/hire purchase, payroll financing, merchant cash advance, private finance/angel investment. The business needs to decide on the best source for price and stability for the business.

3. Borrowing over the correct period - particular risk for a business is to borrow over too short a period where the cash flow of the business will suffer.

4. Not Realising that cash flow is king! It is a sad fact that many profitable businesses fail due to cash flow issues.

5. Excessive Spending. There are many business owners who have a view that they need to have the image of a successful business to gain success - big offices, high end equipment, vehicles. There is also poor control over costs - staffing, poor efficiency and productivity and lots of wastage.

6. Inadequate contribution/ investment from owners (shareholders). The owners of a business contribute by not taking out too much profit (dividends) and also investing further capital if required. Too many businesses when they are successful take out as much money out of the business as they can which makes it difficult for the business to innovate and grow.

7. Failure to manage risk - growing too fast, bad capital investments, insuring inappropriately against perils.

Biggest Business Opportunity in 2009

A fantastic opportunity to earn £50,000 a year plus by setting up your own business in Financial Claims Management with no upfront capital outlay.

What is claims management?
Claims Management is the process by which compensation is obtained for clients involved in accidents, work related injuries, employment issues as well as financial products which have been mis-sold. The Claims Management business has evolved from being regarded as 'ambulance chasing' in the early 90’s to being a multi billion pound industry.

Size of the general claims market?
The size of the entire claims markets is huge as it encompasses: Personal Injury, Housing Disrepair, Employment, Criminal Injury, Industrial Injuries and our specialist sector -Financial Services.

According to DataMonitor the Personal Injury Market alone will have 775,958 claims in 2011/12 and be worth 8 Billion. The figures on Industrial Injuries are huge as well as there are a large number of claims relating to asbestos and mining issues. Jim Beresford the Principal Solicitor at Beresfords which deals with the Miners Compensation Scheme has earned over £16 Million annually for the last few years.

In our area of operation -Financial Services claims market, a small number of firms dominate including Brunel Franklin, Claim2Gain. The rewards on offer for those who are able to build a business of scale are huge. Brunel Franklin has won over 100 Million in compensation for clients and based on their average fee of 25%, they have made £25 Million in fee income over three years.

The Business Opportunity

This opportunity to start a financial claims management business with no capital outlay is for anyone regardless of background or experience who is motivated and serious about making money. In the past this has been attractive to Mortgage brokers, IFAs, Estate agents- mainly businesses which have an existing client database.

What do we do?

1. CLEAR debts: Credit Cards, Store Cards, Unsecured Loans, Secured Loans, HP Finance, Car Loans/Finance, Overdrafts, Seek compensation against Mortgages,
Without the need of Bankruptcy, IVA, Debt Management or Consolidation and therefore without adversely affecting the credit rating of the client.

2. Reclaim mis-sold Payment Protection Insurance (PPI), Business Bank Charges and Mortgage Arrears Fees

Background Information

On 29 June 2006 the Office of Fair Trading (OFT) published guidance on how provisions of the Consumer Credit Act 2006 may be used to protect consumers. The provisions relating to unfair relationships between borrowers and lenders came into force in July 2007. This new act updates the Consumer Credit Act 1974. It aims to create a fairer, clearer and more competitive Consumer Credit market and to improve protection for consumers. The Act enables borrowers to challenge credit agreements on the grounds that the relationship between the parties is unfair.

What does this mean?

Key changes to The Consumer Credit Act 1974 (“the Act”) means that some Credit Cards and Loans issued before 6th April 2007 could be totally “written off” through our legal process as a result of unfair relationships i.e. invalid, unenforceable or fundamentally flawed consumer credit agreements.
Many lenders/institutions may have failed to have internal systems robust enough to ensure adherence to the strict requirements of The Act in relation to agreements.
If a credit agreement is found to be unenforceable the agreement could be cancelled and no further payments made, any goods purchased would not have to be returned and in many cases payments that have been made under the agreement would be returned
The following as previously mentioned are just some of the agreements that may fall in to this category • Credit Cards • Car Loans/Finance • Unsecured Loans • Secured Loans • Consolidation Loans • Hire Purchase • Store Cards.
It is estimated that as many as 50% of Credit/Loan Agreements in issued may be unenforceable. We have solicitors on hand to check credit/loan agreements between £5,000 and £25,000.
As mentioned above - It is possible to: (a) legally have credit card/loan balances 100% written off without affecting your credit file at all.(b) Reclaim the charges/interest paid on the debt!

Take a look at the link below with a quote from a judge and a statement that failure by a lender to observe strictly the intricate requirements of the Consumer Credit Act can lead to a credit agreement being completely unenforceable with no right of restitution or other form of relief:
http://www.4-5graysinnsquare.co.uk/practiceareas/index.cfm?id=1582

Is there a Market?

With approximately 50 million credit agreements created in the UK each year and an estimated 20 million PPI policies currently in force in the UK, the potential for this business is staggering. This business is predicted to be many times bigger than personal injury claims and is already proving to be very relevant to the current climate as people are eager to get their debts written off.
In a recent press release, a Halifax client claimed she was told she should take out payment protection insurance (previously referred to ASU- accident, sickness and unemployment cover) on a loan when she went into a branch on crutches while off work.
The 43 year old hospital worker, who had a major knee operation says that she went into her local branch to apply for a loan when her wages dropped by 50% after being off work for 6 months.
Despite already being off work and her medical condition not being covered under the policy, she claims she was told that she needed to take out the policy!

This is just one recent example of a reported case. There are many other examples of mi-selling and fines that have recently been declared. In October 2008, the Financial Services Authority (FSA) fined Alliance and Leicester or £7 million as it sold 210,000 policies between January 2005 to December 2007 without advising customers of the cost of PPI.


Final thoughts.....

It is my belief that this is the right proposition for the right time, the market that we are in is
increasing on a daily basis with the continuation of the credit crunch, people are falling into
mortgage arrears on a monthly basis, incurring bank charges on a daily basis.

This proposition is likely to find favour with potential customers as customers are keen on services where they can either make/save money. Our initial product offering is all about getting customers money back or reducing their debt. We are tapping into this thinking and therefore we have the basis for a business of scale and one that can be durable.

If you are a confident, self-motivated, sales driven individual who can give dedication and commitment, then you will receive:
Initial training and one to one management support. All future back office support is provided.
Opportunity to build your own team.
Opportunity to work for your yourself - with uncapped earning potential (earn what you want).

For further details please send me an email accompanied by your CV to:

info@easy4life.com

Merchant Cash Advance Services in the UK

A NEW WAY TO RAISE UNSECURED FINANCE FOR YOUR BUSINESS DURING THE CREDIT CRUNCH

If you or your client has a Merchant Account client, then you need to be aware of a new innovative way in which a Merchant Account Consultant can assist you or your clients at this difficult time.

• A new way of refinancing your business via your Card transactions
• Savings for your businesses on your card payments
• Reduced rates/fees for businesses new to card payments

We are all aware that it has become much more difficult for business to obtain finance. Using a Merchant Account Consultant is the solution - They can organize a no hassle, easy to obtain Cash Advance against future receivables on Credit and Debit Card transactions. The money can be used for any purpose and there is no security required whatsoever. As long as the business is currently processing Card transactions then you are eligible.

In addition, by specializing in saving businesses money on the cost of processing credit and debit card transactions you will referred to receive a free consultancy and advisory leading (in most cases) to considerable savings and the business would retain 100% of any savings made.

For more information please email to info@easy4life.com

The January Effect

For Share Investors, it is not Christmas that is the most wonderful time of the year but January. January in Investors' circles is known traditionally as the month in which share prices rise quite sharply. It will therefore be quite interesting to see what will happen this time!

Traditionally, it has been estimated that January and April are months where Shares actually do well. It is said that in the other months the average gap between equity returned and cash returns is zero.

Most stock market commentators are unclear why the January effect should exist. The reasons often quote are to do with Riskiness of Shares- Higher returns should be a reward for taking on extra risk. If Shares are riskier in January, then they should generate higher returns. This seasonality is caused by higher risk at particular times of the year.
At the turn of the year, sales, output and the money supply are all larger than other times. Economic data is more important in December and January than other times. Investors therefore face a greater risk of bad news e.g Christmas trading is poor etc.

To summarise, therefore to compensate for the higher risk, expected returns must be higher.

Proposed changes to PPI Sales (Payment Protection Insurance)

There has been a proposal by the Competition Commission (CC) to curb Payment Protection Insurance (PPI) Insurance at the point of sale by the provider of a financial product. This is so that there is an increase in competition and and effectively a real choice in the PPI market. In its provisional findings report, the CC concluded that distributors of PPI—such as banks, mortgage providers and credit card providers—face little or no competition when selling PPI to their credit customers.

The details of the proposal are that the distributor of the product can not contact the consumer within 14 days of credit being sold, however consumers can contact the distributor for PPI 24 hours after the sale.
Credit providers will be required to provide a personal PPI quote, which will clearly state the cost of the PPI policy individually and when added to the credit product.
The Competition Commission is also proposing a ban on the sale of single-premium PPI policies, which it says act as a barrier to customers switching and the costs of which are difficult to compare with other PPI policies.
There will also be a requirement on all PPI providers to provide certain information and messages in PPI advertisements which will include the price of their PPI, expressed in a common format of monthly cost per £100 of monthly benefit, and that PPI is optional and available from other providers.
A requirement on all PPI providers to provide an annual statement for PPI customers,including information similar to that provided in the personal quote, to encourage customers to review their policy annually and make it easier for customers to decide whether to switch.

PPI is a very useful tool however there has been problems with this products as previously discussed in this blog. This is the very economic climate that consumers need this type of product the most and any information that gives the consumer choice and options by introducing transparency should be welcomed

Sale and Rentback code of practice

There has been a number of stories reported in the media about problems with the practice of sale and rent backs and although a very useful option for many, with many Win: Win situations created. However a minority of the companies set up in this market have unscrupulous practices which have been widely reported and subsequently there has been various calls for regulation of the sale and rent back market.

This has given rise to a number of organisations who have been formed to introduce self-regulation and a code of practice. The main ethical code of practice operators in the market are:

http://www.propertybuyersassociation.org/

The Property Buyers Association (PROBAS) was established by established companies such as by A Quick Sale Limited, UK Property Buyers and North East Property Buyers.


http://www.nlarentback.org.uk/

NLA RentBack (formerly NASARB) is part of the National Landlords Association (NLA), the leading independent national organisation for private residential landlords.


http://www.rentbackcharter.com/

The Rent Back Charter Association is a not for profit company that has been formed by a number of individual prominent below market value investor.

Colossal Exit Penalties for With-Profit funds

It Gets Worse! There is bad news for anyone who has investments in the form of a With-Profit policy. These With-Profits policies are equity-linked saving schemes and due to the current turbulence in the stock market, it is natural for some people to want back their money by exiting this type of investment and cashing-in on the policy. However it does not seem to be convenient for the financial service providers as they would like to keep your money too!

To this effect, they are relying on their 'small print' to introduce a Market Value Reduction (MVR) or as some providers call it the market Value Adjustment (MVA)- the adjustment is only one way and that is downwards!

In an ideal world the With-Profit policies should smooth out the ups and downs as in the better years they build up some reserves so that they can be paid out in poor years. This does not seem to be the case for the majority of providers who are all relying on the MVR.

The Market Value Reductions that have come in force by all the providers are massive and they effectively 'kill' off your already dwindling investment. The providers have introduced whatever percentage deduction they see fit to 'stabilise' their fund, typically these are currently at around 20%.

For example- you have a policy where you have a valuation that states £20,000, however when you come to surrender this, the provider applies a typical Market Value Reduction and you only get back £16,000. The value of the investments have fallen and you get a MVR applied - a real double Whammy!

There are also many other individuals who have invested in bonds, hoping that they would provide a guaranteed income and /or capital growth. Most are now finding that they have next to nothing as a return on their investment and even in some cases that they have lost some of their initial capital.

The following is a list of bonds that are commonly problematic for some individuals

a) Fixed term Investment Bonds
b) Growth Bonds
c) High Income Bonds
d) Guaranteed Investment Bonds
e) Stock Market Guaranted Bonds
f) Capital Investment Bonds

If you wish to discuss a financial compensation claim on any investment and you believe you have been mis-sold/advised then contact me in confidence and I can put you in touch with experts who can assist.

email me on info@easy4life.com

Reclaim back you business bank charges

Many banks are now paying compensation for business banking charges, as businesses claim back money that the bank has charged them in unfair fees.
If your business breaks any of the terms and conditions associated with its bank account, for example, if you exceed your overdraft limit, the bank will charge your business. The law is clear that any charges by the bank must reflect the actual costs of damages incurred, but many banks charge more money than they should. Estimates of the maximum amount that any bank can justifiably charge is usually about £2.50 whereas charges are commonly about £30.

Many people have already successfully recovered all of the charges plus interest that occurred in the past six years on their current business accounts as well as closed bank accounts and (Six years is as far back as you can go in the courts).

You can do this too, whether you're claiming against your bank's charges or your business credit card. Compensation claims can be made independently or through independent claims specialists. There are several advantages to making a claim through an independent company: You will save time and money as most companies do everything on your behalf. Most companies operate on a no win-no fee basis. If the case goes to court you will receive advice and representation in court, and any necessary fees will be underwritten.

I can put you in touch with a expert financial claims management company that has a nationwide coverage and specialises in reclaiming unfair bank charges, providing: A No Win No Fee Service Expert friendly advice Handling your case from start to finish.

Email me on info@easy4life.com

Don't get crunched: Consider a management franchsise in health care

An outstanding franchise opportunity in homecare services.

One of the very few industries at all fronts - demographics, economics etc. that is doing well is the health care industry and by grabbing this great opportunity you can avoid going through a boom and bust approach in business and completely bypass the credit crunch.

A home care business is such an outstanding proposition that it grows year on year regardless of other market forces and industries also regardless of the state of the general economy. If you are looking for a business opportunity and have the necessary management skills and entrepreneurship and motivation, then talk to me to realise your ambitions.

You need to be able to invest £12,000 (excluding working capital), have a firm commitment to owning, operating and developing your own business and a desire to deliver the very best service possible to some of the most vulnerable members of our society.

Contact Safaraz Ali initially be email: info@easy4life.com

The FSA to regulate Secured Loans?

There has been a number of associations and others involved in the secured loan market who have began thinking openly and discussing the future regulation of the secured loans sector and specifically whether the Financial Services Authority (FSA) should regulate secured loans.

The secured loan market is currently regulated by the Consumer Credit Act, with firms accountable to the Office of Fair Trading, the political climate at the moment is that secured loans need to be regulated by the 'super regulator' the FSA, as it only has the infrastucture and setup to monitor the Secured Loans market.

Some secured loans operators lenders and packagers do not think that at this stage that the FSA should be regulating secured loans as the industry is self-regulating itself fairly well and above the self-regulation the consumer has the protection of Consumer Credit Act to rely on as well.

However overall the opinion is divided and it doesn't seem that we are going to get regulation in the secured loans market in the near future.

Pre-action protocol for mortgage possession claims

Residential mortgage lenders will be required to have complied with the pre-action protocol in all
mortgage possession claims commenced in England and Wales from 19 November 2008.

The pre-action protocol is designed to encourage parties to exchange information at an early stage, to encourage early settlement of cases or where that cannot be avoided, more efficient case management.

Lenders will be expected to demonstrate that they have tried to discuss and agree alternatives to repossession when borrowers get into trouble with their mortgage repayments. If a case reaches court, lenders will be required to tell the court precisely what they have done to comply with the protocol. It does not alter parties existing rights and obligations although the overall aim of the government has been to help make repossessions a last resort.

The key points of the pre-action protocol are:

· It applies to all first and second charge lending over residential property.
· Lenders will be required to tell the court precisely what they have done to comply with the protocol
· If a lender rejects a proposal for payment of the arrears it must give written reasons to the
borrower within 10 working days.
· The lender should consider not commencing proceedings where the borrower has applied for mortgage payment protection insurance, has a reasonable expectation of eligibility, and can cover the excess, also where the borrower has demonstrated the property has, or will be, put on the market at an appropriate price or has submitted a genuine complaint to the Financial Ombudsman Service about the potential possession claim.

Where the lender decides not to postpone possession proceedings in any of the
circumstances described it must inform the borrower of the decision with reasons not less
than 5 working days before commencing proceedings

Additionally, there are provisions requiring lenders to consider reasonable requests from the borrower for a change of payment date, to respond promptly to a borrower’s proposal for payment. The parties should take all reasonable steps to discuss with each other, or their representatives, the cause of the arrears, the borrower’s financial circumstances and proposals for repayment of the arrears.


For more information visit:
http://www.civiljusticecouncil.gov.uk/files/Mortgage_Pre-Action_protocol_21_Oct.pdf

Affordability is Key

The effect of NINJA mortgages (no income, no job or assets) in the United States is widely credited to be the source of the current credit crunch. In the UK, the Financial Services Authority (FSA) stated when it was originated that affordability is the key to any lending that they formed a number of regulations to prevent excessive lending and the practice of granting mortgages to people who could not afford it.

There are a number of acts to regulate mortgage advice and prevent this type of mi-selling and they are listed below:

The Financial Services and Markets Act (2000) creating the FSA.

The Regulated Activities (Amendment) Order 2003 SI 1475, by which the Treasury gave responsibility for regulated mortgage lending and related activities to the FSA from 2004.

FSA rules requiring lenders to take account of a "customer's ability to repay" (Mortgage Conduct of Business (MCOB) 11.3.1 R) as well as maintaining a "responsible lending policy" (MCOB 11.3.4 R).

The FSA rules cover the whole mortgage selling process and states that consumers should be advised on suitability. In assessing whether a mortgage is suitable, the affordability of that mortgage is the key criteria.

The Demise of Payment Protection Insurance

Going back only a few years, most of the financial press and operators in the financial market warned Financial Advisers and Mortgage Brokers that they were not selling enough Payment Protection Insurance (PPI) and that this is could result in their clients not having adequate protection and leaving them exposed. I have recently come across a number of articles in the financial press that I believe are considerably misleading and in somewhat degrading a very important insurance cover which could protect people from losing their homes, that is mortgage payment protection insurance (MPPI).


Okay, it is true that the Office of Fair Trading (OFT) , the Financial Services Authority (FSA) and the Consumers Association continues to highlight and find failings in the sale of loan and credit card PPI and all have stated in one respect that they would like to see the end of single premium PPI sold alongside personal loans.

The PPI attached to loans particularly maybe the subject of mi-selling particularly if the individual is unable to claim on the policy, however the PPI product itself is an excellent product with a very important role particularly in the current economic environment.

Consumers need to be aware that the two kinds of PPI (i.e single and regular premium) are considerably different and they need to check that the insurance that they have purchased continues to meet their changing needs. Consumers need to be rest assured that while the PPI sales process is facing a lot of negative focus in the media, most of the mortgage payment protection insurance (MPPI) sales in particular go through very robust and thorough sales process and majority of these product were correctly advised and sold.

The media need to be more accountable in writing about these financial products and ensure that they do not state that all payment protection is bad and enable consumers to remain confident that Mortgage Payment Protection Insurance is a valuable product that will ultimately help them keep their home.

The triumph of Bridging Finance in the current property market.

The present property sector is seeing a number of winners emerging as well as the majority of expected people losing out. The number of people losing out is mainly down to the number of new entrant landlords and developers who are now finding it increasing difficult to survive through a very difficult market. Most of these individuals were relying on no money down financing and cash back deals as well as raising equity from purchased property.

There is now a multitude of properties coming to the market and this has given rise to individuals with cash and /or strong equity to maximise opportunities in the present property market. There is agreement across the board that this is the wrong time to put for sale any property, however depending on the price this could be an ideal time to consider potential deals.

There are a number of bridging finance providers who have reacted to this market and developed new innovative products to enable quick completion and the provision of full purchase price funding where there is strong levels of equity available in either the clients own home or other properties.

The current market is and will for the foreseeable future present good opportunities to acquire good quality strong assets and therefore one should consider bridging finance to enable the deal occurring. This is particularly the case where there is a time constraint as most bridging finance providers work on the basis of no requirement for bank statements, accounts, projections, cash flows and also the underwriting is not based on income multiples and purely on the property asset.

The demise of "Family Savings" products

It is surprising how many of the with-profits plan which the life providers were describing as "family savings fund" have deteriorated in value. These policies were sold for a minimum period of 10 years and after the term the client can could cash in on the policy or in some cases part of their policy at any time. These were marketed and sold on the basis of long term savings for events to support the family - for events such as a wedding, university fees and other such matters.
The surrender values of these policies are currently worth less than if the equivalent savings amount was put away in a non-bearing interest account!
I am looking into this a little more detail and analysing the average returns for all the main providers such as Standard Life, Clerical Medical, Friends Provident, Scottish Provident, Scottish Amicable, Scottish Equitable and Prudential.
If there is any secondary information out there or if you have any further information to assist me with this then please contact me on info@easy4life.com

Quotes from the "Rich Dad Poor Dad" Book

In this time of uncertainty I thought it would be a good motivator to remind ourselves of the contents from this well recommended book.

"Financial Literacy = Know your Assets from your Liabilities."
"An asset = something that puts $$$ in your pocket whether you work or not."
"Choosing to be rich starts by choosing your IDEAS."
"Too many middle-class people try to "keep up with the Joneses". The problem is… the Joneses are broke. They may have the big house, the nice car… but if you study their financial statements, you'll find that they own nothing, they have no assets, they are in debt."
"There is no "job security" anymore - you need "financial" security."
"With every $ that comes into your hand, you have a CHOICE. If you're smart, you'll buy an asset with that dollar."
"Most people are afraid of failing and being rejected. Get over these 2 things, and life is easy!"
"Think big! Leverage your ideas! "How can I reach more people with less effort?"
"To get rich, you need to desire it. Do you have the strong reasons why?"
"Do you wish to learn from your mistakes? Get up once you're down?"
"It's not how much you make that matters - it's how much you keep. Check out your saving/earning ratio. Live below your means! How much actually drops to your bottom line?"
"Who you know can make the biggest difference in your financial life. Get out there and meet people! NETWORK!"
"Poor people are afraid of risk, rejection,fear of losing, losing face… Losing is part of the winning!" "Successful people try and try again, they fail over and over again. At school we are taught that losing and failing is bad. At school, if you make mistakes, you are a "failure". People spend their entire lives fearing MISTAKES. And yet mistakes are how we learn. There is a priceless kernel of knowledge in every mistake. Admit it - don't deny or justify it. Learn from it!"
"Only borrow money when you don't need it."
"Just do it once. "How can I do it just once, for it to return money to me forever?
" Creative multiple streams of passive income!"
"The biggest challenge you have, is dealing with your self-doubt. Challenge your self-doubts!"
"More important than the HOW we achieve financial freedom, is the WHY. Find YOUR reasons why you want to be free and wealthy."
"Most people look for the easy road to wealth, because they lack a strong enough why. The easy road ALWAYS leads to a dead end."
"Stop hanging out with some of the people that are holding you back."
"Thinking is the hardest wish you'll ever do."
"There is no security anymore. You can't rely on Social Security or company pensions for retirement. We need new answers."
"No longer can we simply tell our children to "Go to school, get good grades, and look for a safe, secure job." It's some of the most dangerous advice we could give."
"How many millions of people are out there in the real world struggling financially?"
"The world has changed, but education has not changed with it."
"One of the reasons why the rich get richer and the poor get poorer is that most of us learn about money from our parents. So what scan a poor parent tell their child about money?"
"Rich Dad forbade the words "I can't afford it" - instead, "HOW can I afford it." One lets you off the hook, ad the other forces you to think. "My brain gets stronger every day because I exercise it. The stronger it gets, the more money I can make."
"Poor Dad thought that the rich should pay more in taxes to take care of those less fortunate. Rich Dad said: "Taxes punish those who produce and reward those who don't produce."
"I encourage you to study to be rich, to understand how money works, and to have it work for you!"
"Passion is ANGER and LOVE combined. When it comes to money, most people want to play it safe and feel secure. Passion does not direct them - FEAR does."
"To wake up in the middle of the night terrified about paying bills is a horrible way to live."
"In life, it's not how much money you make that counts, but how much you keep."

Creative Real Estate Online

The CREOnline webiste is a US based webiste however it has many fresh money-making ideas, has an abundance of revealing "how-to" articles, new educational opportunities, and powerful tools for working smarter and increasing your property profits.

In particular I would recommend you read the Lease Options Articles and information as this will be the next big thing in the UK.

The website is:

http://www.creonline.com

Property Search Engine

Take a look at Globrix , this site allows you to search nearly every property for sale or to rent in the UK down to the last detail.

It is Not a property listing site, Its a true property search engine. The big difference here is that property listing services such as rightmove.co.uk charge estate agents a fee, and in exchange bring their properties to a wider audience.

Not all Estate Agents are members of such services nor will they pay other property listing services to list their properties, therefore just relying on a property listing site, will not get you access to all the properties available at any one time and you get miss out on a gem!

With this serach engine,estate agents don't have to come to them with a list of properties that they'd like to promote online, they go to them. Globrix tracks down almost every single estate agent (as long as they have a web presence) in the UK and scours their websites, coming back with a reliable list of what's available to buy or rent.

http://www.globrix.com

Alliance and Leicester Fined £7M for PPI Mis-selling

The FSA announced that has fined Alliance & Leicester Bank (A&L) £7m for serious failings in its telephone sales of payment protection insurance (PPI).

The regulator said that between Jan 05 to Dec 07, A&L sold approximately 210,000 PPI policies to customers seeking a personal loan at an average price of £1,265, however there was a general failure by advisers to give customers details of the cost of PPI.

Also, A&L sought to find reasons to sell PPI without considering customers needs. The FSA said A&L did not make it sufficiently clear that PPI was optional and had a culture of training staff to put pressure on customers where they queried the inclusion of PPI in their quotation or challenged advisers' recommendations.

A&L has agreed to implement a substantial and comprehensive customer contact programme, overseen by by a third party. It will write to all customers who took out policies by telephone in conjunction with an unsecured loan between 14 January 2005 and 31 December 2007 prompting them to review their policy against product information sent to them. It will also review any relevant rejected complaints and claims and has committed to pay redress where appropriate. This remedial action has been taken into account by the FSA and has reduced the level of penalty which would otherwise have been imposed on the firm.


Many operators in the financial services market have failings and considerable shortcomings in their sales processes. It is disappointing that after the Pensions mis-selling scandal, the endowment mis-selling and the various investment products mi-sold over the years and even with regulation there is considerable problems.

In a previous posting I stated that there is a unique opportunity for motivated individuals to start their own profitable and No Risk business with No capital outlay. An opportunity exists to assist individuals who have a potential mis-sold financial product to obtain recompense and as stated it is a good business opportunity to establish a Financial Claims Management business specialising in Financial Services.

For further information and to have a initial confidential discussion contact me on info@easy4life.com

Distressed Property Purchase with No Money Down

For nearly a year the property investment market place has faced considerable change.
These changes have presented many "below market value" property investor with considerable challenges in purchasing property with little or no money down. Majority of the no money down deals used to occur with a closed bridge or daylight bridge and remortgage facility. This is no longer the case due to various lenders withdrawing their mortgage products and changing their criteria.

I am however of the opinion that over the medium to longer term, five to ten years property will remain a strong and excellent asset class and as the past has proven property will give opportunities for long term growth and profit.


Many investors who are operating in the distressed sales market are now looking to purchase again (on average these properties are 25% to 30% below the current "market value" and in some cases even more!) .

As an Impartial Finance Broker, I have a innovative solution to purchase buy to let residential property without a deposit, I can assist to purchase "No Money Down!" .

Please contact me to discuss further.

Planning Permission and Building Regulations for Householders

There has been a significant number of changes to planning with effect from 01 October 2008.

There is an excellent visual guide which outlines the new rules on common household projects and that can be accessed on the planning portal website.

One area of significant change is that you now need to apply for planning to pave over your front garden.

For further information visit:

http://www.planningportal.gov.uk/england/genpub/en/1115311947777.html

Buy to Let Mortgage product choice obliterated

The concept that that there are significantly fewer repossessions from buy to lets compared to residential mortgages needs to be examined again as I suspect that it is no longer the case.

The buy to let product choice has been obliterated as nearly 90% of the buy to let products have been stripped out of the UK market. The residential market has also been hit hard losing 60% of its products in a 24-hour period.It appears that lenders have little to non-existent appetite to lend and it will take a while for stability in the market to return.

Code of Practice for Commercial Leases in England & Wales

Code of Practice for Commercial Leases in England & Wales

Although this code of practice is voluntary, most large commercial landlords have now signed up to it.

http://www.commercialleasecode.co.uk/

Stamp Duty Land Tax Avoidance Scheme for Properties

It is possible and above board to use the services of a specialists solictors to remove Stamp Duty from properties of £500,000 or more. As you may be aware transanctions above this amount attract a 4% tax rate.

A specialist taxation solicitors charge a fee for this service which is 2% of the purchase price of the property. This equals half of the Stamp Duty that should have been paid.

From a client s point of view their costings are halved.

Important Information:

1. Property Value must be >£500 000
2. The client can use a solicitor of their choice for Conveyancing
3. The client must have received a mortgage offer to apply.

And yes it really is this simple!

It is legitimate. Our Solicitors have been running this scheme for 4 years and process 40-50 cases a month. To date they have a 100% success rate.

This scheme takes account of legislation changes made in the pre budget of December 2006 and in particular s75A Finance Act Please note that if you wish to speak to the solicitors they will will be more than happy to speak with you in detail.

Please email at: info@easy4life.com

CARE HOME OWNERS - CLAIM BACK YOUR VAT!

The current law does not allow care home owners to register for and reclaim VAT however this was not always the case.There has been a change in the law which now prevents residential care homes from treating their supplies as standard rated for VAT purposes since 2002, there is a possibility that they can recover input tax suffered up to that point.

In a test case which was won on appeal, residential care home Kingscrest successfully argued that because it was a partnership it was not covered by the exemption for healthcare under UK legislation and as a result its services must be standard rated.

Since its clients were Local Authorities who could reclaim the VAT on fees, Kingscrest could pass on the VAT chargeable to the relevant Local Authority and recover the input tax on its running costs.

As a result of the case, new legislation was brought into effect on 21 March 2002 making it clear that the provision of care in a residential home was exempt from VAT.

However, there is no reason why the operators of a residential home cannot decide that it was making standard rated supplies up to 21 March 2002 and benefit from a reduction in their overheads up to the time the law was amended.

Care homes which are interested in pursuing this opportunity will need to make a backdated application to register for VAT.

The above means that eligible residential homes can backdate a VAT registration to 1/1/93, account for VAT on their income and reclaim VAT on expenditure, then deregister with effect from 31/12/02. Some of the claims could be substantial and tend to average £50,000.

Please contact me for further information if you wish to claim on a NO WIN= No FEE Basis.

Please take advantage of this before HMRC find a way of stopping these claims.

email: info@easy4life.com

Payment Protection Insurance Sales Flawed

The Competition Commission published its provisional findings into the sale of PPI in the UK. In its review the Commission has offered its own thoughts on what it calls serious problems within the PPI market. It also focuses on the distribution of PPI and that that the companies who sell these face little or no competition when selling PPI.

It is possible to claim compensation for the mis-sale of a PPI policy. I I am able to assist if you require guidance on a PPI compensation claim.

Have you taken out at least one single premium payment protection insurance insurance policy over last the six years? If so, you may be entitled to thousands of pounds of compensation.

There are over £6 billion worth of payment protection insurance policies out there in the UK and a large portion of them have been mis-sold.

Have you been mis-sold?Do you know that you may have been mis-sold a Payment Protection Insurance Policy and that you may have a valid claim if the company, or its agent, that sold you the policy failed in any one of these areas:

You were not in work or self employed at the time of sale.
You were told that you had to take the PPI out at the same time as the loan or not at all.
You were not asked whether you had any other insurance which would cover the loan.
You were not told you could buy PPI elsewhere to cover the loan.
You were sold a policy which had age restrictions which you fell outside of.
You were led to believe that Payment Protection Insurance was compulsory.
You were told that you would stand more chance of getting the loan if you took the Payment Protection Insurance.
It was not explained to you that there were certain exclusions within the policy that could affect you.
You paid upfront for the PPI but it was not explained that there were some PPI policies where you could pay monthly.
Your PPI was an upfront premium and you repaid the loan early and received no refund.
You increased your loan and the PPI was increased automatically.

If you can answer yes to just one of these questions then contact meimmediately on info@easy4life.com and I will put you in touch with financial consultants who can assist you with your PPI compensation claim on a no win no fee basis.

Would you like to start a new profitable Business?

A unique opportunity for you to start your own profitable and No Risk business with No capital outlay. There is an opportunity to establish your own Financial Claims Management business specialising in Financial Services. You need have no prior knowledge of any financial products as we will supply you with initial training and ongoing assistance as well as all the paperwork you require to set up.

Examples of Financial Claims Cases won:

Mr A from Solihull recieved £6,000 from Natwest within 9 weeks of us taking his Business Bank Charges claim on.We earned £1,500 and got around 3 referrals as well.

In a Payment Protection Insurance (PPI) Case, Our Clients Mr& Mrs s Y recieved a refund of £9,000 from their loan with Firstplus within 10 weeks of us claiming for them.

We have recently started to work with a ex-property developer who was looking for a new opportunity due to the difficulties in the property market. Within 3 weeks of starting he is looking at a potential income of £6,500 when these cases are paid out.

For further information and to have a initial confidential discussion contact me on info@easy4life.com or 07974650751

Empty Commercial Property Tax

Following on from my previous posting regarding empty property rates. I have come across the following which states that Landlords will face a bill of of nearly £1.1bn due to a new empty commercial property tax.

The tax – announced last year, and implemented on April 1st as a means to dissuade owners from keeping properties empty – was originally expected to raise £950 million.

However, falling occupancy rates in the commercial sector, means as much as an additional £142.5 million could now be raised.

A report by property a consultancy NB Real Estate reveals the numbers of unlet commercial properties has risen by 22 per cent over the last two years to 9.3 per cent in March 2008. The rule changes mean most property that has been empty for more than three months will no longer receive relief from rates – exposing them to the new tax.

Andrew Warde, director of rating at NB Real Estate, said: “This empty rates tax was conceived when the property market was performing strongly, but the downturn is heaping misery upon misery. "The government’s belief that landlords keep buildings empty without good reason is just plain wrong and the blanket application of additional rates tax just doubles the pain."

He explained commercial properties are often left empty due to low demand and high tax rates will have little effect on landlords pushing for tenants. “In the longer term landlords will simply demolish empty buildings which are particularly difficult to let rather than pay this tax, a wasteful loss of properties that might otherwise be refurbished when market conditions are right.”

Mr Warde added about six million sq ft of space due to be completed in the City by the end of the year, adding to seven million sq ft already unlet. "We could have up to 11 million sq ft empty just in the City alone a year from now.
The cost to the property sector of paying rates on all these vacant buildings since April has been considerable, and is likely to increase.”

Mr Warde concluded as a lot of construction is speculative, "developers will have to think twice about building without a pre-let in future".

Bank of England Interest Rates decision- Should lending banks follow suit?

The Bank of England (BOE) today kept their rates at 5%. The decision had been widely expected, despite calls from business groups to cut borrowing costs.

The BOE reduces rates as a way to control the economy. I was asked the question today from a colleague what I thought about forcing the lending banks to follow suit if the BOE had reduced their rate.

It is often the case that the lending banks keep their inter-bank rate high when the BOE has reduced rates and the two are not necessarily linked, this then negates the effect of the rate cut.
The BOE based their decision on what is the best for the country as whole, whereas the lending banks have their own business issues to to consider. I believe that market forces will usually win through and this will correct itself base. Do you agree?

Energy Performance Certificates (EPCs) for commercial properties

The introduction of Energy Performance Certificates (EPCs) as part of Home Information Packs (HIPS) for residential properties has been well publicised. It is however surprising that the lack of awareness with businesses and Landlords in respect of the the impact of EPCs on commercial properties. It is vital for Businesses to understand the regulations or they will risk fines up to £5,000.

The EPCs have already partially come into force. By October this year the majority of commercial properties will require an EPC. The current timetable is as below:

6 April 2008 - EPCs required on construction for all dwellings. EPCs are required for the construction, sale or rent of buildings other than dwellings with a floor area over 10,000 m2.

1 July 2008 - EPCs required for the construction, sale or rent of buildings other than dwellings with a floor area over 2,500 m2.

1 October 2008 - EPCs required on the sale or rent of all remaining dwellings EPCs required on the construction, sale or rent of all remaining buildings other than dwellings.


4 January 2009 - First inspection of all existing air-conditioning systems over 250 kW must have occurred by this date. 4 January 2011 - First inspection of all remaining air-conditioning systems over 12 KW must have occurred by this date.

All businesses need to assess if EPCs will b required and if they need an EPC. For further information visit: http://campaigns.direct.gov.uk/epc/