Since, last few years there has been a tremendous increase in cases of identity thefts in the United Kingdom. However, with identity theft insurance, it is now possible to protect yourself from such type of intrusion. Identity theft insurance will help you to resolve any doubtful activities, thereby giving you a mental harmony.

In case you become a victim of identity theft, your insurance company will help with the potential problems that may arise and assist you in bringing the financial life again on the track

What Does It Include?

Identity theft insurance covers all the expenses, which you will have to incur, if some one steals your identity. It includes bearing the entire legal cost for defending the criminal charges connected with the identity theft, lost wages (in case you need time to reclaim the identity), cost of telephone calls, redundant loan application charges and so on. Next, if you do not possess identity theft insurance, then you will have to bear all these expenses on your own. Therefore, it becomes very important to have such an insurance policy.

Several financial institutions offer identity theft insurance. To obtain such insurance, you will be required to pay annual fees or monthly fees through direct debit. Most policies cost around £ 3.75 to £ 6.99 each month or £ 45 to £ 84 each year. The insurance company then access your credit report and notifies you by sending alerts, if they come across any changes made to the credit report. Thus, if you have not applied for a loan and your credit report shows the loan details, or if changes occur in the bank account, then insurance company will immediately contact you and will lend a helping hand.

Although, identity theft insurance offers good value, there are typical criticisms about the same, which includes:

1. Identity theft insurance policies give the customers a false sense of protection, as they do not do anything to prevent the identity theft at first sight.
2. These policies do not offer full coverage to the victim. For instance, you may have to incur other expenses such as travel cost, stationery cost, phone bills and so on.
3. At times, you may find it troublesome to claim the amount
4. Some policies do not provide you with legal fees
5. Many policies may not give you lost wages

However, it is always better to shield yourself from the perils rather than regretting later.

Overview:

If you cannot afford to cope up with the money loss, if you lose your credit cards or debit cards and do not know as what to do, having identity theft insurance will be really worth at such times. To obtain the policy, simply contact the insurance provider and obtain details of policies offered by different companies and choose the company, which offers good services and help you with recovering the loss in an easy and quick way.
Thus, although, the cost of having identity theft insurance seems affordable, the benefits it offers are quite limited

• Your Credit Score Matters Luckily this blog is anonymous so I can talk about...
• Health Care Costs in Retirement A difficult task in retirement planning and budgeting is estimating...
• Are Hidden Fees Keeping You From Meeting Your Financial Goals? Hidden fees are nasty little critters that can eat away...

Tags: Accounts, Bank, Banking, Current Account, Debt, Identity Theft, Insurance, Money Management, Pre Pay, Savings, UK Credit Cards

You can follow easy steps to improve your credit score. Many people follow certain simple advice or tips to bring about improvement in the overall credit score. It is not possible to improve the credit rating overnight.

Before you begin, check the standing on your present credit rating and check the areas that need focus. Some of the ratings on the credit score may appear without your fault. Certain ratings on the credit score may be due to someone else’s fault such as people, who were staying at your address previously.

Things You Should Know To Improve Your Credit Score:

The lender will receive the credit scores and reports from major credit bureaus. They may use this credit score to act on your loan application. You may ask all your queries regarding the credit score to your lender.

You will be scored by the lender on 5 basic things, which are:

1. The amount of your outstanding debt
2. The kinds of credit cards you use
3. The latest credit request
4. History of payments
5. The general length of credit history

The payment history and outstanding debt constitute around 65 % of the credit score. Therefore, make sure they are correct. There are certain steps you can take to improve your credit score and some of them are:

1. Examine the credit report frequently: If you find any wrong information on the credit report, it is your responsibility to correct it as soon as possible. Wrong information on a credit report gives an invalid indication of the credit consumer.
2. Know the present status of your credit score present on the credit report: You may contact the agencies, who provide credit reports. These agencies make the credit report available to you in return of a meagre fee. Note that the credit rankings you receive from each of these agencies may have differences in the scores they provide.
3. Do not keep too many accounts of credit cards in an open state. Do not open unnecessary accounts that you do not wish to operate. Your score will decrease depending on the number of accounts you have. It does not matter if it is an account with zero balance. Therefore, even if you have multiple zero balance accounts of various banks, it is viewed in the form of possibility of debt at any time.
4. Avoid keeping huge balances on credit card accounts: Huge balances on credit card accounts will have a negative effect on your credit score and your credit score may decrease. In addition, chances are high for you to miss on monthly repayments of debts.
5. Make the bill payments on time: You will find previous outstanding payments mentioned on the credit report. Generally, you will be given a time limit, for instance 60 days to clear all your late bill payments, before they are listed on your credit report. In case, you are not able to make payments of the bills on the due date, inform the creditors quickly stating the reasons for your inability to pay those bills on time.

• Improving a Credit Score What can I do if I am denied credit? If...
• How Debt Affects Your Credit Score This guest post is from Miranda Marquit who writes DestroyDebt.com....
• What is ChexSystems? I've written about my experience with ChexSystems, but a lot...

Tags: Accounts, Bank, Banking, Current Account, Debt, Money Management, Pre Pay, Savings, UK Credit Cards

Many people find great difficulty, while dealing with debt related issues. Some of them even think of filing for bankruptcy as the final and only solution to get rid of debt issues. However, with the relaxation in the bankruptcy rules, you need not have to consider bankruptcy as the only resort.

You may solve the debt related issues through various ways, and some of them are:

1. Admit that a problem exists: Calculate your assets and borrowings to get an idea of the financial crises you are facing. You may visit several charity websites, who give free advice on debt management. They will also help you examine your debts.
2. Do not be scared of debt collectors: Stop getting intimidated by people demanding payment over the phone. Such collection agents are being investigated by Office of Fair Trading or OFT, if you complaint them regarding highhanded strategies used by these collectors for recovery.
3. Prioritise your Debts: Give priority to debts and mortgage secured on the property, because you may lose your home and money or any other valued assets you possess by defaulting on any of your loans.
4. Seek informed and free advice: Take expert help or advice from people, who do not charge any money for it. You may consult or take help from different debt organisations. You may also contact the helpline for National Debt on their toll number to seek help.
5. Be careful of commercial companies that offer help with debts: There are number of companies providing help with debts to make money. Beware of such companies, as they have been attacked by loan consolidation and debt management organisations for charging expensive fees for their service.
6. Be careful of organisations providing substitutions for bankruptcy: There is a significant increase in people joining voluntary arrangements. However, such organisations are legally binding and can offer a repayment plan for five years with your creditors. However, such kind of plan may be suitable for certain minority debtors. The fees of such schemes are up to £ 7,000.
7. Maintain Discipline: Several big banks are offering contracts to customers facing difficulties in handling and consolidating their debts to make it a single loan. This process will help you only if the spending is brought under control.
8. Look at alternative and cost effective methods to get rid of debts: Consumer credit counselling service and other organisations can help with setting up free management plans to handle your debts. These organisations will organise payments and negotiate with credit card organisations and banks on your behalf to take care of your monthly payments.
9. Contact your creditors: After you are aware about the amount that you are ready to pay or can afford, contact the creditors regarding the situation and inform them about your status. You may offer them to clear the debts in an affordable manner. Do not offer to pay if the amount is not affordable. Do not assume that your future payments will take care of the remaining debts.

• Give Your Firm An Edge With Personalised Hoodies As a part of any type of corporate plans, endorsing...
• Debt Consolidation VS Bankruptcy When you are currently in a big financial slump and...
• Is Debt Consolidation the Right Option? If you happen to be struggling with paying your bills,...

Tags: Accounts, Bank, Banking, Current Account, Debt, Money Management, Pre Pay, Savings, UK Credit Cards

Pre pay credit card is an alternative to credit card and debit card. Here, you need to load the pre pay card with any specific amount and then use it to make purchases or pay the bills.

There are certain costs attached with pre pay cards. Moreover, several financial companies have introduced their pre pay cards and the cost of cards also varies from one company to other. You need to consider the cost on pre pay credit cards before planning to choose the right type of card according to your needs. The cost that pre pay cards carry is segregated as below:

Loading fees: Some companies charge certain amount of fee each time you load money in your card, while some may not.

Upfront fees: When you visit any financial company to buy a pre pay card you will be required to pay the upfront fees. The upfront fees may also vary from company to company. For instance, the upfront fee of Post Office travel card in UK is £10 and that of Splash card is £ 6.99.

Other Costs Involved:

Monthly fees: Pre Pay cards also carry monthly fees or maintenance fees. The monthly fee of Cash Plus pre pay card is £ 4.95 and in case of a 360-money card, and £ 1.99(for premium card).

Transaction fees: Whenever you use the card, the company deducts certain amount from your card. It may depend on the percentage of total amount that you spent or flat rate (flat rate is the sum, which remains constant regardless of the amount that you spent). For instance, the transaction fees on Western Union Travel pre pay card is £ 1 for every transaction.

Next, the loading charges also depend on the amount that you credited in the card. Pre Pay cards such as Bluecorner will charge you £ 1 to load amount between £ 20 to £ 30. The loading charges may rise to £ 3 in case you credit above £ 100.

If using ATM: In case, you intend to use ATM, then pre pay card issuers will charge you with certain amount every time you withdraw amount from an ATM outlet.

Using Foreign exchange: If you wish to use a UK pre pay card overseas, then you will be charged with specific sum. It may be around 2.75% or 4% depending on your transaction amount. If you are using a travel pre pay card such as eorozone in your own home country, then you will not be charged according to foreign exchange.

Overview:

Sometimes, using pre pay cards can be more expensive than using credit cards or debit cards. However, the biggest benefit of such cards is that you cannot fall into debt. These cards are ideal for students or travellers, who cannot open a bank account immediately in UK.
Thus, in short, the concept of this card is same as that of pay as you go phone. You can talk as long as there is sufficient balance in your phone and as your phone balance gets over you need to refill it to continue talking.

• Avoiding Late Fees The absolute last thing that we need right now considering...
• The Dos and Donts of Credit Scores Pt 2 In an earlier post we talked about the Do's for...
• Building and Rebuilding Good Credit When I was in college, I was often solicited around...

Tags: Accounts, Bank, Banking, Current Account, Money Management, Pre Pay, Savings, UK Credit Cards