New this week

[Legal Beagles]

Banking | Savings | Utilities | Insurance

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[enaid]

Re: New this week

Banking

In these credit-crunched times, banks are desperate to pull in as much money as possible, so some may be surprised at Lloyds TSB's decision this week to launch an initiative aimed at "giving away" £69m. This money is languishing in thousands of long-forgotten
savings and current accounts, and the bank is keen to reunite it with its owners. It has enlisted a specialist search agency to track down people with Lloyds TSB and Cheltenham & Gloucester accounts that have been inactive for 15 years or more. One in 10 people who get a knock on the door can expect to receive a windfall of at least £1,000. The average amount that Lloyds TSB hopes to return to its owner is £575.
Savings

Nationwide Building Society has launched a range of savings bonds offering "competitive" rates and guaranteed returns. There's a two-year e-Bond paying 6.6% gross, a two-year fixed rate bond at 6.5%, and a three-year "loyalty fixed rate bond" at 6.5%. The two-year e-Bond is available online to anyone with, or who opens, a FlexAccount. The fixed rate bond is available to new and existing members, while to get the loyalty fixed rate bond, you need to be a Nationwide member who has been with the society for three years or more. Matthew Carter, its savings director, said: "These are ideal for anyone looking to tie their money in for a fixed period at a high rate."
Utilities

Energy regulator Ofgem is to investigate whether npower deliberately overcharged its gas customers to the tune of £60m after it made several complicated, but unannounced, changes to the way it calculated its bills. The investigation was sparked after amateur mathematician and retired art teacher Robert Bramwell could not make any sense of his gas bills. The self-confessed "spreadsheet nut", from Carlisle, spotted that he had been overcharged £27. Other Guardian Money readers said the same had happened to them - finally prompting the investigation. It could affect 2.2 million people who pay by direct debit. Npower has always denied any error.
Insurance

Online insurer swiftcover.com says it has become the first company to offer people car insurance quotes through their mobile phone's internet connection. The company says the new service will enable users to get a quote while comparing potential purchases at a used car dealership. Until now, the only way of getting an online quote has been via a PC or a PDA (personal digital assistant). Customers access the mobile service either by texting "Swift" to 80231 or by clicking on a special link from their phone provider's mobile home page. After inputting all the relevant details, they will get a no-obligation quote in less than 60 seconds, says a spokesman

[Amethyst]

Re: New this week

re the Lloyds thing - i bet the amount of untraceable debt they have outwieghs the untraceable credit account owners. Unless i was very sure i had credit not debit in their accounts I wouldnt be contacting them to give them all my new details.

[enaid]

Re: New this week

Oh never thought of that Ame tbh but your dead right.
I am going to look through my NPower statements see if I can spot the deliberate mistake lol.