Fines and fraud in the mid-week blog
The mid-week money sections saw a massive uplift in the number of mortgage stories, which have risen from nought to 16 per cent of all PF stories this week.
Thanks to recent fines levied by the FSA, the Daily Mail (@DMAILMoney) and the Daily Express (@dailyexpressuk) celebrated the payouts that homeowners who were miss-sold unaffordable mortgages will be receiving. News that DB Mortgages has been ordered to pay out for lending irresponsibly and failing to help borrowers in arrears is good news for up to 4,000 of those affected.
Meanwhile, after dominating the top of the tally scoreboard last week with a 38 per cent share, savings stories this week slipped by 14 per cent despite a continued interest in Isas. Pensions stories took an even bigger hit and nose-dived from 32 per cent of the tally last week to just 4 per cent, being squeezed out to make room for credit card and fraud stories.
Credit card articles doubled to 12 per cent of the tally and Tricia Phillips in the Daily Mirror (@DailyMirror) warned that some firms have been taking advantage of customers struggling with debt. Citizens Advice noted that complicated small print often results in missed payment charges and interest, which easily add up to damaged credit ratings and an even heavier debt burden.
Fraud stories also witnessed a comeback, leaping from nought to 12 per cent. Property scams were the hot topic, with warnings this week for both young people and families who are renting. First off, Holly Thomas (@holly_thomas_) in the Daily Express reported on the worrying figures from Experian which revealed that young people living in shared rental accommodation are two-and-a-half times as likely to fall victim to identity fraud because of shady flatmates and the availability of personal documents.
Elsewhere in the Daily Express, Thomas looked at the dangers of resorting to ‘sale-and-rent-back’ schemes, which have been found to pay under the market value for family properties before charging excessive rent back to the occupiers – often resulting in eviction.
The other scores on the board this week were:
Charity 0%
Credit cards 12%
Fraud/scams 12%
IFAs 0%
Insurance 8%
Investment 4%
Mortgages 16%
Pensions 4%
Property 8%
Regulation 0%
Savings 24%
Tax 4%
Utilities 8%
Utilities 8%