If You Have a Good Credit Rating, Why You Should Borrow From Zopa
I trawl the web for Zopa-related articles and found this one; entitled Nearly half of Zopa loans repaid early – all free of any penalties. Here’s an extract.
Online peer-to-peer lender Zopa today confirms that since it launched in 2005, more than 45% of the loans due to be repaid so far have been repaid early and all without the borrower paying any kind of additional fees or charges.
This is in stark contrast to the banks, as not one offers a personal loan without additional early repayment charges – often of one or two month’s additional interest.
It also goes on to quote extensively from the CEO of Zopa.
In almost all circumstances, it makes good financial sense to pay off your debts as quickly as you can, including any personal loans. But banks stand in the way of this by including early repayment penalties in their loans which put people off from doing the right thing. We think that is fundamentally wrong.
So it would seem if you have a good credit rating, Zopa will give you a loan and you feel you might be able to pay the loan off early, then Zopa is one of the best plsces to borrow the money.
But just as they will check you out, then you should do that too! The easiest way is to sign up and join their discussion pages. Can you do that with your bank?
The Whitbread Share Price
Many realise that Costa Coffee is a subsidiary of Whitbread plc.
But do they realise that this Costa has nothing to do with the cruise line of the same name?
As the Whitbread share price doesn’t seem too strong, this may not be the case.
Good Riddance
I only came across the Occupy Movement’s camp outside St. Paul’s once. I was walking from the Millennium Bridge to Smithfield and to say it was an obstruction to an unsteady pensioner would be an understatement.
They may have some points about tax and power in the City, but most are just the descendants of the Hippy movement of the 1960s and just want to do what they want to do and stuff the rest of us.
There was a distinct and strong smell of tobacco and I think cannabis smoke as I passed. My son died of a disease related to that sort of heavy smoking. It wasn’t pleasant for him. Or his family!
So I’m rather pleased they have been cleared from the steps of St. Paul’s. I’m just a bit worried about where they pop-up next!
How To Create Jobs in Hong Kong
It would appear according to this article, that the Prudential, which is Britain’s biggest insurer, might be moving its headquarters out of the EU, because of regulation.
Hong Kong would seem to be the likely recipient of the jobs, as the company does 45% of its business in Asia.
Is this really what those of the left and the Occupy Movement want? After all, I’d like to see what happened to an Occupy Hong Kong?
Actually, it doesn’t bother me, as I don’t work for the Pru and I insure with a mutual.
RBS
Surely, if we paid no bonuses at the Royal Bank of UK Taxpayers, then these people would walk and we’d save their salary as well.
But would that also mean they’d be able to sue for constructive dismissal, as bonuses are expected?
Bureaucracy Isn’t All Bad or How to Get a UK Pension Forecast
I am 65 in a few months and I need to find out what my State Pension is going to be, so that I can plan my life accordingly.
As I live only a short walk from my local Jobcentre Plus and they helped me with my winter heating allowance, I decided they would be the first place to try.
They couldn’t help me directly, but they gave me a list of useful numbers and told me to ring the Pension Service on 0845 606 0265. This incidentally is free from BT, but expensive from a mobile.
After I got home, I rang the number and they told me that the simplest way was to ring another toll-free number, 0845 300 0168.
It took me about ten minutes before I gave them all the information they needed, like both out National Insurance numbers, C’s Date of Death and our Date of Marriage.
The guy at the other end said, I’d get the Pension Forecast through the post in about ten days.
It was all fairly painless! And there were no charges anywhere. Not even phone ones!
Lloyds Bank Bonuses and the Greek Bailout
The two main financial stories on the BBC this morning are that Lloyds Bank has taken back a lot of bonuses and that the Greek bailout is to be finalised.
I was just wondering if the bosses of Greek banks got any bonuses.
Early Repayment Rules for Student Loans
Traditionally, there has generally been a penalty for early repayment of loans, but some of the new ethical online loan companies, like Zopa use no penalty as a selling point. So do Wonka, who I wouldn’t normally describe as ethical. Even Nationwide charges an extra 30 days interest if you settle your loan early.
So for the student loan companies to charge would be going against what is now accepted as normal and back to the bad old past, where early repayment was a major part of a loan company’s profits.
As this seems to have been a Liberal Democrat idea, who are supposed to be forward thinking or at least not backward, you can read what you like into the proposal.
I don’t need to borrow money, but if I did, I would always do it from a reputable company, that had no penalty for early repayment.
Rangers in a Pickle
Glasgow Rangers went into administration yesterday and it looks more than your average mess, if you read this article on the BBC.
If you read the comments in the BBC article, they are blaming everybody.
I suppose that as it’s the HMRC that has caused the club to go into aministration, then the UK government will get the blame.
Is the Glasgow Premier League Going to Get Smaller?
It has been reported this afternoon that Glasgow Rangers may be going into Administration, so if they did, it would affectively leave Glasgow Celtic as the only major club in Glasgow.
So does this mean the end for Rangers?
The major creditor is reported to be HMRC, who lately have demanded their money.
But whatever happens they’ll get a ten-point deduction, just as Portsmouth will in England, who’ve also gone into administration.
It is also been reported that Celtic’s Chief Executive is not worried if Rangers folds. That in my view is not a very charitable altitude.
The Anonymous Widower 