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At a time when mortgages are in the spotlight, or because of the difficulties around being able to afford a mortgage as a first-time buyer, where do you go?

The normal and first instinct might be to turn to your bank or building society – as they will have their own products. However, it could be a good option to look at a wider range of options, depending on what it is you’re looking to do. As we have access to a wide range of lenders, we can take a look at the options available to you and provide a tailored service to match your individual needs.

Are you happy with your current mortgage? If so, then that’s excellent news. However, if you it’s been a long time since your mortgage was last reviewed, or the end term is coming up soon, then a remortgage may not be far away.

Your circumstances may also have changed in the years since your current mortgage was arranged, so it’s always worthwhile seeking advice to check whether the mortgage you hold is right for your current situation.

Last year, we highlighted the issue of fraud and talked about the importance of keeping you and your loved ones safe from fraud and other financial scams.

We support ‘Take Five’, which is a national campaign that offers straight forward, impartial advice to help everyone protect themselves from preventable financial fraud. This includes email deception and phone based scams as well as online fraud, particularly where criminals impersonate trusted organisations. You can find out more at https://www.takefive-stopfraud.org.uk/

With rising prices across the board, any opportunity to save money is worth looking at, especially when it comes to travel. This month, we look at a few ways in which you can hopefully save a few pounds when it comes to travelling by train.

With the Cost-of-living crisis hitting all UK residents, one segment of those affected are those retired on a state pension. With a fixed income, they may be hit hardest by the recent rise in prices, and are more likely to be unable to supplement it due to infirmity. According to the Pensions and Lifetime Savings Association, pensioners need to spend an extra £2000 just to achieve a basic standard of living.¹

Most of us have one or more credit cards, and if used properly, can be a very helpful tool. Making payments on time every month can boost your credit score and some cards may offer rewards and potentially even 0% interest for balance transfers from other cards for a limited period.

Wholesale gas prices have fallen but it might not to be reflected in your household bills just yet.

When gas prices rose earlier this year, we were all faced with huge increases in what we paid for domestic and business supply. The government stepped in to limit bills to the cap of £2,500 per year. According to Ofgem, “The £2,500 figure is based on a household with typical consumption on a dual electricity and gas bill paying by direct debit,”¹ so this amount could potentially be higher.

We have talked in the past about the importance of keeping you and your loved ones safe from fraud and other financial scams.

Recently, UK Finance, a trade association for the UK banking and financial services sector, launched an initiative to raise awareness. Take Five is a national campaign that offers straight forward, impartial advice to help everyone protect themselves from preventable financial fraud. This includes email deception and phone-based scams as well as online fraud, particularly where criminals impersonate trusted organisations.¹

To add to the challenges we all face due to the rise in the cost of living, the Financial Ombudsman Service (FOS) is warning people not to be tempted to invest in schemes that promise large returns but turn out to be fake¹.

In the current economic conditions, it makes sense to look at the actions we can take to improve our homes’ heatproofing. With the nights drawing in and temperatures beginning to drop, the reality of expensive fuel bills is already becoming an unwelcome reality. Although the government has sought to mitigate the impact via the energy price guarantee to cap the cost of how much we can be charged per unit of energy (kWh)¹, if we want to keep those costs down, apart from cutting our use of power, we can be proactive by making our houses as energy efficient as possible.

We are all having to cope with rising costs and at a time when every penny seems to be accounted for to pay for food, fuel and other living costs, it would seem that building an emergency fund would be a little down the list of priorities.

Government figures show that the popularity of smart meters is growing and that they now make up 50% of all energy meters in the UK¹. At a time when energy costs are rising, the government advice, backed up by extensive press and TV advertising, is that by replacing traditional gas and electricity meters with smart meters, consumers can understand more about the energy they use day-to-day and cut out unnecessary usage and spending.