The ABI is reminding financial advisers to check arrangements for clients that may be affected by the change to the National Minimum Pension Age. The minimum age changes from 50 to 55 on April 6 2010, with HMRC rules requiring pension benefits are set up by this date. The change will affect people planning to access pension benefits who are between ages 50 and 55. Those who wish to access pension benefits must ensure their policies are set up in time, which means advisers need to act now to ensure applications are received by providers well in advance...  Lire la suite

Punk icon Iggy Pop has helped online car insurance provider swiftcover.com increase sales by almost a third in the three months since the company launched its ‘Get a Life!’ advertising campaign, fronted by the legendary rocker. Now, following the success of the ads, swiftcover.com has announced that it will also be extending its insurance to musicians for the first time. The Iggy Pop ads led to a huge surge in interest in swiftcover.com’s online insurance, with sales increasing by more than 31% in the first quarter of 2009 compared with the...  Lire la suite

Thousands of people who lost pensions when their employers went bust will get at least 90 per cent of their pensions guaranteed, as the final phase of the Financial  Assistance Scheme (FAS) regulations are put before Parliament.  The Government will pay out £3.5 billion to around 150,000 people. Minister of State for Pensions Angela Eagle said: “The Government is completing its promise to provide a just and final settlement for those who lost pension savings when their employers went bust.  There can be few greater cruelties than to find the...  Lire la suite

Free phone calls for most people using their mobiles to claim benefits and pensions are announced by the Department for Work and Pensions today. From next week, six of the biggest mobile phone network companies will no longer charge their customers for calls to the Department’s 0800 Benefit Claim lines. Currently 12% of UK households use only mobile phones and do not have a land line. Calls to claim benefits and state pension use 0800 numbers which are already free to customers using BT land lines and mobiles. But currently people calling...  Lire la suite

Ship owners are facing a more modest range of general increases – at 4.54% on average – on their protection and indemnity (P&I) premiums at the annual February renewal, as predicted by Aon in its Mid-Term Review (published 20 August 2009). The global insurance broker forecasts that the 2010 round of increases will generate an extra $159 million for P&I clubs in its P&I 2010 Pre-renewal report, launched today. Despite the seismic upheaval in the world’s economies, Aon suggests that the mutual market had been steadily, over recent...  Lire la suite