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	<title>Family Finance Weblog</title>
	<link>http://www.life-assurance-bureau.co.uk/family-finance</link>
	<description>Brokers Online presents a collection of family finance based articles</description>
	<lastBuildDate>Tue, 15 Dec 2009 14:43:30 +0000</lastBuildDate>
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		<title>Millions of homeowners caught in interest only trap.</title>
		<description><![CDATA[	In recent years as many as 4 out of 10 mortgages have been taken out on an “interest only” basis. Many of these borrowers expected that assumed growth in house prices would help them pay off their loans – but something went wrong. Instead of house prices increasing they went into reverse. Over the last [...]]]></description>
		<link>http://www.life-assurance-bureau.co.uk/family-finance/2009/12/15/millions-of-homeowners-caught-in-interest-only-trap/</link>
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		<title>First time buyers face waiting until their late 30’s before buying a home of their own.</title>
		<description><![CDATA[	Economists say that the average age of a first time buyer who isn’t receiving financial help from their parents is 37 compared to 31 for those who are lucky enough to get help from Mum and Dad.
	This is not surprising bearing in mind that the latest figure from the Council of Mortgage Lenders shows that [...]]]></description>
		<link>http://www.life-assurance-bureau.co.uk/family-finance/2009/12/14/first-time-buyers-face-waiting-until-their-late-30%e2%80%99s-before-buying-a-home-of-their-own/</link>
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		<title>Banks reduce overdraft fees</title>
		<description><![CDATA[	Millions of people in overdraft will see their overdraft charges cut. The Halifax, with more than 5 million customers with current accounts, ha instead introduced a daily penalty of £5 if you go into the red. The bank previously charged £35 for a refused payment due to insufficient funds, £35 for authorised transactions whilst in [...]]]></description>
		<link>http://www.life-assurance-bureau.co.uk/family-finance/2009/12/11/banks-reduce-overdraft-fees/</link>
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		<title>New mortgage deals only for early birds.</title>
		<description><![CDATA[	Building Societies are beginning to introduce some cheap mortgage deals – but you’ll have to get up early to bag one.
	The Newcastle B. S. and the Coventry have stolen a march on their competitors by launching some fantastic rates but there are signs that the Newcastle could their deals very soon and the Coventry withdrew [...]]]></description>
		<link>http://www.life-assurance-bureau.co.uk/family-finance/2009/12/10/new-mortgage-deals-only-for-early-birds/</link>
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		<title>Homes bought off plan can cause financial hardship</title>
		<description><![CDATA[	Just imagine. You’ve been to the show house, fallen in love with the housing development and signed up to buy a house off plan for £500,000 and paid the 10% deposit. The only problem you may have thought was that you’d have to wait 12 months to move in.
	Ten months later the letter arrives to [...]]]></description>
		<link>http://www.life-assurance-bureau.co.uk/family-finance/2009/12/09/homes-bought-off-plan-can-cause-financial-hardship/</link>
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		<title>Some car accidents are not all they seem</title>
		<description><![CDATA[	A court case has revealed that Mohammed Patel aged 24, took commissions from car owners to stage accidents in their cars, thereby enabling them to file inflated insurance claims.
	Many motorists driving behind Patel were put at risk when he would suddenly apply his brakes at roundabouts causing the following car to slam into him. He [...]]]></description>
		<link>http://www.life-assurance-bureau.co.uk/family-finance/2009/12/08/some-car-accidents-are-not-all-they-seem/</link>
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		<title>Mortgage fashions change</title>
		<description><![CDATA[	In the last six months we have witnessed a dramatic change in mortgage choices. In May this year 8 out of 10 new borrowers chose a fixed rate mortgage with the remainder opting for a tracker or discounted mortgage.
	Yet just six months later consumer choices have totally changed. Last month 8 out of 10 new [...]]]></description>
		<link>http://www.life-assurance-bureau.co.uk/family-finance/2009/12/04/mortgage-fashions-change/</link>
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		<title>Standard rate mortgage holders need to watch their monthly repayments</title>
		<description><![CDATA[	Those homeowners paying a variable rate mortgage need to keep an eye on their monthly repayments because some lenders are increasing their standard variable interest rates (SVR).
	For example, Accord which is part of the Yorkshire Building Society has recently increased its SVR by 0.65% to 5.99%. This follows a number of rate increases by the [...]]]></description>
		<link>http://www.life-assurance-bureau.co.uk/family-finance/2009/12/03/standard-rate-mortgage-holders-need-to-watch-their-monthly-repayments/</link>
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		<title>Go to the Post Office for a mortgage?</title>
		<description><![CDATA[	Yes, on the quiet the Post office has moved into mortgages. You should now be able to find details of their mortgage products in every Post Office whilst mortgage advisers are on hand to assist with applications in 250 of the largest Post Offices.
	They have ten varying mortgage deals varying from 5 year fixed rates [...]]]></description>
		<link>http://www.life-assurance-bureau.co.uk/family-finance/2009/12/01/go-to-the-post-office-for-a-mortgage/</link>
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		<title>HIPs to go but the EPC element t remain</title>
		<description><![CDATA[	The Conservative Party has said that it will abolish Home Information Packs at the start of a Conservative Government but sellers will still have to produce an Energy Performance Certificate (EPC) – that’s presumably because EPC’s are mandatory under an EU Directive.
	We are yet to find out whether the EPC would have to be renewed [...]]]></description>
		<link>http://www.life-assurance-bureau.co.uk/family-finance/2009/11/30/hips-to-go-but-the-epc-element-t-remain/</link>
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