That sky actually looks like the one outside today
I can’t believe April is behind us already – 2013 certainly is hurtling by, with summer (hopefully) fast approaching!
So you can spend more time eating ice creams in the sun instead of reading the news we’ve put together the most important stories from the last month in one handy article.
Ready? Let’s go!
Benefits they are a-changing
The sweeping benefit changes was the big story this month. Universal Credit was introduced, rolling several different benefit payments into one lump sum.
Residents of Ashton-under-Lyne in Manchester get to trial Universal Credit first before it’s rolled out the rest of the country. Worryingly though, Turn2us found that 43% of people who’ll be affected have no idea what Universal Credit is.
Knowledge is power: if you receive any benefits and you want to know how you’ll be affected you can use our benefit checker.
Dodged a triple-dipper
They say bad luck comes in threes so a bit of good news this month was that Britain avoided a triple-dip recession. In a nutshell a recession is when the UK economy reduces for six months in a row. The suits in the know were worried we’d fall in to our third recession in five years but the economy improved slightly in the first three months of 2013.
Chancellor George Osborne said “it was an encouraging sign” while his opposite number Ed Balls was not so cheery, arguing things were “just back to where it was six months ago.”
People p’d off with PPI
Payment Protection Insurance (PPI)…you may never have had it but you can’t turn on the TV without someone telling you to “reclaim, reclaim, reclaim!” In April the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) announced that PPI became the most complained about financial product. Ever.
Amazingly there were 2,170,537 complaints last year alone – number two in the “Gripe Charts” is current accounts with 304,196 unhappy customers.
If you can’t beat ‘em join ‘em: You can reclaim PPI for free and keep all the pennies for yourself rather than paying a claims management firm to handle it for you.
More people struggling with rent
Our friends at Shelter have seen a 40% rise in people calling them with debt problems and rent arrears. Shelter say the high cost of rent, rising living costs and cuts to housing support have pushed people into the red with their landlord.
Finding ways to boost your income is hard. Of those people asked a whopping 79% said they couldn’t get extra hours at work and nearly three quarters couldn’t get a second job.
Keeping a roof over your head is the most important part of your budget. If you’re struggling, get in touch, we can offer free debt help.
We’re in the news – Bank of Mum and Dad
If you’ve got kids you’ll be thrilled to hear that we’ve found young people borrow less cash from family than older generations. Last year under 25s owed the old folks £1,761, whereas 25 to 39 year-olds owed £3,458, rising to £4,341 for ages 40 to 59 and £4,220 for over 60s.
And finally …
May is National Walking Month and we encourage everyone to get their trainers, boots or sandals on and get out and about. Whether you walk to the corner shop or up a mountain range, exercise helps you physically and mentally (and saves money that could otherwise go to a bus company or train operator).
Given those advantages, it’s no wonder that the Mental Health Foundation is also promoting physical exercise as the subject of this year’s Mental Health Awareness Week (something we’ll be supporting).
These boots were made for walking!
