Category Archives: Assets

Assets, Banks, Financial, Financial Services, Financial Solutions, Insurance, Insurance Services, Personal Finance

Lloyds TSB Insurance Reports Rogue Traders On The Rise

Lloyds TSB Insurance has revealed that more than 4.6 million ‘botch’ home jobs have been reported in the past 12 months, as a growing army of unqualified traders target unsuspecting homeowners.

New research from Lloyds Home Insurance reveals that one in 10 Brits has been forced to correct sub standard work in the last 12 month – a 16 per cent increase on last year – costing an average of £460 to put right.

The rash of ‘rogue’ trading is being fuelled by a tougher economic climate, as unqualified workers seek out ‘cash in hand’ maintenance work and homeowners look for the lowest possible price.

With nearly a third (32 per cent) of victims admitting that they made no checks at all on workers’ qualifications, the insurer is urging homeowners to confirm traders’ full credentials and avoid the false economy of unqualified labour.

The research shows that Britons view the initial quote they get as the full amount they will eventually pay, without considering any additional costs should the job need correcting. Unhappy customers were forced to pay an average of £1,250 to amend botched conservatories, £840 to correct building work and £640 on roofing.

Those aged 45 – 54 are the worst affected, paying an average of £900 to correct the botch jobs done to their property, with West Midlands residents most affected (20 per cent), followed by those in the East of England (12 per cent).

Commenting on the research, Lloyds TSB Insurance Managing Director, Phil Loney said: “Rogue traders are on the increase and costing unsuspecting homeowners thousands. To help the public feel more confident about employing traders, we’ve produced a comprehensive guide to ‘rooting out the rogues’ which is available on the Lloyds TSB Insurance website.”

Research was commissioned by Lloyds TSB Insurance plc and conducted by YouGov in April 2009.

All figures, unless otherwise stated, are from YouGov Plc. Total online survey sample size was 2,404 adults. Fieldwork was undertaken in April 2009. The figures have been weighted and are representative of all GB adults (aged 18+)

About Lloyds TSB:
Lloyds TSB offers customers a wide range of current accounts, savings accounts, travel and homeowners insurance, home contents insurance, personal loans and credit cards, investment and cash ISA accounts designed to meet different customers’ needs.

Lloyds TSB Bank plc and Lloyds TSB Scotland plc are authorised and regulated by the Financial Services Authority and signatories to the Banking Codes.

Lloyds TSB Bank plc Registered Office: 25 Gresham Street, London EC2V 7HN.
Registered in England and Wales no. 2065. 

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Assets, Financial, Financial Services, Financial Solutions, Insurance, Insurance Services, Personal Finance

LV= Life Insurance Online Customer Experience Score Continues To Improve

LV= has been recognised as one of the leading online life insurance providers by independent customer experience benchmarker, Global Reviews. The news comes hot on the heels of the launch of LV=’s redesigned website,

Against 13 competitors in the Q1 2009 online life insurance provider category*, LV= came second for its overall content, with a customer experience score of 57%. LV= topped the study for its online claims information, and its life insurance tips and advicesection. LV= was ranked second for the customer support and prospective customers categories.

Overall, the LV= Customer Experience score was 57%, an increase of 4% from Q4 2008, and 10% higher than the online life insuranceindustry average.

LV= ecommerce director Paul Wishman said: “We are delighted to receive such positive external feedback about our website, particularly after a major redesign and re-launch. Slick online purchasing capability is increasingly important in today’s financial services marketplace and we are committed to continually developing content and usability to enhance the overall online customer experience.”

LV= re-launched its website in March 2009. New features include a ‘top tab’ navigation system giving users ‘one-click’ access to all products, and a financial advice tab which consumers can click on to complete an online financial health check and book an appointment with one of LV=’s financial advisers.

Notes to editors:

* Independent research company Global Review measured LV=’s life insurance website against more than 650 criteria across 34 categories, interviewing more than 1,000 people to find out how they rated the experience during Q1 2009.

About LV=
LV= is a trademark of Liverpool Victoria Friendly Society Limited (LVFS) and LV= is a trading style of the Liverpool Victoria group of companies.

LV= employs more than 3,800 people, serves around 3.5 million customers and members, and manages around £7bn on their behalf. LV= is also the UK’s largest friendly society (Association of Friendly Societies Yearbook 2006/2007) and a leading mutual financial services provider. LV=’s services include car, travel, pet and home insurance, financial advice and retirement plans.

LVFS is authorised and regulated by the Financial Services Authority and entered on the Financial Services Authority Register No. 110035. LVFS is a member of the ABI, AMI, AFS and ILAG. Registered address: County Gates, Bournemouth BH1 2NF.

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Assets, Financial, Financial Information, Financial Management, Financial Services, Financial Solutions, Home Equity, Insurance, Money, Mortgage, Retirement

£611 Billion Equity In Homes Owned By Over 65s

Prudential has revealed findings from its latest Equity Release Index* which show that despite falling house prices and the current economic climate, homeowners aged 65 and over have £611.5 of equity in their property.

These significant amounts of property equity contrast with the current squeeze on retirement income being seen in today’s volatile market and economic conditions where rates on annuity and income drawdown products are falling.

Individuals buying guaranteed annuities, for example, have seen rates fall by up to 10 per cent since the middle of last year and Prudential believes this fall emphasises the need for pensioners to look at all potential sources of investments and retirement income.

Property equity can deliver a valuable income, especially against the current backdrop of low interest rates and equity price falls of around 30 per cent over the past two years which have hit many pensioners’ non-pension savings.

Prudential’s Index, which tracks the amount of home equity owned by people aged 65 and over in England and Wales, found that 42.5 per cent of this equity belongs to those living in London and the South East.

The Index also reveals that the value of property equity belonging to homeowners aged 65 and over fell by £80.6 billion between October 2008 and January 2009, with the average homeowner over 65 seeing the value of equity they have in their home fall by £21,377.

London homeowners aged 65 and over saw the highest decline for any region in England and Wales with equity in their homes falling by £38,057 while those in Yorkshire and Humberside experienced a decrease in value of £13,028.

Keith Haggart, Director of Lifetime Mortgages at Prudential, said: “Every homeowner is being affected by falling property prices, but it’s important to remember that many people, especially retired homeowners, bought their homes years ago and have benefited from past growth in the housing market. Even in this depressed market, the vast majority of retired homeowners still have considerable wealth tied up in their properties.”

He continued, “Equity release has an important role to play in providing retirement income particularly when other sources are under pressure.

“Annual figures from SHIP (Safe Home Income Plans) show that equity release sales in 2008 were almost £1.1 billion and were just nine per cent lower than 2007, despite the collapse in the wider mortgage market.”

Equity release schemes can be an excellent way to help retirees to secure an income, and any provider who is SHIP registered provides a no-negative equity guarantee as well as guaranteeing that the mortgage interest rate is fixed for the term of the loan.

 

* Prudential’s Equity Release index tracks the amount of equity held in property by people over 65 years old in England and Wales. Figures are based on Prudential’s analysis of data from the ONS Family Spending Report (2006), the Land Registry House Price Index (August 2008) and GfK NOP (2007). Specifically, weighted number of households data is taken from the ONS Family Spending Report 2006. Home ownership data is taken from the NOP data. Average house price per region is taken from the Land Registry Index.

About Prudential:
“Prudential” is a trading name of The Prudential Assurance Company Limited, registered in England and Wales. This name is also used by other companies within the Prudential Group. Registered Office at Laurence Pountney Hill, London EC4R 0HH. Registered number 15454. Authorised and regulated by the Financial Services Authority.

Find out more on Prudential’s product range including endowments and equity release schemes, including equity release mortgages on the Prudential website, www.pru.co.uk.

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Assets, Banks, Financial, Financial Information, Financial Services, Insurance, Insurance Services, Money, Security

Unfair Blacklisting Due To Id Fraud Is Set To Boom Warns LV=

A new report* released by LV= shows that the number of Brits whose credit rating has been badly damaged by identity theft is likely to almost double within the next five years, with up to 240 people a day being affected.

The new research by home insurer LV= shows that nearly half of all Brits (46%), have experienced some sort of credit problem**, with 27% blaming mistaken identity, and 29% said they had no idea why they had encountered a problem.

LV= is warning people that if they believe they have been refused credit unreasonably, they should investigate it further. It could be a sign that they have become a victim of identity theft.

To help assist the growing number of people affected by this problem, LV= home insurance now offers customers free access to an Identity Fraud Helpline. The helpline is staffed by specially trained expert advisers who will explain what people can do if they think they have been a victim of identity fraud.

The LV= research, undertaken by the Centre for Economics and Business Research (CEBR), includes views from over 6,000 adults who were questioned about their experiences in applying for credit cards and other services. The research shows that as many as half a million adults* have been ‘blacklisted’ as a result of being hit by identity fraudsters, with the figure predicted to rise by a further 440,000 over the next five years.

In the past decade identity fraud cases have rocketed, rising on average by 33% annually for the past eight years***. The research also reveals that victims of identity fraud face costs of over £2,100 to clear their name.

John O’Roarke, managing director of LV= home insurance, said: “In the last ten years we’ve seen a massive increase in the number of people targeted by fraudsters, illustrating the importance of vigilance in protecting personal information and monitoring for any problems that might prove to be a ‘symptom’ of identity theft.

“Our research shows that an unfair credit rating is a common problem for many and more worryingly, identity fraud is likely to rise sharply in the coming years. That’s why we’ve set up the LV= identity fraud helpline, free to all our home insurance customers, so that anyone who thinks they might have become a victim of identity theft has somewhere to go for help and support.”

* Opinium research indicates 2% of people have been a victim of identity fraud. UK adult population is 47.9 million (derived from the Labour Force Survey); CEBR predicts cases will rise by 440,000 cases in the next five years.
** Credit problems are defined to include being denied a loan (including mortgage), credit card, utility or service contract, being investigated by bailiffs, incorrectly receiving a court summons or unpaid bills.
*** CEBR analysis based on CIFAS data: in 1999 there were 9,000 reported cases of identity fraud, rising to 77,500 in 2007.

About LV= 
LV= is a registered trade mark of Liverpool Victoria Friendly Society Limited (LVFS) and a trading style of the Liverpool Victoria group of companies.

LV= employs over 3,800 people, serves around 3.2 million customers and members, and manages around £7 billion on their behalf. We are also the UK’s largest friendly society (Association of Friendly Societies Key Statistics 2008, total net assets) and a leading mutual financial services provider.

LVFS is authorised and regulated by the Financial Services Authority register number 110035. LVFS is a member of the ABI, AMI, AFS and ILAG. Registered address: County Gates, Bournemouth BH1 2NF.

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Anti-Money Laundering, Assets, Business, Debts, Financial, Financial Services, Money, Retirement

Tracing Specialists Set Up Office in the City

Tracesmart Ltd, leading suppliers of people tracing services, electronic identity checks and data cleansing systems, have this week established a new London office in 30 St Mary Axe, widely known as ‘The Gherkin’. The Cardiff based company has procured an office in the City due to an exponential growth in the number of clients based in and around London.

The Gherkin is situated where The Baltic Exchange was previously located and at 180 metres tall is the second tallest building in the City of London. In 2005, following a survey of the world’s largest firms of architects, The Gherkin was voted the most admired new building in the world; this allure and presence in the City were part of the reason Tracesmart chose it as their secondary base of operations as Mike Trezise, Tracesmart’s Managing Director, explained,

“The Gherkin is one of the best known and most revered buildings in London and as such was the ideal choice for our new office. Its location also played a considerable part in our decision to locate there – we currently have a large number of City-based financial clients and having an office in the heart of London’s financial district will enable us to better interact with them and meet their needs.”

The ever growing number of London and South of England clients who employ the company’s Tracesmart Corporate suite of services, was, as Trezise noted, a key factor in the decision to set up a London base. These clients include financial institutions who call upon Tracesmart to locate dormant accounts with unclaimed assets, high profile pension sector companies that utilise the company’s pension tracing services and life assurance companies wishing to conduct existence checks. Commenting on Tracesmart’s prestigious new office Chris Rothwell, Sales Director for Tracesmart, highlighted the role it will play,

“My team and I currently travel across the length and breadth of the UK to meet clients, yet we’ve noticed that more and more were requesting meetings in London; as such the next logical step was to locate an office in the City. Our new office in The Gherkin is a key part of our business development strategy as it will enable us to reinforce our current client relationships and nurture new ones by offering a geographically preferable meeting spot for those in the South East.

Cardiff will remain the headquarters for Tracesmart and we will continue to hold many meetings there. Our current offices are always well received by clients; as well as giving them the opportunity to see the company in action, many people have commented on how pleasant a business environment our offices are with the spectacular views of Cardiff Bay.”

Tracesmart’s new London office is located at:

Floor 28
30 St Mary Axe
London EC3A 8BF
Tel: 020 7469 4204
Fax: 020 7469 4001

About Tracesmart:

  • Tracesmart Limited was formed in 1999 and supplies a diverse range of consumer data cleansing, identity check and tracing tools to a wide variety of industries. Their client base ranges from SME to Blue Chip, who are all recipients of bespoke solutions, built around their specific needs.
  • Mike Trezise is the founder and Managing Director of Tracesmart. With over 25 years tracing and fraud analysis experience, his unrivalled knowledge provides the company with a distinct competitive advantage.
  • Chris Rothwell previously worked in both the financial markets and tracing industry. With a wealth of knowledge and experience, Chris is well placed to head up Tracesmart’s corporate sales team.

 

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Anti-Money Laundering, Assets, Debts, Financial Services, Money

Cardiff Based Suppliers Of Data Cleansing And People Tracing, Tracesmart, Have Launched A New Online Service To Combat Money Laundering

Tracesmart are renowned for their tracing expertise as they currently help reunite unclaimed assets with their rightful owners and offer a variety of pension tracing services. However the company also offers a host of other provisions via its Tracesmart Corporate division, not least of which is their electronic identity verification facility, ID. Identity checks are an essential part of current anti-money laundering (AML) legislation and as such, ID is currently used by a vast range of businesses as part of their AML measures.

Previously, Tracesmart customers using ID, needed to select multiple tabs and verification criteria to conduct an identity check as part of AML procedures. This is no longer the case, as Paul Weathersby, Technical Director for Tracesmart explained, It was noticed by our technical team that to conduct a thorough AML search using ID meant that multiple search tabs had to be utilised and what Tracesmart’s customers really needed was the means by which multiple tabs could quickly be searched simultaneously. As such, we have developed AML – allowing users to swiftly and confidently verify client identity. We have also created an improved interface to make this an easy and straight forward task.

Money laundering is considered to have a massive negative financial impact upon the UK economy and the addition of Tracesmart’s new AML service is another means of combating the problem, fighting those who use the money to fund criminal activities.

Speaking about the new service, Mike Trezise, Managing Director for Tracesmart, added, Our new AML service is further proof of our commitment as a company to product development, improved customer service and most importantly, confirmation of our responsibilities as a data company that we continue to fight any form of identity related crime. We strive to improve our services so that we can protect our customers, and in turn, their customers, f r o m the negative impact of identity fraud.  

    • Tracesmart Ltd was formed in 1999 and supplies a diverse range of consumer data cleansing, identity check and tracing tools to a wide variety of industries. Their client base ranges f r o m SME to blue chip companies; allrecipients of bespoke solutions, built around their specific needs.
    • Paul Weathersby – Tracesmart’s Technical Director, Weathersby is the driving force behind the development and production of Tracesmart’s suite of web-based services, and manages and directs their experienced IT team.
    • Mike Trezise is the founder and Managing Director of Tracesmart. With over 25 years tracing and fraud analysis experience, his unrivalled knowledge provides the company with a distinct competitive advantage.

     

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    Anti-Money Laundering, Assets, Debts, Financial Services, Money

    J2 Solutions Sign With Tracesmart

    Leading suppliers of debtor tracing and data cleansing services, Tracesmart welcome the award winning J2 Solutions to their continually expanding list of tracing agency clients. J2 Solutions will be utilising the company’s online people tracing system with a view to improving their already high levels of trace success.

    Operating in a variety of industries, J2 Solutions are based in Northwest England and currently employ over 30 highly trained and dedicated telephone tracing agents. The company was established in 2004 by their Managing Director, Gary Jones, who joined the debt collection industry as a doorstep collector at the age of 18, before progressing to generalised investigations and then specialising in telephone tracing.

    Jones was recently appointed to join the board of the Credit Services Association (CSA), the official voice of the UK debt collection industry, following a substantial level of involvement with the organisation and in particular his role as the driving force behind the CSA Tracing Code of Conduct. Commenting on the code of conduct and why his company has opted to use Tracesmart, Jones noted,

    “The debt collection industry has endured more than its fair share of negative press over recent years in regards to ethical debtor tracing. I fully support the CSA’s Tracing Code of Conduct and implore tracers to only conduct debtor tracing exercises using fully legitimate and ethical means. As part of our commitment to ethical tracing, J2 Solutions only utilise appropriate sources of information – one of the reasons we have opted to sign up with Tracesmart. We also hope that in using their system we can continue to improve our trace success rates and further cement our place in the top flight of tracing.”

    J2 Solutions join Tracesmart’s diverse client base, which include the likes of renowned financial institutions who use the company to reunite individuals with unclaimed assets, and solicitors who use their online systems to conduct identity checks as part of compliance measures. Tracing agencies are, however, some of the company’s key clients and Tracesmart helps these organisations to efficiently and ethically trace people; commenting on these core clients Chris Rothwell, Sales Director for Tracesmart noted,

    “Tracesmart has a proven track record with tracing agencies and our services are utilised by a wealth of companies from sole traders right the way through to blue chip. A comprehensive working knowledge of tracers’ needs and continual development of our services, ensure our clients have an effective, reliable and ethical tool to use when conducting positive and negative traces. We fully support the work of Gary Jones and the CSA’s Tracing Code of Conduct, and are now proud to welcome J2 Solutions as a client.”

     

    J2 Solutions – One of the UK’s leading tracing agencies, J2 solutions deliver professional tracing services to a wide range of sectors including; legal services, private sector, public sector, credit industry and private individuals. In 2008 they won the inaugural “Tracing Agency of the Year” title, at the Credit Today Awards.

    Tracesmart Ltd, Formed in 1999, Tracesmart supplies a diverse range of consumer data cleansing, identity check and people tracing tools to a wide variety of industries. The company’s client base ranges from SME to Blue Chip, who are all recipients of bespoke solutions, built around their specific needs.

    Gary Jones, J2 Solutions Managing Director, Gary is renowned as one of the country’s leading trace specialists. A member of the CSA board, his extensive knowledge played a key role in the development of the CSA’s Tracing Code of Conduct.

    Chris Rothwell, Tracesmart’s Sales Director, Chris previously worked in both the financial markets and tracing industry. With a wealth of knowledge and experience, Chris heads up Tracesmart’s corporate sales team in addition to providing tracing consultancy.

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    Assets, Business, Financial, Financial Services, Money

    Tracesmart Sign the Personal Information Promise

    Cardiff based Tracesmart, leading suppliers of consumer tracing and data cleansing services, have signed the Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO) Personal Information Promise. Tracesmart have pledged their support and compliance with the ICO initiative as part of their companywide commitment to the ethical and compliant use of personal data.

    The Personal Information Promise was launched on the 28th January 2009 by the ICO to celebrate European Data Protection Day. The aim of the Personal Information Promise is to improve compliance with the Data Protection Act 1998 and help restore public faith in organisations that hold personal information. Public trust in bodies holding such information has been tarnished in recent years following multiple instances of data breaches and many organisations displaying an apparent lack of diligence when it comes to data security.

    Tracesmart are keen to demonstrate their commitment to the proper use of personal data as it is at the heart of all the company’s services. This includes their online consumer site, which members of the public use to trace people; and their Tracesmart Corporate suite of services, which are employed by various public, private and third sector organisations to reunite individuals with unclaimed assets, conduct online identity checks and cleanse consumer data.

    Mike Trezise, Managing Director at Tracesmart, was the company’s official signatory and he highlighted how signing the ICO’s Personal Information Promise is very much in line with the company’s data protection culture,

    “Our signing of the Personal Information Promise further reinforces our commitment to ethical data usage and corporate social responsibility. As a company Tracesmart goes to great lengths to guarantee that not only is the data we supply accurate, but also stored securely and used responsibly; both internally and by our customers. Ethical data usage is paramount in our business activities and we welcome any opportunity to build both consumer and commercial confidence in companies that handle personal information.”

    About Tracesmart

    • Tracesmart Ltd was formed in 1999 and supplies a diverse range of consumer data cleansing, identity check and people tracing tools to a wide variety of industries. The company’s client base ranges from SME to Blue Chip, who are all recipients of bespoke solutions, built around their specific needs.
    • The ICO is the UK’s independent public body set up to promote access to official information and protect personal information by promoting good practice, ruling on eligible complaints, providing information to individuals and organisations, and taking appropriate action when the law is broken.
    • Mike Trezise is the founder and Managing Director of Tracesmart. With over 25 years tracing and fraud analysis experience, his unrivalled knowledge provides the company with a distinct competitive advantage.