First, the good news: more and more people are sourcing auto loans online. Now for the bad: the number is still very small.

Auto loans online

That information appeared last week in Automotive News, a trade publication, and appears to be based on research from the Power Information Network. Apparently if you add the number of cash buyers to the number of those with “direct” loans (those not arranged by a dealer) then the two categories together represented just 22 percent of all vehicle sales in the third quarter of this year.

That’s down from 31 percent during the same period in 2009. Of course, that year’s numbers were skewed by the great recession: fewer cars were sold then, and lenders weren’t lending, so only cash buyers and the hyper-creditworthy stood any real chance of changing their cars. Even so it’s slightly depressing that more people aren’t applying for auto loans online, if only because having an approved offer in your pocket puts you in a much stronger bargaining position when your dealer starts negotiating your finance package.

Auto loans and dealers–a bad mix

But it’s not just that.

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The government has announced that it is to conduct a review of the benefits available under its Support for Mortgage Interest (SMI) which is currently available to unemployed individuals who would otherwise be unable to pay their home owner loan.

SMI benefit currently pays the interest on home owner loan repayments up to loan amounts of £200,000 after a person has been unemployed for a thirteen week period, although it is means tested on things like savings levels.

Once a person has  qualified for SMI, the benefits are payable directly to the loan provider indefinitely, until the borrower returns to work, but the government has now said that his is unsustainable and has therefore proposed a review of this  valuable loan benefit.

The main proposals are that the benefit payable will only continue for a limited time, in order to incentivise a claimant to return to work as soon as possible. If

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Having trouble keeping track of your spending? Ever wished you could keep all your accounts in one place?

Well now you can.  And not only that but you can also track your monthly spending, set household budgets, and see all of your transactions and balances together at the same time, so you’ll always know exactly how much money you have, and never need to wory about accidentally going over your overdraft limit or missing a payment.

There are now some great free online budgeting tools available to people in the UK.  These are secure websites which link together all of your bank accounts, credit cards, utility bills etc an display them in a single dashboard to help you manage your money.  They automatically create beautiful graphs and overall balances so you can check all of your finances on a single website quickly and easily.

They also give ongoing money saving tips and advice tailored to your needs, for example, letting you know about alternative products and services that might save you money.  And

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Many people ask a common question that – are they eligible to work with all the three credit agencies at the same time? Is it good to check 3 credit reports simultaneously? Well, the answer is yes for both the questions. It is always important to view all three credit reports simultaneously as each of them are created uniquely. Also, it becomes easier to spot an error if you have all 3 credit reports at your hand. Undoubtedly, the 3 credit reports are very important for an individual or any business.

Through online, you can get a free summary of all 3 credit scores. This summary will help you to understand your credit report easily. This summary or statement is often called a ‘tri-merged’ credit report. Such name is given as it is a merged statement of the three reports of the three credit reporting bureaus. The Read more…