A survey of 27,000 homes ,which was conducted on behalf of the European Commission, has revealed that around 25% of households in the European union have discarded phone land line use in favour of exclusive mobile phone use and a fifth of those were also using the internet to make their calls.

The Commission’s survey of 27 European countries also revealed that the percentage of households using mobile phones increased to nearly 40% in nations that were previously under the control of communist regimes. In these countries, respondents found that it was far cheaper to use a mobile phone than to pay for a land line upgrade.

However, Finland boasted a household mobile phone use rate of over 60%. It is estimated that nearly half of all European homes have internet access but only 36% are able to use broadband. The Commission has made no secret of its desire to see an increase in the use of broadband across member states

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With mortgage lenders having recently been heavily criticised by industry watchdogs for how they raised finance from mortgage exit penalties, Halifax has now introduced a new way of getting at mortgage applicant’s money – a mortgage entry fee. The fee which has to be paid once the mortgage has been completed, has been set at £245.00. Halifax stated that the money will be used to pay for administrative and any other costs associated with opening the mortgage account , form completion and shutting down the account when the mortgage term has ended.

With the housing market still under pressure from the credit crunch there will be little or no surprise if other major mortgage providers use the same approach as Halifax in an attempt to raise as much finance as possible at the expense of consumers. However, industry regulators may intervene ,even if mortgage applicants accept that they have to pay the fee.

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The man in charge of the UK’s largest domestic energy provider has stated that consumers will be hit with even more increases in gas and electricity bills.

Sam Laidlaw the CEO of Centrica ,which owns British Gas, blamed the price increase on the rise of oil and wholesale gas prices. It is therefore inevitable that customers will have to pay more. The head of Centrica refused to clarify exactly how much would be added to customer bills but confirmed that gas prices must increase.

MP’s from the Commons Business and Enterprise Select Committee were questioning Mr Laidlaw , as well as the leaders of the UK’s five other main energy supply companies, about the current energy market situation.

The committee also heard statements from smaller energy providers that accused the six largest energy operators of attempting to monopolise the electricity market. However, the CEO’s of the largest operators rejected the accusation.

Some industry analysts believe that consumers could now face an energy price increase of up to 40%. Other market experts fear that prices may even rise by as much as 50%.

Centrica has previously come under intense scrutiny for hiking its prices whilst revealing a massive £1.2 billion profit.

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As a homeowner you will have spent many years buying furniture and goods for your home, as well as acquiring your most personal belongings. But it is highly likely that your largest financial outlay would have been made when you purchased your home. So it is important that you take the necessary steps to protect your property with adequate home insurance. Additionally, you will find that mortgage lenders normally request that customers have building insurance as part of any mortgage package.

You may well believe that you will never be subject to a domestic disaster that could result in the destruction of part or all of your home so you don’t need to worry if you don’t have insurance or you allow your insurance to lapse. However, you cannot afford to take the risk. There are numerous tales of damage to homes that have been caused by fire, storm and flood damage. In light of these facts, it is surprising to know that up to a quarter of all UK homes do not have any form of insurance against these types of events. Quite simply,no insurance means you have no protection ,whatsoever, against financial loss.

Our SaveonBills comparison service will help you to find the best home insurance deal.

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In the past, if you had wanted to ensure that you were using environmentally friendly energy suppliers you would have had to pay considerably more ,than you would have to, for normal sources of energy. However ‘green’ energy is now widely available for consumers.

SaveOnBills has developed several ways of locating specialist suppliers that are able to match the electricity you use, with electricity that has been generated from renewable sources.

You can also opt for using a supplier that is committed to investing part of your gas or electricity bill into environmental projects or charities. This process is commonly referred to as offsetting.

Traditionally, it is more difficult to obtain gas from green sources than it is to obtain electricity. However, some energy schemes will offer subscribers the chance to support the replanting of deforested areas in order to balance the carbon dioxide that is produced by consumers.

Whatever your green energy needs the SaveOnBills comparison service will help you to find the best solutions.

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You may have noticed that 2008 has generally proven to be warmer than past years. However, you would also have noticed that occasionally there has been some cold weather. So this is not the time to think that you don’t have to bother with renewing your boiler or central heating insurance cover. Imagine if your central heating and boiler suddenly broke down. Not only will you be without hot water or heating you may have to pay for repairs or new equipment. In any event, do you know how much a boiler engineer will cost?

The credit crunch has ensured that families are now having to watch every penny that they spend ,so paying hundreds of pounds when you don’t have to does not make good financial sense. Always try to be prepared for domestic emergencies wherever possible. You can do this by ensuring that you have a good insurance policy. To find the best policies you should use a price comparison service.

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The credit crunch continued to hit the housing market as the number of mortgage approvals, in May, fell to its lowest number since figures began to be recorded in 1997. The latest figures relect an alarming downward spiral over the past several months.

The British Bankers Association reported that lenders approved around 28,000 mortgages last month. This represents a decrease of 57% in comparison to the mortgage approval figures for May 2007. Major lenders are said to be continuing to impose a series of financial belt tightening measures which include withdrawing certain mortgage products and increasing interest rates.

Housing industry experts suggest that the economic downturn is ensuring that the sector will continue to see a steady decline in the near future. The dip in mortgage approvals provides further evidence that the current house price situation shows no signs of stabilising. Some analysts rejected any talk of economic recovery and predicted a 10% fall in prices by the end of 2008.

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According to Dutch based independent research company,Telecompaper ,consumer demand is set to trigger massive growth in the European mobile broadband market. Industry analysts estimate that mobile broadband demand will increase by 30% each year.

Switzerland Greece and the UK are amongst the countries that are expected to experience significant growth in this sector. It is also expected that as much as 17 million broadband modems will be transported throughout Europe by 2012.

However, news of this expected growth was dampened when the Telecomms Commissioner for the European Union appeared to suggest that those who have mobile phones may face being charged for receiving incoming calls in future and added that the European body had the right to review pricing structures.

The news is also surprising as ,in recent times, representatives of the European Commission had stated that they were seeking to explore how texting and other mobile phone related charges could offer more value for money for consumers.

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With the economy in freefall and the credit crunch continuing to have an effect on family budgets , people are beginning to seek out alternative routes of raising finance. Some people are even committing themselves to loans that have exorbitant interest rates. One of the newest types of loan product is known as a ‘logbook loan’.

Logbook loans are those loans that require people to use their vehicles as security. The firms that deal with this type of loan will normally lend you a percentage of your vehicle’s actual trade cost. The company will ask you to surrender your V5 registration, insurance and MOT documents. You will also be required to enter into an agreement that will give the company ownership of your vehicle if you default on your repayments.

If you do fail to keep to your repayment terms then your vehicle will be repossessed and sold at auction and you will be asked to pay any outstanding monies if the sale does not meet the loan value. You should also be warned that these loans are extremely expensive and APR’s can rise to as much as 430%

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If you have a poor credit score the chances are you will not be top of the list when it comes to card companies handing out their credit cards. So the question is, what can you do about it?

Firstly, you should try to obtain your personal credit report to find out exactly what your credit history looks like. If your credit rating is as bad as you think, you should not despair. There are a range of credit cards that are especially designed for those who wish to repair their credit history. However, these cards carry a high interest rate. You should only apply for this type of card if there are no other alternatives.

On the other hand you should not repeatedly apply for mainstream credit cards when you know it is highly likely that your application will be turned down. If you keep getting rejected this will reflect badly on your credit status.

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