A Buckinghamshire will writer claims Monday’s Panorama programme supported what she has always said: that a will is one of the most important documents a person will ever write and should be carried out by a qualified, person belonging to a regulated body.

Alison Sellers, Director at ASTUS Financial Planningis a qualified member of theSociety of Will Writers (SWW), the country’s leading professional body for the will writing industry. She has also been classed as an approved person by the government for the last 20 years to conduct investment business, and is fully insured.

Alison said that the programme’s focus on problems experienced by a small handful of people who had asked will writers to handle their probate masked the real issues people should be addressing.

“As with most documentaries of this type, the programme sought to suggest there is a major problem within the will writing industry by show-casing half a dozen cases – actually concerning probate administration rather than will writing – only one of which was proven to be a fraudulent case.

“The reality is that the SWW alone has 2000 members who write some 200,000 wills a year with hardly a problem. The societies’ insurers have handled just 11 cases in the past 16 years.

“We work in an unregulated market not through choice but because successive governments have deemed it unnecessary to bring in regulation. However, the SWW would support regulation. The SWW has been on the Scottish consultation panel since 2006 and it supports the Scottish Government in its proposed regulatory plans.

“The SWW is also supporting and working with the Legal Services Board in England to regulate or at least licence will writers and is pressing for tighter regulation of probate and client funds.

“The simple truth though is that no amount of legislation will eliminate fraudulent behaviour in any industry. One of the will writers featured in the programme last night was, as the Panorama reported admitted, a struck-off solicitor. The legal industry is clearly not immune then to the type of issue highlighted by the programme but which seemed to suggest  lay at the door of will writers.

“What the programme should have highlighted was that people need to read and understand the terms and conditions of the literature they are signing and if they don’t understand, don’t sign until they are fully satisfied. They should ask the person dealing with them about their experience, qualifications, insurance cover and membership of a professional organisation.

“In any industry there will always be the occasional bad apple but this shouldn’t cloud the key issue which, as the programme itself highlighted at the opening, is that a will is a vitally important document which is best handled by a professional whose skills are dedicated to will writing.”

ENDS

August 10 2010

Category: Economy
Date: 3/4/2010

The base rate of interest will remain at 0.5 per cent for at least another month, meaning the measure has now spent a year at this record low.

The Bank of England’s Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) announced the decision at noon today, following its monthly meeting.

The MPC last cut the base rate in March last year, when it was halved from 1.0 per cent to 0.5 per cent.

There is currently some debate over when an increase will be implemented.

Some analysts believe that a rise is probable later this year, while others have predicted a freeze at 0.5 per cent until at least 2011.

It was also announced that no more money would be injected into the economy through the Bank’s programme of quantitative easing.

The most recent change in the size of that programme was an increase of £25 billion to a total of £200 billion on 5 November 2009.

Minutes of the meeting, which show whether the MPC’s decision was made unanimously, will be released on 19 March.

Next month’s decision will be announced on 8 April.

25 November 2009

The new business, which is yet to be named, but which will form part of the Paradigm Group of companies set up by Bankhall founder Hogarth in 2007, is expected to offer a suite of tax wrappers to allow advisers to target the workplace pensions and benefits market. It will also offer a consultancy service.

Bee, who leaves his job as Scottish Life’s head of pensions strategy at the end of January 2010, says he is making the switch because he believes it is advisers rather than providers who will be at the heart of a successful pension system in future.

The new entity is due to launch in Q2 2010 and is being designed to take advantage of adviser opportunities and challenges thrown up by auto-enrolment, personal accounts and the Retail Distribution Review.

Precise details of exactly how the business will operate are yet to be finalised, but Paradigm is believed to be aiming to offer an adviser-centric challenge to life offices that could blend adviser consolidation and consultancy services.

Bee, who will become a partner at Paradigm, joined Scottish Life in 1997 from Prudential where he spent over 20 years. 

Paul Hogarth said: “I have been an admirer of Steve and his thinking for many years. He is widely recognized as the UKs leading authority on all things pensions and is regarded as a national treasure by advisers.  To have been able to lure him and his thinking away from the manufacturing end of the market into distribution will be of huge benefit to the adviser community and will, I‘m sure, prove to be one of the highlights of my career. 

“Steve and I share a vision about the future of pensions in the UK and the role financial advisers should play in making them more accessible and available. The proposition we will be launching in the new year is all about turning that vision into reality and I am extremely excited about its prospects.”

John Deane, chief executive of Scottish Life says: “They say that all good things must come to an end and Steve has been a very good thing for Scottish Life.  We’d like to thank him for all he’s done during his time with us.  Steve has helped Scottish Life become a major player in the market, with real product innovation and an excellent service proposition.  We’ll be giving him a good send off when he goes, with our very best wishes for the future.”

 source; corporate adviser

Figures from Moneyfacts have revealed that lenders are beginning to increase their maximum loan-to-values (LTVs). The number of home loan products which require a deposit of 15% has risen from 169 to 231 since the base rate of interest was cut to 0.5% in March. The number of mortgage requiring a deposit of just 10% has increased in the eight month period, up from 89 to 105. “It is encouraging to see that lenders are becoming more accommodating with their deposit requirements. This is likely to give more opportunities to first time buyers,” commented Darren Cook, spokesperson at Moneyfacts Group. The number of residential mortgages has risen from 1,431 to 1,564 since March.

05 Nov 2009

Property prices rose for the fourth month in succession in October, and are now 7.1% higher than they were six months ago, according to the Halifax House Price Index. The value of property in the UK increased by 1.2% last month, with house prices in the three months to October improved by 2.9% on the previous three months. The average home finished October worth £165,528, a similar level to that last seen in November 2008. “Demand for houses has risen in recent months due to the very low level of interest rates, the decline in property prices since the summer of 2007 and a pick-up in consumer confidence on the back of better economic news,” said Martin Ellis, housing economist at the Halifax.

03 Nov 2009

source emoneyfacts