Money News

Inflation increased to 4.2% during October, which is its highest rate in almost a decade, adding pressure on the Bank of England to increase base rate to help control the rising cost of living.

Although many were expecting inflation to rise, today’s consumer price index (CPI), which measures inflation, was slightly above what many financial experts were expecting. The rate is also significantly above the Bank of England’s target inflation rate of 2.0%.

Rising energy prices and fuel costs, along with the cost of everyday items such as household goods, have contributed to the surge in inflation.

Danni Hewson, financial analyst at AJ Bell, said: “Just about everything is getting more expensive, though at least when it comes to the cost of goods and services in bars and restaurants we can point to a specific event as VAT jumped up from 5% to 12.5%. But many other pressures forcing prices up seem rather less than transitory. The cost of goods leaving the factory gate have surged to a ten-year high and supply bottlenecks, labour shortages and rising commodity prices don’t look like fizzling out in a hurry.

“Now more than double the Bank of England’s inflation target, this number is only expected to rise. The Bank itself expects 5% by spring next year, an expectation which will send a chill through many households already feeling the painful squeeze and realising that squeeze isn’t going to be short-lived. The Bank’s governor Andrew Bailey has admitted he’s worried by the figures and had given serious thought to hiking rates earlier this month.”

As world leaders spent the past two weeks at the COP26 Glasgow climate summit many companies are clamouring to highlight their green credentials, and the finance industry is no exception.

Some banks and building societies are offering a range of ‘green’ savings accounts and mortgages; while investments labelled Environmental, Social and Governance (ESG) have long been popular with investors.

For consumers looking to do their part to help combat global warming, choosing a green savings or mortgage deal or an ESG investment may seem like a good choice, but with no official guidance on what qualifies as a green product or an ESG investment, the product they choose may not be as green as the consumer initially thought.

This month’s premium bond prize draw saw two people from Bristol scoop the £1 million jackpot.

The first winner had the bond number 332GB855665 and holds a total of £38,000 in premium bonds. The second winning premium bond number was 209DZ100774, and the winner holds £25,004 in premium bonds.

Commenting on this month’s prize draw, Jill Waters, retail director at National Savings & Investments (NS&I), said: “2021 has been a lucky year for premium bonds holders in Bristol, with the fourth jackpot win recorded in the area so far this year. With one draw left in 2021, I’m sure that the millions of other premium bonds holders will be crossing their fingers that they’ll be next in line for a windfall from ERNIE – and make it a Christmas to remember.

“It’s also a big month for premium bonds as today marks 65 years since they went on sale. With 114,006,329,133 bonds eligible for this month’s draw, they are bigger than ever and with more than 3.2 million prizes this month, there’s millions of opportunities for people up and down the country to be surprised and delighted by premium bonds wins. There’s no better way to celebrate the 65th anniversary of premium bonds than by changing two peoples’ lives by making them millionaires – and we hope to make many more through one of the nation’s favourite savings product in the coming years.”

Along with the £1 million winners, this month’s prize draw saw 3.2 million other prizes handed out to premium bond holders. In total six premium bond holders won £100,000 in the November draw, 10 scooped £50,000, 22 received £25,000 and 55 won £10,000. The remaining winners received prizes ranging from £5,000 to £25.

During the pandemic there has been a rise in consumers’ credit scores, with the average score increasing from 776 in September 2019 to 797 in September this year, according to Experian.

The rise in credit scores could be down to some consumers having more disposable income during lockdowns, which they have used to pay down or clear existing debts. As well as this, although some consumers faced financial difficulties during the pandemic, the mortgage payment holidays offered by lenders did not impact credit scores, which has prevented some consumers from seeing their score fall.

Normally, a credit score will be impacted if a borrower fails to keep up with repayments on the debt, but when repayment holidays on mortgages and other types of debt were brought in at the beginning of the pandemic, it was stated that consumers needing to take a payment holiday would not see it impact their credit score. Those who had to continue taking a payment holiday after the initial incentive ended, however, would see it start to impact their credit score.