Moneyextra Monthly

Dear Moneyextra user,

You're receiving this Monthly Email because you've registered with our
website. To change your subscription options, please follow the link at the
bottom of this e-mail.



1. Savings should be child's play Sponsored by Prudential

2. Are they blackening your name? Sponsored by Com Direct

3. Cover up this winter, prepare for the big chill Sponsored by FT

4. Court rules on credit card consumer protection

5. Moneyextra's Comparison Services


1. Savings should be child's play






PruFund Investment Plan
New bond designed for medium to long term investments of £5000+. Get your
lazy lump sum to work harder.Value may fluctuate and you might not get back
the full amount invested.

Click here for details.




What does the Child Trust Fund, also known as a "baby bond", do for you?
Well, parents of any children born on or after 1 September 2002 will receive
a voucher worth at least £250. Poorer parents will get more. If your family
income is below the Child Tax Credit income limit (currently £13,480), the
value of the voucher you receive will be boosted by an extra £250.

You can't spend the voucher. It isn't your money. What you can do with it is
set your sprog on the right financial road at a very early age. You may
invest the voucher in a CTF account of your choice and you (and anyone
else - the investment limit does not bar contributions from anyone -
parents, family or friends) will also be able to add further savings up to a
maximum of £1,200 a year up to the age of 18 on behalf of the child.

The CTF vouchers started going out in January but the accounts don't start
operating until April. In addition to the initial voucher payment, the
government is also planning to add a top-up payment - the amount is still to
be decided - on your child's seventh birthday.

I should point out that there have been critics who have branded CTFs as a
gimmick: pure political posturing by Gordon Brown. According to Scottish
Friendly, the £250 that your offspring gets will, at 6 per cent a year, turn
into £951, worth, adjusted for inflation, just £609 in 18 years' time,
assuming you get a second voucher for £250 when junior turns seven. That's
not going to go far against a potential bill for university education that
has already been forecast to pass £30,000 within the next six years.

What will make Child Trust Funds fly is the money you put in, not the money
the government is putting in - which is, after all, just some of the tax it
has taken off you being given back.

However, what about those of us with kids born before the start date -
children born on or before 31 August 2002? The short answer is that there is
nothing to stop you making savings provisions for your kids. Remember even
the smallest sprog has the same tax allowances available to him or her as an
adult. Take advantage of them!

Not all ISAs are the same. Moneyextra is here to help you compare ISAs and
find the right one for you.
www.moneyextra.com/isas/



2. Are they blackening your name?




Com Direct
Choose comdirect and pay a flat £12.50 per trade for all investments. Enjoy
fast, efficient dealing and helpful customer service.

Visit ComDirect




Are you in the black or are you worrying about black spots, balls or lists?
Do they exist? Do you need to be worrying? Let's take them one by one. You
can blame Robert Louis Stevenson for the black spot - a literary device
carrying a death threat in his book Treasure Island. A piece of a paper was
marked with a black smudge on one side and a message on the other to make
the threat specific.

Black balls used to be a private matter between gentlemen. If you were
trying to join a club, the members would vote with white balls (for
acceptance) or black balls (for rejection). Get two or more black balls and
you would be rejected, hence "black balled".

A blacklist is a list or register of people who, for one reason or another,
are being denied a particular privilege, service, or mobility. The most
famous example in the history books is the Hollywood blacklist from the
1950s when the USA was in the grip of its "reds under the bed" scare.

But is there really a credit blacklist? In fact there is no such thing! When
a lender looks at your application for a loan or a card, they may credit
score it to establish what the lending risk is. This score is formed from
the information available from a credit reference agency as well as what you
provide on the application form.

It is always worth "knowing the score" yourself. Keep a check that the
information held by credit reference agencies is accurate and up-to-date.
Check you're registered on the Electoral Roll and contact the local
authority if you're not.

If you've had any CCJs that you've paid off, ensure they're listed as
"satisfied" on your credit report - the same goes for Bankruptcy Orders that
have been discharged or annulled. Also check that other accounts are
displaying the right status information, and confirm that the number of
credit searches is correct and any addresses you're linked to are relevant.

Get your FREE online Experian credit report and a 30-day FREE trial of
CreditExpert, here.



3. Cover up this winter, prepare for the big chill




FT.com's FREE funds service
You need to monitor your funds, but you don't want to spend all day doingit.
View company fund prices at a glance and get detailed analysis. To find out
more click here.




This turned up in my e-mail via a financial site - Moneyextra whose
sponsored link FT.com contained the following gem.

"3. COVER UP THIS WINTER, PREPARE FOR THE BIG CHILL.
The prediction by Metcheck.com that this winter is likely to be one of the
colder ones in recent years is enough to make most of us wish we could go
into hibernation. It's not exactly something to look forward to and, as well
as being the least popular season, it's also the worst time for burglaries,
burst pipes, floods and central heating breakdowns."

Goes on to advertise home insurance.

It just goes to show that if something is said enough it becomes gospel -
hence the urban myth.
I am praying this will be a hard winter, not for my usual selfish reasons,
but to spare Metcheque the most massive egg on face since MF "no hurricane,
madam". !

Dave. Going balmy in S.Essex.