News Team

Ministers must extend eligibility criteria currently excluding more than 3 million in self-employment during the Covid-19 crisis, MPs and campaign groups say. The Government is coming under increasing pressure to fill the gaps in its emergency coronavirus wage subsidy schemes in the March budget to help millions of those in self-employment and workers barred from … Read more

Businesses are to be given more time to repay Covid loans, as the chancellor announces options to delay the first payment for six months and make repayments over 10 years. Firms struggling to keep afloat during the pandemic are to be given more time to make the first repayment on government support loans. Rishi Sunak … Read more

Thousands of small business owners are at breaking point due to months of lockdown, restricted trading and money spent on anti-Covid measures. For many, however, next Sunday’s tax payment deadline could be the final straw. Costs such as rent, rates, mortgages, utility bills and leases have all still had to be paid, while income has … Read more

Chancellor Rishi Sunak has promised businesses operating in the retail, leisure and hospitality sectors that they will receive new payments to help them keep afloat until spring. The Treasury has said the payments will be worth up to £9,000 per property as Mr Sunak is ‘committed to protecting jobs and supporting businesses’. Industry groups, although … Read more

Banks have prompted a mortgage price war which will bring to an end four months of rate hikes, as a BoE report reveals ‘signs of easing’. After lenders made it increasingly difficult to obtain a mortgage earlier this year, the Bank of England (BoE), in its latest report, has signalled ‘some signs of easing’ in … Read more

Banks could be forced to refund all victims of fraud in plans being proposed by the payments regulator, even retrospectively, if mandatory refund rules are introduced. There has been a rise of more than 36pc in complaints to the Financial Ombudsman Service (FOS) this year compared to 2019 concerning how banks have dealt with victims … Read more