So I was trying to find out the other day what is the interest rate on my NatWest Credit Card? I searched high and low on the NatWest Bank website and couldn’t find this information anywhere. There were details about the current credit card that they are offering which is the Platinum card with interest rates starting at 6.9% (the interest rate will depend on personal circumstances), but there was no information about the interest rate on a standard Natwest Credit Card like the one I have held for over 25 years. Continue reading Natwest Credit Card Interest Rate
Category Archives: Finance & Insurance
How Do I Find Out If a Company Has Gone into Administration?
So I recently had this problem where a company I was dealing with (and who had taken my money) stopped providing me with the service and seemed to disappear. They were not answering any of their phones and no-one could get hold of them. Chances are that they had gone belly up but how do I find out if they had gone bust?
My first search led me to check the UK Companies House register. They were indeed listed on here as a limited company (you can check here) but they were still registered as an active company. My next search advised me to phone Trading Standards so I googled for a phone number for the local branch of where the company was based. It came up with a general number for Citizens advice but apparently Trading Standards farm out their calls to them. They said that I would have to phone Companies House. So I called them and they said they had not been notified of the company going into administration and that they would only be notified or take action if the company failed to file any returns or else had lodged with the Insolvency service.
So next stop was to phone the Insolvency Service. I asked them again, what would happen if a company has gone bust but hasn’t notified anyone? They didn’t really have an answer. All anyone kept saying was that they would take action once the company notified them. Somehow I don’t think the first thing on the director’s list was to call the Insolvency Service… Anyway, they mentioned the Official Receiver as being the person who would investigate, so I googled them. They are pretty much part of the Insolvency service but what I did find there was a form to report people who are acting incorrectly. This answered my question really about companies who do not notify anyone that they have stopped trading. Other people can report them and hopefully the Official Receiver will investigate. You just need to fill out a form with all the details. You will need to get the Company Registration number from the Companies House website as well as the address, phone etc.
So if you think that a company has gone bust and you can’t find out any information about whether or not they have gone into administration then you can report them yourself. The place to report them is here and you can do it online or by post.
And don’t forget that if you paid by credit card then you may be entitled to get your money back from your credit card provider under Section 75 of the Consumer Credit Act.
Warren Buffett and Bank of America
Warren Buffett is someone that a lot of people look up to when trying to decide where to invest their money. In fact some people believe that Warren Buffett has far too much control and influence over the financial health of the US and beyond, too much for any one person anyway.
But last month he came to the rescue of Bank of America by investing $5bn pounds in the company. The fact that so much confidence was shown in Bank of America can only help it’s position and give investors the impetus to also show their confidence in the bank.
Warren Buffett is generally regarded as one of the most successful investors in the world and is the Chairman and CEO of Berkshire Hathaway. Anything that Warren Buffett invests in therefore comes under huge scrutiny and there are always scores of people ready to follow suit and invest in a similar fashion.
However, the deal to invest in Bank of America was said to be more of a long term thing and perhaps would not be the same as buying Bank of America shares for the short term. In any investment it is worthwhile looking at your own situation with regards to the possibilities and to get advice to see if a perticular investment will suit your portfolio.
So just following the investments of Warren Buffett as they occur may not reap you exactly the rewards that you are looking for!
Money – Gold Prices
If you are looking to invest in gold right now then you need to keep a close eye on gold prices. A lot of money has gone into gold in recent years and this investment has paid off as gold prices reached a peak. While the rest of the financial world struggled, the benefit of investing in gold was the fact that you actually had a physical commodity rather than the theoretical paper property of money that could be wiped out in a very short amount of time.
Gold prices now are still at an all time high. The rise in gold prices started about 5 years ago and and has escalated to a level not seen before. Prior to the 5 year rise seen recently the prices were pretty static for the 20 years before that.
The reason for the increase in gold prices in the last 5 years has been debated a lot in the press. Generally it is understood that people buy gold for it’s value as a tradable commodity and the fact that it is a good thing to invest in in times of uncertain inflation. Gold will always have value and be tradable so may be considered a safer investment than other things.
So the question you need to ask if you are planning on investing in gold is, are prices going to rise any higher and are you looking for long term or short term gains? What you need to decide is what you think the ceiling for gold prices might be. At the end of the day prices depend on supply and demand and what people are willing to buy and sell for and gold prices are no different.
