Entrepreneurs and investors – the UK is open for business!

Guest Post
The Chinese year of the Sheep began on the 19^th February and Master Hans Cua, the youngest Feng Shui master in Asia, predicted that in the year of the Wooden Sheep businesses dealing with textile, fashion, paper, rubber and wood will grow well, while technology, electronic gadgets and supplies, computers, solar power, food, those thinking invention, and new-idea-regulating industries will be making a lot of money.

The British economy has certainly got off to a good start. This week the Office for National Statistics (ONS) announced the UK’s economy grew by 2.6% last year, the fastest pace since 2007, coupled with a recent article reporting that 60% of small businesses say they expect profit growth this year. These figures now place the UK among the best performing of all the major economies in 2014.

The economic resurgence is being further stimulated by Britain’s active support for non-EEA nationals to consider entrepreneurial and investment opportunities within the UK through Tier 1 business visas.

The Tier 1 visa rules are designed to attract high net worth individuals from outside the EEA wishing to start-up a business or invest in the UK:

Tier 1 Entrepreneur visa
Under a Tier 1 Entrepreneur visa, successful applicants can set up or take over the running of one business or more as a self-employed individual, provided the work meets the criteria for being self-employed. Successful applicants can also bring family members and dependants with them.

To be eligible for a Tier 1 entrepreneur visa, applicants have to be from outside the EEA and Switzerland, and be able to show they have access to at least £200,000 investment funds and the skills, qualifications and experience necessary to establish a viable business in the UK.

Tier 1 Investor visa
A Tier 1 Investor visa allows investments of £2,000,000 or more in the UK. Successful applicants are permitted to invest in government bonds, share capital or loan capital in active and trading UK registered companies. Investor visa holders can also work, study or engage in business activities in the UK.

To apply for a Tier 1 Investor visa, applicants must be from outside the EEA and Switzerland, and show they want to invest £2,000,000 or more in the UK. The investment funds must either belong to the applicant, their spouse or civil partner and they must be held in one or more regulated financial institutions and be available to be transferred to and invested in the UK.

Welcoming Tier 1 business visas
Too often the news is full of negative information regarding migration to the UK, but the doors are open for all Tier 1 investors and entrepreneurs.

Prime Minister, David Cameron confirms: “As part of our long-term economic plan, we are determined to do everything we can to back business, support investment and create jobs. We are already taking action on that front including cutting corporation tax to the lowest rate in the G7 but we’ve got to keep listening to business about what more we can do to support them.”

If you have a client from outside the EEA who has a business idea or who wishes to invest in an existing UK business, please contact us to discuss the full eligibility criteria and the options available to secure a Tier 1 business visa.

Anne Morris – Managing Director, DavidsonMorris
DavidsonMorris is a modern legal services provider specialising in immigration law. We support a range of private and commercial clients with expertise in the financial services, petrochemical and education sectors, advising major multi-nationals, FTSE 100 and Global 2000 companies, to help them meet their global mobility needs. We also support private entrepreneurs and investors in achieving British Citizenship, Naturalisation and Indefinite Leave to Remain.

Have Payday Loan Companies Pushed the Law Too Far?

Guest Post

Wonga has been receiving bad press recently, after it transpired that it had sent threatening letters to customers from fictitious law firms. As a result, it has paid out £2.6 million in compensation fees and has allegedly fired everyone involved with this illegal practice. This money has gone out to more than 45,000 customers, which works out at roughly £50 per person in damages. We’re not sure how effective this will be for all the people it has jettisoned into deep debt.

Even religious leaders have been getting involved in the payday loan debate. The archbishop of Canterbury has publically denounced payday lenders for pushing vulnerable members of society into what he calls ‘a crippling spiral of debt’. To regulate this industry, The Financial Conduct Authority has decided to impose price caps for those who take out a loan, as well as affordability checks.

You Might Be Surprised At Your Options
As Wonga allocated more than £10 million a year to their marketing budget, many of the more affordable competitors are unknown. With a demand for £6bn for loans, which are denied by traditional banks, there’s definitely scope to take advantage of those in need of borrowing money.

Credit Unions are one alternative that has its borrowing capped at 3% a month. However, Credit Unions have to be more selective about how they choose who they lend to. Usually, they will only grant you the loan if they are certain you’ll be able to pay it back.

Community development finance institutions (CDFIs) are social enterprises that lend money to those who struggle to acquire a bank loan – they are closer to Wonga in their principles, as they are not as restricted as Credit Unions and can charge higher rates of interest. They still work out a lot cheaper than Wonga, however. Wonga’s average loan is £180 for 17 days, which costs £37. Fair Finance, a London CDFI would charge you £5 for the same loan.

Reviewing Criminal Action
The police had previously ruled out taking criminal action against Wonga, but they have reassessed the case and are now considering further penalisation.

The Law Society has thrown around its weight, stating that Wonga has committed an offence under the Solicitors Act and they say Wonga used deception and blackmail to terrorise their customers. Wonga may yet have to answer to greater restrictions and penalisation, after their exploitative behaviour. Customers should bear in mind that there are alternative options to Wonga, if they find themselves in a tight financial spot. Soliciting Wonga’s help is likely to cause more problems than it solves.

How to Protect Yourself from Money Laundering

Guest Post

^{Graphic from: http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/4/4f/Credit-cards.jpg}

Purely by providing your bank account to facilitate money laundering, you’re acting illegally. Unfortunately, ignorance is no excuse in the eyes of the law, leading to potential jail time, unless your money laundering solicitor provides a credible defence against your apparent misdemeanours.

Be wary of any job offers that have come from nowhere, especially if they are based overseas – you will struggle to verify their legitimacy if they’re not based in this country. Always check that the company that you’re dealing with is legitimate and trustworthy. Never give away your bank details to an organisation that you don’t trust and know.

As soon as you start feeling suspicious about money laundering, contact your bank. If you’ve been given an opportunity to make ‘easy money,’ it’s likely to be too good to be true. Although each job position may be advertised differently, you will specifically have to hand over your bank account details to receive and move money.

Sometimes it can be initially challenging to spot a money laundering scheme. Always be wary about adverts that are full of poor English or contain obvious grammar and spelling mistakes. If you receive any emails which look like a scam, do not click on any of the links in the text and delete the correspondence.

Should I use a claims management company to make a PPI claim?

No. No you shouldn’t. It’s as simple as that.

PPI claims companies add no value whatsoever and the sooner they’re hunted to extinction, the better.

Making a PPI claim is incredibly simple and any layperson who can fill in a simple form can do it themselves. And making a claim for PPI mis-selling yourself means you won’t have to pay out up to 25% of any compensation you’re awarded – unlike the situation with claims management companies.

Thankfully, banks are spelling this out for potential claimants now.

For instance, RBS letters say the following:

Should you wish to complain we would urge you to complain directly to us, rather than using a Claims Management Company ('CMC') which may charge you up to 25% of any possible refund as a fee. We treat all complaints received directly from customers in exactly the same way as one from a CMC.

I guess that’s progress.

Get your summer rolling with a caravan loan

Sponsored PostWith summer now in full swing and summer holidays fast approaching, there’s no better time to consider buying a caravan or motorhome.

Caravans allow for unparalleled freedom when touring around the country (or abroad), unencumbered by a strict itinerary. You can go where you like, stop where you like*, all on a schedule that suits you – not your holiday operator.

Owning a caravan makes packing for your trip away relatively easy, without that constant fear associated with ‘suitcase travel’ of leaving something crucial behind. You can load up your van with relative speed and ease and away you go.

What’s more, with your own caravan, you needn’t worry about the cleanliness and facilities of third party static vans on camping sites. It’s very much like taking your second home with you and there’s a lot to be said for having some personal space that’s truly yours on holiday.

Caravan owners are free to make more of their leisure time. A caravan can be hooked up to a car in no time and you can be headed away for a weekend’s break with very little preparation or planning. And who doesn’t a love an impromptu mini-break in the sun?

For motorsport fans, a caravan would be perfect for making the most of a summer of motorsport action with the Goodwood Festival of Speed, coupled with the British Grand Prix held each July.

With in-season testing set to return to F1 from next season onwards, British petrolheads have an even greater treat in store.

One of the two day testing events is to be tacked on to the 2014 British Grand Prix. This allows fans the chance to get up close and appreciate F1 cars in all their glory at the home of British motorsport and at just a fraction of the cost of attending the Grand Prix weekend.

Of course, die-hard fans might want to attend both events next year and what could be better than rolling up in your new caravan before settling in for nearly a week’s worth of high octane action.

If water sports are your thing, what could be better than decamping down to the shore? With so many campsites being located next to beaches, having your caravan on the seafront is the next best thing to owning your own mobile beach hut. Cornwall has some fantastic surfing beaches on the north coast or, if calmer waters are more to your liking, the south coast provides perfect conditions for swimming, snorkelling and a whole host of other activities.

However, caravans can be expensive and rather than holding off, you may want to consider a caravan loan so you can start enjoying caravanning life sooner rather than later.

Try using a personal loans calculator to get a quotation for a loan  today.

Loans are available from £3,000 to £25,000, for a term of 2 to 5 years at a rate of 5.4% APR Representative on loans between £7,500 and £10,000. You can apply via an easy online process and obtain an instant decision.

Go on – you know you want to!

^{*(Subject always to the need to act in accordance with all applicable laws and regulations – plus a healthy dollop of common sense!!).} 

Lloyds-Deloitte Scandal Muddies the PPI Waters

Sponsored PostFor followers of consumer finance news it would seem that the mis sold payment protection insurance (PPI) scandal goes from bad to worse! The latest incident involves the Lloyds Group and financial services provider Deloitte, and has become something of a row between the two. The saga involves a call centre staffed by personnel brought in by Deloitte to handle mis sold PPI claims for Lloyds’ customers, an undercover journalist from The Times, and some rather unusual alleged instructions to staff at the centre. It should be said that Deloitte is adamant it has not been involved in wrongdoing.

The Times’ Revelations
The Times sent a journalist into the centre, posing as a trainee, and the report that followed alleged that not only were staff encouraged to ‘play the system’ in order to slow down or deter claims, but there were also incidences of signatures being put to agreements without consent and other misdemeanours, which The Times alleges led to the contract between the two parties being terminated. Deloitte is at pains to point out that the contract was actually ended because Lloyds opted to use two providers instead of three, and it chose to close the Deloitte contract irrespective of the reports.

The Latest in a Long Line
This latest saga is just one of many that have dogged the PPI claims routine over the past couple of years; even after the High Court ruled that the lenders must pay back fees on mis sold policies there were numerous instances in which banks were fined for being too slow. The revelations that a Lloyds call centre – albeit one staffed by third party employees – has been so recently involved in similar practices will not be welcomed by the consumers.

Where the Confused Should Turn
The resultant mistrust of the banks and other lenders and apparent intent to make things difficult for consumers has left many claimants unsure of what to do next. In fact, there are good reasons for using a PPI Claims company, especially if they are looking for a stress-free and easy way of making a claim. There are plenty offering no obligation advice and help, with online applications that can take mere moments, and the benefit of expertise is many-fold. Experience, after all, cannot be bought, and with an average payout of £3000 so far there are good reasons for investigating further the possibilities of making a PPI claim.

Lending and Borrowing Laws for Loans

Guest PostIf you’re considering taking out a loan, it’s important to be aware of your rights beforehand. This means becoming acquainted with the laws which govern lending and borrowing terms in the UK. Doing so will ensure that you are fully aware of the risks of taking out a loan, and will help you to understand how best to manage the financial repercussions of doing so – including what may happen if you can’t make your repayments.

Taking Out a Loan

When you take out a loan you will always be asked to sign an agreement. This agreement will set out the terms of your loan, and by signing it you will be indicating that you are both aware of and in agreement with these terms. In the UK, most lending and borrowing agreements are regulated by the Consumer Credit Act. This Act gives rights to borrowers, and dictates the terms under which lenders can provide loans. If a lending agreement is governed by the Consumer Credit Act, you will receive a written copy of your agreement which clearly defines:

• How much you will be required to repay for your loan.
• What type of loan it is.
• The terms and dates of your payments.
• What will happen if your loan is cancelled, or if you pay it off early.

Not all lending companies adhere to the Consumer Credit Act, and some even operate illegally. Therefore, if you are considering taking a loan from a company which offers loans outside of the CCA, it’s important to find out whether or not they are FSA approved. A reputable company, such as www.1ststop.co.uk, will display this information clearly, but if not you are free to request it before signing a loan agreement.

Cancelling Lending Agreements

Everyone has the right to cancel a lending agreement, providing you do so within 14 days of the agreement being agreed upon. However a lending agreement cannot be cancelled if you have already signed the agreement document, and there are certain types of loans – including mortgages – which cannot be cancelled once agreed to.

Checking the Terms and Conditions

Before you agree to a loan, whether verbally or in writing, it’s always a good idea to thoroughly check the terms and conditions of the loan agreement. This is because an agreement of this nature is legally binding and you may incur a penalty for backing out early. If in doubt, always talk to your credit provider. They are obliged to advise you in full about every point of your agreement, before you sign.