Coronavirus: Saga seeks debt holiday and warns cruises could be suspended for six months April 2, 2020 Saga, the cruise operator and insurance provider for over-50’s, said this morning it plans to ask for a debt holiday as it warned that it could be forced to postpone holidays for up to six months. Saga’s share price dropped more than five per cent after it said full year revenue could be down around [...]
Ex-chancellor Alistair Darling calls for coronavirus VAT cut April 1, 2020 Former Labour chancellor Alistair Darling has called for the government to temporarily cut VAT to help people deal with the economic fallout from the coronavirus crisis. Darling, who was chancellor during the 2008 financial crisis, told a virtual Policy Exchange event today that the Treasury had to start doing “things that can be done fairly [...]
Online scams and home working April 1, 2020 Suddenly, we’re all in the same boat – focused on little apart from protecting ourselves, our loved ones, friends, incomes and businesses.Tony Neate, CEO of cybersecurity advice provider Get Safe Online, has advice for employers and individuals facing home working for the first time. For most of us, in whatever sector we work or run [...]
Fraudsters will “exploit any weakness” to commit financial crime March 31, 2020 Scammers will use every opportunity to commit insurance fraud, from taking advantage of the panic around COVID-19 to exploiting opportunities presented by digital technologies. In times of crisis, there’s usually an upturn in fraud and financial crime. That’s just a historical fact. It happened in the aftermath of the 2008 financial crash, and Chris Andrew [...]
AA suspends dividend to brace for possible coronavirus blow March 31, 2020 Repair firm the AA today cancelled its 2019 dividend as it sought to protect itself from the coronavirus outbreak. The company said it has not yet seen any impact from coronavirus, but suspended its final dividend at it outlined multiple future risks. Investors will still receive an interim dividend payment of 0.6p per share. The [...]
Coronavirus: Bank of England extends emergency liquidity measure March 30, 2020 The Bank of England said today it would extend an emergency liquidity measure, the three-month Contingent Term Repo Facility (CTRF), to run until the end of April and it would also hold a one-month CTRF operation each week until 1 May. The Bank reactivated the facility last week as part of its attempts to keep [...]
Thousands of jobs at risk as Carluccio’s and Brighthouse collapse under coronavirus pressure March 30, 2020 Italian restaurant chain Carluccio’s and rent-to-own retailer Brighthouse both appointed administrators this morning, putting thousands of jobs at risk. Carluccio’s has appointed FRP Advisory as administrator after forced restaurant closures following the outbreak of coronavirus, and ongoing pressures in the hospitality sector, led to it running out of cash. FRP said it will use the [...]
Number of coronavirus cases in US overtake Italy and China March 27, 2020 The US has become the global epicentre of the coronavirus outbreak, as the number of confirmed cases surpassed China and Italy. The US has more than 86,000 positive tests, surpassing China’s 81,782 cases and Italy, the epicentre of the outbreak in Europe, which has confirmed 80,589 cases. However, the death toll in the US, which [...]
Rishi Sunak unveils self-employed economic relief package March 27, 2020 The government has upped its response to the coronavirus crisis by vowing to pay low and middle income self-employed workers 80 per cent of their average monthly profits in a package expected to cost the Treasury £9bn. Chancellor Rishi Sunak announced the much anticipated relief package yesterday, giving self-employed workers the same support announced for furloughed payrolled workers last week. Sunak [...]
Lloyd’s of London boss expects claims spike as market enacts coronavirus response plan March 26, 2020 The chief executive of insurance market Lloyd’s of London said today he expected a spike in claims as a result of the coraonvirus pandemic. Speaking to City A.M., John Neal said “I think we will have heightened claims activity,” but said it was not yet possible to predict the full impact. Neal said Lloyd’s has [...]