Personal Finance and Investing

There is one battle that continues to divide the sexes – the argument about whether men or women are safest on the road. Well, moneysupermarket.com knows better than to wade into that particular debate but we can bring you some statistics that show what the car insurance companies believe.

Analysis of more than six million motor insurance quotes made throughour website during the 12 months to June 2009 shows that men are paying an average of 71% more than women for their cover.

Why is this the case?

Insurance companies price for risk, and claims data shows that male drivers make more car insurance claims than their female counterparts.

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You’ve always played by the rules. You dutifully pay on your credit card each and every month, and are proud to say you’ve never missed a payment or a due date.

So, why in the world have you just noticed that your credit card’s interest rate is set to go through the roof?

Unfortunately, many banks are not being particularly choosy with whom they raise rates and introduce fees. Take Bank of America, for example: this creditor has plans to implement an annual fee to millions of its customers, ranging anywhere from $29 to $99. Bank

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Even in an uncertain economy BankTexas CEO Troy Robinson feels comfortable making loans to small business owners.

BankTexas CEO Troy Robinson says he won’t take part in the government’s new program offering cheap money to community banks. (Courtesy Troy Robinson/ABC News Photo Illustration)

That’s mainly because Robinson knows his customers. BankTexas is headquartered in Quitman, Texas. Population: 2,000.

When the Obama administration announced last month that the Treasury Department had proposed earmarking billions of dollars of Troubled Asset Relief Program funds for “community banks,” small, locally run institutions such as BankTexas, the initiative seemed sensible enough to Robinson.

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Knowing what your credit report says is an important issue that not very many people take seriously. Perhaps this is due to a lack of awareness, but it is important to stay up to date. Knowing what it says is so important that the government requires reporting companies to give you an annual report for free. Ever heard of identity theft? A big reason why so many identity thieves commit their crimes undetected is because most people never check theirs. If someone takes out multiple loans in your name you may not find out about it until you have been bled dry and the thief is long gone.

An identity thief will sometimes use a person’s identity for a period of up to 6 months or more, switching back and forth between different victims. I

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