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Alliance and Leicester fixed rate bonds have enjoyed some interest rate changes, with the one year fixed rate product going up from 6.5 percent to 6.65 percent AER. All the fixed rate bonds provided by Alliance and Leicester will payout on a monthly basis should that be preferable to the customer, with the balance invested needing to be between GBP2,500 and GBP2 million to be eligible for monthly payments. The minimum amount needed to invest in one of these bonds is GBP1,000. The benefit of fixed rate bonds is the security of the capital invested as well as there being a set, guaranteed, return said an Alliance and Leicester spokesman. This means customers know exactly what they will receive back from their investment, enabling them to plan more effectively.
Sales of property with values over GBP1 million went up by 36 percent in 2007 compared with the previous year according to Halifax data. There were over 8,250 sales of million pound plus properties, with over three quarters of them being in the south east of England and London. The largest increase in sales of million pound properties was in Scotland, where the measured increase by the Halifax was 138 percent. This was followed closely by the north east of England, with a 136 percent increase. The south east has always had strong property values, said a Halifax representative, so it is not surprising to see it heading the number of sales list. It is also notable that rising property prices nationwide have driven up these type of sales further afield.
Marks and Spencer are very generously offering a discount of 20 percent on travel insurance, on top of any other discounts currently applicable. A spokesman for Marks and Spencer announced the promotion and confirmed that this 20 percent offer is in addition to the 5 percent discount currently given to customers buying their travel insurance online. The offer is also very well time, coming as it does at the beginning of the school holidays. The cover provided by the Marks and Spencer travel insurance product is very good too, with up to GBP10 million of medical cover, GBP50,000 for personal accidents and GBP6,000 in case the holiday has to be cancelled or curtailed.
