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By Julia Kukiewicz Staff Writer
Friday, 15 May 2009
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Money News Roundup
If you only do one thing with your money this week...
Make sure you've got fully comprehensive travel insurance in place for your summer holiday.
Previous Money News Roundups
See our other recent Money News Roundups and other related news stories:
Money News Roundup (08 MAY 09)
In this week's money news roundup with Julia Kukiewicz find out why NatWest's MoneySense scheme is starting to feel more like a MoneyScam, all about thousands of secret credit cards and the £s you need to keep a man happy.
Money News Roundup (01 MAY 09)
Find out why Iggy Pop is out of a job, how the changes to Egg credit cards could affect you and who would buy their botox from ebay in this week's money news round up with Julia Kukiewicz.
Money News Roundup (24 APR 09)
In this week's budget money news with Julia Kukiewicz: why are credit card companies closing their ears to the budget's warnings and how could the 50% tax and deflation affect you?
Money News Roundup (17 APR 09)
Find out why Swansea's Citizen's Advice Bureau is linked to crime, why PR firms are doing well in the recession and how much kids cost in this week's money news with Julia Kukiewicz.
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HOW to buy a village, pay without your pin number and get a gold star for your gold credit card in this week’s money news roundup.
A Village for Village People
£22m to £25m to spare? Why not buy your own village.
Linkenholt, near Andover in Hampshire comes complete with cottages, a cricket club, a blacksmiths and a manor house.
In fact, the only thing not for sale in the area of outstanding natural beauty is the church.
Also included in the sale are 22 cottages and houses, a village shop, a commercial shoot, 1,500 acres of prime farmland and 450 acres of woodland. The village has now been sold by a charitable trust.
The Thing with the Pin
YET another way, this week, to escape the tyranny of the pin number.
Credit card companies seem to remained convinced that tapping in a number is just too slow a way to pay for things. Hence Barclaycard's 'touch and go' system allowing shoppers to pay without entering a PIN number, which is to be trialled by Boots this week.
The technology is already available at branches of Pret a Manger, Coffee Republic, Books etc and Thresher and for oyster card payments, and on a simple 'touch' of the card, the cost of the goods are instantly deducted from the holder's account.
According to a MasterCard spokesman: "Consumers and retailers in other parts of Europe, the US and Asia are already embracing the ease and safety of contactless payments in retail environments where speed is essential."
Speed is certainly of the essence when you're running late for the tube, and who doesn't wish they had just a couple of extra minutes to pop into Boots and grab a KitKat?
Gold stars for Insurance
TRAVEL insurance claims costs Britons just under £90 million in 2008 - an increase of 38 per cent on the year before - and 14 per cent of British travellers went overseas without insurance, according to a survey released this week by InsureandGo.
The insurer also expresses concern that gold credit card users could be going away without adequate insurance, believing that they are fully covered for all eventualities.
"They think they are [covered] and then they find out it only covers themselves and not their family, or it only covers them if they've booked their whole holiday on their credit card," explained Perry Wilson, founder of the firm.
Of course it's always important to read the small print on your insurance but it's hard to shake the feeling that Wilson is trying to put the frightners on the travel insurance offered by gold credit cards which is often actually rather good.
Remember though, the majority of credit cards only offer 'travel accident insurance' - which isn't a substitute for comprehensive cover and won't cover things like legal protection, emergency medical care (unless it's a major accident - and only as a post-claim for money), lost luggage, flight delays or cancellations.
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