Lloyds TSB - First Time Buyer Mortage - Lend a Hand

Lloyds TSB today announced the start of its new mortage product - 'Lend a Hand' to first time buyers with just a 5% deposit. This has been welcomed by the market and the industry brokers in this times of uncertainity.

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In order to qualify for the loan, friends or relatives of the borrower must hold savings worth 20% of the property's value in a special account with the bank.

The Lend a Hand mortgage offers a three-year fixed rate of 4.39%, the same rate it offers people borrowing 75% of their home's value.

The savings are tied up for three and a half years, during which time they will earn a fixed rate of interest of 3.5%.

There is also a legal charge on the account, enabling the bank to use the money to make up any shortfall if the borrower defaults on the mortgage and their home is repossessed.

At the end of the term, if the loan-to-value (LTV) ratio has fallen to 90% due to mortgage repayments and rising house prices, the legal charge on the savings account will be removed and the borrower can operate their mortgage independently.

The legal charge on the savings account enabled it to use the same credit requirements for borrowers with just a 5% deposit as those who had a 25% one.

Chelsea Flower Show

The Chelsea Flower Show - amongst the best show in the world has been a big success this year. The world really appreciate the amount of hard work put in the people behind the show.

With the show happening from 17 - 23 May, 2009 and the sun shining at 20 degrees, the organizers are expecting a huge crowd over the Bank Holiday Weekend.

For complete coverage follow the Flower Show @

http://twitter.com/BBC_at_Chelsea

http://www.bbc.co.uk/chelsea/

Veri Support - Support Ranking

Companies are struggling in today’s competitive, global market with how to create differentiation. Although some focus on products or pricing, there is one critical factor that ultimately influences how often customers return to make additional purchases and recommend the company to their friends—confidence.

Confidence in the company’s ability to support its customers before, during, and after the sale as well as the company’s reputation is a central component of developing long-term trust. And long-term customer trust is what builds a stable base of returning, loyal shoppers.

VeriSupport’s innovative and unique Support Ranking (SR) Program helps companies build that confidence. Using a combination of automated and manual assessment processes, VeriSupport’s program gauges the company’s ability to support its customers (through live chat, email and phone), its overall reliability, and its responsiveness to support requests and customer feedback.

The combination of these assessments, scored by a proprietary and patent-pending system, creates the company’s dynamic Support Ranking (SR) score. Displayed prominently in any page of its website through an easily-integrated SR Score Certificate, this score is updated periodically to reflect VeriSupport’s continued monitoring and assessment. The certificate itself is interactive, enabling the company’s customers to drill into the factors that make up their score, submit support requests, or provide real-time feedback.