Customers are just as likely as claims management firms to secure compensation in the event a payment protection insurer goes bust, it has been claimed.

The Financial Services Compensation Scheme (FSCS), which pays out compensation when a company which has mis-sold PPI has gone under, said more than three-quarters of consumers are making claims to it through specialist companies, which typically take a 25% cut. While around 87% of claims made through third parties are upheld, this compares with 83% made by individuals, the FSCS said.

Owning a home has become more than £100 a month cheaper than renting, with a widening gap emerging, research suggests.

Homeowners who have taken out recent deals typically pay £600 a month for a three-bedroom house, amounting to £116 or 16% less than the average of £716 paid a month for renting one, the Halifax found.

Payday lenders will face tougher scrutiny under the new financial regulator, which will have beefed-up powers to behave proactively and impose unlimited fines on firms who breach the rules, the Government has confirmed.

Such companies will find it harder to enter the market and will also have to undergo more rigorous checks when the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) takes control of overseeing the consumer credit market.

A "generational divide" in the property market is likely to cause further subdued sales this year, with young people unable to buy and older home owners unwilling to sell, a study has found.

One in 10 Britons would consider moving home or trying to get on the housing ladder in the next six months, the HSBC Moving Home Survey said.

The cost of moving house has risen at a faster rate than house prices have themselves over the last decade, a study has suggested.

Since 2001, the typical cost of moving for someone who already owns a home rose by 69% or £3,632 to nearly £9,000 last year, steeper than the 64% rise in house prices over the same period to reach just over £160,000 on average, Lloyds TSB said.

Buying a home in Scotland is cheaper than renting, according to a new study.

Average monthly mortgage payments for a three-bedroom house in Scotland was £510 in December 2011, 6% lower than the average monthly rent of £540 paid on the same property type. This is a "significant" reversal of the situation three years ago when the average cost of buying was 47% higher than the average rent paid.

More than a million people in the UK who care for a loved-one with cancer are potentially missing out on vital support and benefits, according to research by a leading charity.

Macmillan Cancer Support said around half (49%) of the 1.1m people in the UK looking after someone with the disease receive no formal or informal support at all.

More than half of Britons did some form of voluntary work last year, with women and older people doing the most, according to a new report.

A survey of more than 2,000 adults by insurance firm Zurich found that 55% took part in at least one volunteering activity in 2011, including fund-raising, supporting school activities or helping out at a charity shop or hospital.

An independent commission has been established to monitor the impact of increased university fees in England over the next three years, it has been announced.

The four-person panel, chaired by journalist Will Hutton, will produce a series of reports assessing the impact of the increase in fees on application and admissions trends in universities, considering in particular the effect on young people from low and middle income backgrounds.

Government austerity measures have been backed by the International Monetary Fund but Labour seized on the latest United States growth figures as proof Britain must change course.

In a boost to Chancellor George Osborne, IMF head Christine Lagarde said maintaining the deficit reduction programme remained the "the right thing to do", despite the threat of recession and economic forecasts being revised downwards.