NEARLY TWO-THIRDS of the UK's mortgage banks are secretly offering cut-price home loans at the last minute to customers who threaten to move to another lender - even when they have already refused them a better deal.

Few companies are offering life assurance as part of an ISA. Tony Lyons finds out why

(So What is an ISA?)

Rates could improve if you bide your time, says Clifford German

UK stocks and bonds are expected to gain this week on expectations that the Bank of England will cut interest rates to revive recession-gripped manufacturers. Smith- Kline Beecham and other drug-makers may gain on hopes of mergers.

HAVE you sat down and really thought about how the stock market works? People who have been following this column for a while know that the Foolish philosophy is all about buying and holding shares in good companies. And by holding we don't just mean six months or a year. We're talking three, five, 10 years, and more.

THE OFFICE of Fair Trading will make legal history this week when it starts a High Court action against a subsidiary of Abbey National over its interest charges on hire purchase agreements.

PETER BIRCH has been a busy bee since retiring as chief executive of Abbey National last year. Yesterday he joined Travelex, an airport bureaux de change operator, as a non-executive director. He is also a chairman of Trinity, where he is leading the bid talks for Mirror Group Newspapers, as well as chairman of Land Securities.

Smokers can cut their life assurance premiums in half by giving up smoking, according to Royal & Sun Alliance. With one eye on National Non-Smoking Day next Wednesday they say a 41-year-old male smoker who takes out a Progressive Protection policy for pounds 100,000 would pay pounds 20.68 a month, but at the next policy anniversary, aged 42 and not having smoked for a year, he could be paying just pounds 10.23 a month.

Mortgage rates are diving. They may follow the European market and go lower, or the American model and go longer, writes Isabel Berwick

ABBEY NATIONAL saw its shares tumble 7 per cent yesterday, despite announcing a solid set of earnings. Analysts were disappointed by the absence of special shareholder payouts and increased bad debt provisions.

Bankers, film stars, drug dealers and wide boys live in Chelsea these days - ordinary families don't

WITH interest rates so low, you can get a personal loan for as little as 10 per cent. But the headline rate is just the start of the story. There are other charges, including arrangement fees, and some lenders make you pay more interest if you don't take out payment protection insurance.

A six-month sabbatical from work - it sounds like a dream, but it could be part of your job contract.