Elderly people are likely to face financial problems following the latest inflation report, it is suggested.

The Alliance trust says the gap between young and old is further increasing, with the former experiencing inflation rates 75 per cent higher than their younger counterparts.

Shona Dobbie, head of the Alliance Trust Research Centre, says: "The elderly are simply not seeing the same benefits of falling prices as the young.

"The rate of inflation facing the over 75s is currently 4.9 per cent, but this is more than 50 per cent higher than the official rate of inflation of 3.2 per cent."

It is suggested that older people may have benefited from recent reductions in gas and electricity prices, although the rising price of food is causing further difficulties.

Research from the Alliance Trust suggests the rate of inflation for people under 30 stands at 2.8 per cent, while for those over 75 it is at 4.9 per cent.

The next rate of inflation is due to be announced by the Bank of England’s Monetary Policy Committee on April 21st.

People are not becoming more aware of phishing scams, it is claimed, which could cause them to lose money.

Simon Crisp, director at Shopsafe.co.uk, says fraudsters are becoming smarter, which is not helped by people also being naturally trusting.

"Certainly a universal scheme like chip and pin is one of the weapons for combating fraud, but education is a big part of it," he continues.

When such emails arrive in people’s inboxes, they are often led to believe the address is personal, which encourages them to give out personal details, he says.

He believes one of the main drivers of fraud is companies not using details properly, which is made worse once they make it into the public domain.

According to the latest Apacs figures, card fraud losses totalled £609.9 million, online banking fraud losses £52.5 million and cheque fraud losses £41.9 million in 2008.

It also claims chip and pin has had a positive impact on the fraud statistics, with losses as a percentage of plastic card turnover amounted to 0.12 per cent in 2008, less than the 0.14 per cent figure in 2004.

Many homeowners are cutting back on house insurance, which may leave them open to financial losses should they get burgled, it is claimed.

Figures from uSwitch.com show 18 per cent of households are not protected by home insurance policies, leaving £154 billion worth of valuables vulnerable to theft.

"With recent crime figures revealing domestic burglaries to be on the up, as has proven the historic norm in a recessionary climate, consumers are running the gauntlet by putting themselves increasingly at risk simply to make a short-term saving," says Mark Monteiro, insurance advisor at uSwitch.com.

He adds that burglaries often have long-term financial implications, meaning some people may have to resort to debt management to help with the costs.

Although not a legal requirement, it should be seen as a necessity to have contents insurance in place, the expert adds, as the results could otherwise be far more devastating.

Earlier this week, uSwitch.com revealed many businesses were wasting money by not having the right energy policy to suit their needs.

It said that 77 per cent of businesses believe switching would save them money, although only 43 per cent have done so.

A number of homeowners are likely to enter into negative equity, it has been warned.

The Financial Services Authority (FSA) believes that if property prices fall 30 per cent from their peak, then around two million homeowners will find themselves in negative equity.

"According to Council of Mortgage Lender estimates, around one-quarter of possessions during the early 1990s recession was the result of borrowers voluntarily handing back their keys. This behaviour is more likely if people are in negative equity," the FSA’s financial outlook report for 2009 states.

It believes the decrease in house prices will also hit 500,000 buy-to-let investors, who will also enter negative equity as a result.

Furthermore, the body reveals that mortgage arrears and repossessions are "significant", with the figures increasing due to problems in the wider economic market.

Last month, the CML revealed there were 40,000 repossessions in 2009 – equating to around one in 290 mortgages.

It forecasts there will be 75,000 repossessions this year, a figure which remains unchanged in light of the recently released statistics.

Many small and medium-sized enterprise (SME) owners are having to find ways of cutting costs in order to survive the recession, it is claimed, which may encourage them to get advice on debt management.

According to uSwitchforbusiness.com, this is the case for 59 per cent of business owners, with 34 per cent reporting a drop in demand for their services.

Further statistics reveal over half (59 per cent) of SMEs are finding the current trading environment difficult and 33 per cent are experiencing cashflow concerns.

The research by uSwitchforbusiness.com also shows many people believe the government is not doing enough to help owners of SMEs, with ten per cent saying they are unable to get credit from their bank and 23 per cent noticing a tightening of credit terms.

According to the latest statistics released by NS&I, 47 per cent of the population manage to save regularly, remaining consistent for the third quarter.

Furthermore, 53 per cent of people do not save regularly each month and out of these, 21 per cent do not save at all.

Credit card fraud increased in the UK last year, new figures reveal, with card-not-present fraud thought to be the underlying problem.

The latest statistics from Apacs show card fraud losses totalled £609.9 million in 2008, with online banking fraud losses equating to £52.5 million.

"Card-not-present fraud losses have increased by 13 per cent over the last year and account for 54 per cent of all card fraud losses," Apacs states, adding that tackling fraud continues to be a priority for the industry.

Furthermore, the payments association believes the new Faster Payments Service has not negatively influenced the statistics as online banking fraud losses reduced after it was introduced in May last year.

Earlier this month, Apacs revealed that five billion payments had been processed using the Faster Payments Service on March 2nd.

The total of these payments equates to £1 billion, it stated, with the figures also showing it had beaten its previous daily record, which was announced in December 2008.

Volumes are predicted to rise further as the system is running smoothly, Apacs claimed.

Some Britons are reconsidering their spending habits in an attempt to save money, new research shows.

Findings compiled by Abbey Credit Cards, however, show 55 per cent of people are looking to reduce their spending on food this year, with a proportion still failing to cut costs where necessary.

In addition to this, just 41 per cent of people are thinking of reducing travel costs and 48 per cent are considering a cut back in entertainment.

According to Abbey, some shoppers are even turning to car boot sales and charity shops in a bid to cut costs, with 30 per cent of those questioned thinking of making savings on their financial products this year.

Research from Nationwide recently found that 23 per cent of consumers believe now is a good time to save – the lowest figure seen since the savings survey began in April 2008.

More than double the amount (47 per cent) of people think it is a bad time to save, marking a four percentage point increase on November’s results, and 28 per cent think it is neither a good nor bad time to save.

Many people in Britain live in fear of repossession if either they or their partner lose their job, it has been revealed.

New statistics compiled by Which? show 62 per cent of people fear being made redundant, while over four in ten are anxious they would not be able to pay the mortgage if this were to happen.

"With people spending sleepless nights worrying about job losses and repossessions, the Industry needs to demonstrate that it wants to win back the trust of the British public by fully embracing government initiatives," comments personal finance campaigner for the body Doug Taylor.

He adds that it is "worrying" how so many people fear losing a roof over their heads, which may encourage people to consider debt management or an individual voluntary agreement.

The results also show a quarter of mortgage holders – or 4.2 million people – are concerned they may go into negative equity over the course of the next year, while 73 per cent of people believe more should be done on a government level to prevent repossessions.

According to the Council of Mortgage Lenders, lending activity decreased further in January, when only 23,4000 loans for house purchase were completed.

Proposals from the Financial Services Authority (FSA) to limit the amount people can borrow for their mortgage are "trying to destroy the housing market", says one expert.

Catherine Hearnden, director at MyMortgageDirect, says the measures are "totally prescriptive" and may restrict people from being able to change their mortgage.

"In theory, they won’t be able to afford the mortgage they have got, which is absolutely ridiculous because that is not the problem that we are having with the housing market," she continues.

People who cannot afford a mortgage are likely to experience problems, Ms Hearnden claims, which may encourage people to seek advice from a debt management company to help them with their money issues.

She adds that the FSA is attempting to show it has some authority after the bad press it has received recently.

The Council of Mortgage Lenders reported in February 2009 that 40,000 houses were repossessed in 2008 (one in 290 mortgages).

It also found that 8,900 mortgages were approved for first-time buyers in January 2009, down by 27 per cent compared to December 2008 and down by 51 per cent compared to January 2008.

Credit card providers need to allocate payments in a positive way in order to save consumers money, it is believed.

According to new research from Nationwide, people are currently losing out on money as the UK system does not facilitate this.

Consumer finance director at Nationwide Jeremy Wood comments: "We believe the UK should follow the U.S. and make card providers allocate payments in a positive way. Consumers can ill-afford to lose this much money, especially in the current financial climate."

He adds that by clearing debts in a constructed manner, credit card companies can not only save customers money, but clear their debts off in order of importance – a scheme which is not currently seen in the UK.

Earlier this year, Abbey Credit Cards revealed how Britons were needlessly paying in excess of £9 billion in interest every year on their cards, with 69 per cent of people having at least one credit card.

Only 36 per cent of those questioned said they had no existing debt to pay off their balance in full each month.