Ask Our Experts

"Having left UCL in 1984 I started my career with a local accountancy firm with the aim of becoming a qualified Chartered Accountant. Having qualified with Touche Ross I quickly moved away from auditing and specialised in forensic accountancy. After some years I became involved in insolvency and qualified as a Licensed Insolvency Practitioner in 2002. I joined Debtmatters in 2003 as the Finance Director which became a public company in 2005 and expanded its product offering with the acquisition of Loanmakers in June 2006. The Group was taken back into private hands in 2008 and has since expanded its range of products in the debt resolution and loan brokerage markets as Evolution Consumer Group. I became the CEO in 2009. Gopher Money is I believe ideally placed to take advantage of future market conditions whilst always ensuring our clients enjoy a stress free experience and are treated ethically."

"I entered the wonderful world of finance way back in 2001. Working for what was then Abbey National owned First National Bank, I discovered a real passion for numbers. After 18 months underwriting secured loan applications, I was given an opportunity to join what was then a little known brokerage called Loanmakers. Working my way from Sales Advisor to Operations Director, I am proud to have been involved in helping Loanmakers become one of the best known & most respected secured loan brokerages in the UK. After taking a year out & exploring the subjective world of Surveyor Panel Management, I have returned to the industry I know best. My aim is to make Gopher Money a company that can find a solution to suit all our clients' needs."

"Tony Beckwith graduated with a B.A. (Hons) degree in Economics from Gonville & Caius College, Cambridge University, U.K., in 1983. From 1983 to 1985, he worked in the City of London as a global economist for the Japanese broker Yamaichi International (Europe) Ltd.From 1986 to 1988, he worked in London as a Japanese markets economist and equities/warrants broker. In 1988, Tony joined James Capel as a Japanese equity and warrants broker, increasingly using technical analysis and quantitative work with his client base. From 1995 to 1998, Tony worked with major U.K./European institututional funds at Salomon Brothers International Ltd. (Europe), Japanese equities desk, in Victoria, London. In 1998, he started trading and researching privately and continues to do so. He is an Associate Member of The Society of Technical Analysts in the U.K. Tony has written and edited articles for Stocks & Commodities, Traders World, The Technical Analyst, the Exchange, Trade2Win, Tactical Trader and The Trader's Journal. He also makes weekly Risk Control presentations for MTPredictor Ltd. and presents on behalf of other firms to traders globally"

"Quentin Pain started his first company in 1979 and having successfully sold that in 1984, went on to found the UK software company Accountz.com Ltd who were the first UK company to develop multi-platform solutions for accounting software. Acting as chair of that company, Quentin regularly talks at seminars and events encouraging business owners to take more responsibility for the control of money in their businesses. Quentin believes that anyone can understand accounting provided they learn a couple of simple rules he originally outlined in the book 'Accounting for Everyone', a new edition of which is published later this year."

"Jill Fletcher, Director and Independent Financial Adviser, joined Baxters in 1979 with a wealth of experience gained from several years working in the London Insurance market. Jill is responsible for Baxters Private Clients as well as involvement in the Financial Services Division majoring in High Net Worth home and motor insurance, together with both corporate and individual Private Medical Insurance. Over the last 10 years, Jill has been instrumental in establishing several sizeable Affinity Group Schemes offering discounted insurances for members. I run the Personal Lines side of the business incorporating high nett worth and domestic insurances with both medical insurance and financial services. I am responsible for a team of 13 people (27 company wide). Its hectic and busy even in the current climate and I love every minute of it."

what is the best money manager that links to online accounts. microsoft seem to have pulled the online access

Unfortunately none of them connect to all financial institutions so you will always have a part of the jigsaw missing if you use an online money manager.

If you choose a US product, you will find most don't link to any UK institutions at all. A major problem with all online systems is that they usually do not include any form of budgeting, and non include forecasting, which is vital in these days of high interest and penalties for going overdrawn.

The best solution is software such as Home Accountz that will import bank statements. This way you do the minimum amount of work and you will get the whole picture plus forecasting and budgeting.

Quentin Pain
CEO Accountz.com

i have a overdraft for the ammount of £1450 and this month i only get paid just over £1000! I am already 1400 overdrawn, will i get charges for this

You will need to contact your bank as every bank has it's own set of terms and conditions.

They also vary depending on the type of account you have. Some premium accounts allow a free overdraft up to a certain amount or sometimes on very low interest rates up to a certain amount.

However the amount you are overdrawn is very high and I would contact your bank immediately and try to arrange a personal loan and negotiate a lower interest rate. Whatever you do, don't simply wait for it to go away.

Quentin Pain
CEO Accountz.com

I have got a loan if I have ppi insurance and I die before it is paid off does ppi pay it off or is it passed to my husband to pay off.

Hi Pamela

PPI is by definition Payment Protection Insurance and only insures you if you are unable to work - payments being maintained by your insurance company. In the event of death, debts would remain in your estate.

To protection in the event of death, you would also need to consider Life Insurance. I would recommend everyone with a family or any financial commitments ensure they have adequate cover in place.

I hope this helps


Chris Birks
Director
Gopher Money Ltd

I am currently running Quicken XG 2004 on Windows XP. I intend to buy a new computer running Windows 7 but am informed my Quicken will not run on Windows 7. Intuit have advised me that my Quicken can be imported into QuickBooks Pro 2010 but this is not for me as QuickBooks does not support all the investment features that I use in Quicken XG 2004. Where can I get help, please?

No current software has those features at the moment. Maybe you could try the free
portfolio management tools on Yahoo or Google. Sometime late in 2011 stocks and
shares management with web updating will be available in Home Accountz.

Quentin Pain
CEO Accountz.com

I have a loan from barclays i pay 366.00 a month had it for 10 to 12 years never missed a payment I sent one of those no win ppi things off recently not heard yet but I now find i could be made redundantif I go ahead with this claim then find later on I cant make payments what does this mean I should not have put in a claim ? thank you

Dear Val

I would urge you to contact Barclays and check the terms of your insurance. Some policies offer a fixed period of cover (which may have expired) and other insurance policies either cover the full term or are based on a monthly basis. Depending upon which type of policy you have in place dictates if you are indeed insured.

I am a firm believer that clients do need to be protected when borrowing large sums of money. As you have found personal circumstances do change, having an insurance policy in place to protect you should the worst happen will help you through potentially tough times.

Many banks have now put a freeze on PPI claims, if you have not heard anything from your claims company - I would again urge you to contact them and ask for a full update, potentially cancelling your claim.

I hope this helps

Chris Birks

Director

I currently have domestic financial accounts on Money 2004 running on XP. I wish to upgrade my computer to Windows 7. Can I convert my Money 2004 data on to Personal Accountz and then upgrade computer to Windows 7.

Hi Graham, go straight for our latest software Home Accountz.

You can import QIF files, so export these from Money before you change computer.

Please take a look at the videos on our website on importing files, which will help you see what to do.

Quentin Pain
CEO Personal Accountz

I currently have a residential mortgage and I have been letting it out for just over 18 months. I was unaware that I had to inform my Mortgage Company. What is the best cause of action, because techinally I am in breach. thanks

Technically you should advise your mortgage provider of your change of
circumstances. I am sure the lender will then review the product and make
amendments as they see fit.

There is no guarantee that the lender will deem it necessary to make a change.

Hope this helps.


Chris Birks
Director
Creditflex Loans & Mortgages Ltd

I look after my accounts & investments on Quicken XG. I am also treasurer of a rowing club & do the accounts on the same Quicken XG. I have all the files backed up but my hard drive crashed & I can no longer reload Quicken. Will Personal Accountz import my Quicken files & do the same job?

"We have a newer product called Home Accountz. However, it cannot import raw Quicken files (to do that means reverse engineering the files, which would break Intuit's copyright). Instead it imports QIF (Quicken Interchange Format) files (as well as CSV and OFX). This doesn't help you unless you can load your data of course, so we also offer conversion of raw files by loading them into our copy of Quicken and sending you back the converted file. Note that Accountz software works differently from Quicken. I would highly recommend you download the trial and watch the many videos available on the Accountz.com website.

Quentin

I would like apply for a credit card, how much is a handling fee for that?

"Most credit cards are free to owners of those cards. Many offer 0% incentives on transfers and even purchases for a set period of time. Some retailers will ask for a small surcharge to purchases bought with a credit card, but it is quite rare these days."

Do you supply loans for a park home? And is it possible to buy a park home without a huge depost? Chris

Christine

Thank you for your question. You are looking for a very specialised source of finance.

Unfortunately the lenders available to Creditflex Loans and Mortgages insist that properties are of a traditional 'bricks and mortar' type. Some of our lenders will consider non-traditional construction, such as poured concrete, but these properties carry a rate loading. That being said - we have no lenders currently available to finance Park Homes.

I am sorry that in this instance Creditflex are unable to help.

Kindest regards

Chris

Im half way through an apprenticeship and my pay is due a significant increase in september. I know theres loans with "holiday periods" but would companies still lend to me even though my pay wont increase til september?

Hi John

Thanks for your question.

I can confirm that lenders will look at the affordability of your loan application
at the time you apply for the credit. Although you may well be due a significant
pay rise in September, the lenders will only consider the income you can prove now.
Lenders will require up to date payslips or your current contract to prove the
income.

Payment Holidays are slightly different - lenders can on occasion grant clients
holidays, but this tends to be those clients who have already proved themselves to
be a low risk customer.

I hope this helps.

Kind regards

Chris

I have just bought Personal Accountz and notice that the disc has a label saying that the Licence Key can only be used once. I plan to replace my computer shortly. Does this mean I will have to purchase the product again to install it on a new computer?

Hello Ann

The licence to Personal Accountz is stored in your data files not the software. So you can happily install it on a new machine without having to buy it again.

Quentin

I have just received a second letter from Regal Credit consultants threatening legal action.They claim HL-HISC Direct Insurance have sent me letters and I owe them £70, I have never heard of them,and cannot find any such company on the internet.They ask for me to contact them on ther 10p a minute phone line, but it sounds like a bit of a con.I have been advised to ignore all of it but am getting concerned.Any help would be appreciated.Many thanks Keith.

Hello Keith

Thank you for your question.

I haven’t heard of these people either and I would advise that the matter be ignored. If there was any substance to the claim they would have taken further action.

Mark Prideaux

I would like to buy a money management software system as I have only just needed to take over the management of my finances recently. I also have poa for my mothers money. Would I be able to use Accounz for both separately, as mentally I feel i could manage them better if they are not mixed in together Will this involve me buying 2 applications. Ana

Hi Ana

Thanks for your question.

You only need 1 copy of Personal Accountz. With that you can keep as many separate sets of accounts as you like and switch between them with ease.

Quentin
Accountz.com