KBC announced last week that their variable rate mortgages would be rising for all borrowers on May 1st. Today though – KBC increased the rates on Fixed rate mortgages for new applicants.
The 2 Year fixed rate rose from 3.29% to 3.45%
The 3 year fixed rate was 3.69% it is now 3.9%.
Check out all the best mortgage rates on our Best Buy Mortgages page

All of our Best Buy mortgage tables have been updated today with all the new rates from BOI, ICS, EBS and Haven. More rate rises to follow from EBS and KBC on May 1st.
Irish Nationwide have not yet announced increases.
See all the  lowest mortgage rates available currently.

The effects of the Icelandic volcano ash on flights in Europe have been massive. All Irish flights were stopped today and will not resume until at least Friday at 11am – but it could be later.

What rights do passengers have when a flight is cancelled because of extraordinary circumstances?

Under under EC Regulation No. 261/ 2004 – in the event of a flight cancellation passengers must  be offered :

…care and assistance free of charge while waiting for their rerouted flight– specifically, meals and refreshments in reasonable relation to the waiting time, hotel accommodation in cases where an overnight stay becomes necessary, transport between the airport and place of accommodation and two telephone calls, emails, faxes or telexes.

An alternative flight at the earliest opportunity or by comparable transport to the final destination.

A full refund of the ticket for the part or parts of the journey not made, and for the part or parts already made if the flight is no longer serving any purpose to the passenger’s original travel plan or when relevant a return flight to the first point of departure, at the earliest opportunity.

When a city, town or region is served by several airports, a carrier may offer a flight to an alternative airport to that originally booked. The carrier is then obliged to bear the cost of transferring the passenger to the airport to that which the booking was made or to another close-by destination agreed with the passenger.

Because the volcanic ash is an extraordinary event out of the airline’s control – passengers are not entitled to any further compensation.

In reality many airlines do not provide information about refunds or free meals as a matter of course.  If you do incur any expenses as a result of the cancellation -  keep all receipts  and submit a claim in writing, enclosing copies of all the receipts directly to the airline in question. If the airline does not respond within ten working days – passengers based in Ireland should make a complaint to the Commission for Aviation Regulation.

In cases of cancellation that is not due to extraordinary circumstances – airlines are supposed to pay compensation (as well as the measures outlined above). The amounts due depend on the distance of teh journey :

* 1500km or less the amount payable is €250

* 1500km – 3500km and all EU flights over 3500km the amount payable is €400

* 3500km or more the amount payable is €600.

Many airlines will argue that many cancellations are due to extraordinary circumstances to try and avoid this compensation.

Today the High Court in Dublin confirmed the appointment of a full time administrator at Quinn Insurance Limited. This follows Quinn’s decision to consent to the appointment made by the High Court on application by the Financial Regulator.

Two administrators will run the company and attempt to put it back on a sound financial footing.

In a statement, the Financial Regulator said that it was its own opinion, and that of Quinn Insurance, that this step is in the best interests of policyholders.

Quinn Insurance had been in temporary administration after the Irish Financial Regulator raised concerns about its solvency levels. The group’s owner, Sean Quinn, had been highly critical of the move.

The Financial Regulator said there had been “serious and persistent breaches” of solvency rules at Quinn Insurance.

EBS announced earlier this week that it would raise variable rate mortgages from May 1st – but they didn’t mention fixed rates.
Now today – they have increased  all their fixed rate mortgages . They did get some bad publicity this week because they were offering existing customers higher fixed rates than new customers – so that might have prompted these changes?

The EBS fixed rates have risen in some cases by as much as 0.45% – these are the changes:
1 year fixed rate was 2.7% now 3.15%
2 Year fixed rate was 3.1% now 3.4%
3 Year fixed rate was 3.49% now 3.75%
5 Year fixed rate was 4.2% now 4.35%

See our mortgage best buy tables for the lowest rates available

Haven also raised fixed rates today  (EBS’s broker arm) -

The latest voucher offer from Milano – with this voucher – is  any pizza for the price of a Margherita (€10.62) .  The discount voucher Can be used until 24th April  March 2010 in all Milano restaurants in Ireland

Following the earlier announcement by Bank of Ireland – now EBS have announced that from May 1st they will be raising mortgage rates.  EBS  say the rates will rise by 0.6%. Both banks have given a bit of notice of these increases – unlike AIB. It was widely assumed that lenders would all be raising rates – so anyone on a variable rate could have fixed weeks ago if they wanted too.
Moving to a fixed rate with BOI or EBS is still a possibility if you are currently on a variable rate mortgage with them – but do it soon if you want to beat the increase. The banks should not charge you for switching to a fixed rate.

Zavvi have loads of bargain DVDs , Cdsand games for the Xbox , PS3 and Wii – for just a fiver. Delivery to Ireland is just 99 pence per item.

See all the £5 items here  at Zavvi Online

If you spend more than £20 at Zavvi – you can use discount code  “april2″ to get another £2 knocked off your order. Use discount code “april4″ to get £4 off £40 or more. (Codes valid during the whole of April 2010)

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