The Reporter

Run for cover

The falling pound and high price of fuel have pushed up the cost of many people's holidays, but travel insurance has never been cheaper. Financial research company, Defaqto, has analysed more than 235 single-trip and 245 annual travel policies, looking at how premiums have moved over the past few years. It found that the only area where prices have increased in the past 12 months was for annual travel cover to the US, with a typical policy for a family now costing £125. "The availability of a huge number of policies, many online, has driven many insurers to lower their premiums," the company says. Single-trip cover to Europe can be as little as £6 for a week. "There really should be no excuse to travel uninsured," the firm adds.

Free spirits

The great music giveaway continued this week with US rockers Nine Inch Nails - fronted by Trent Reznor - the latest band to make their new album available as a free download. It follows similar moves by acts such as the Charlatans. Meanwhile, millions have downloaded Violet Hill, the first single from Coldplay's forthcoming album, from its website for free. Last year, Radiohead released In Rainbows on a pay-as-you-want basis, while Prince gave his latest album away with a national newspaper. The 10-track Nine Inch Nails album The Slip, is available from nin.com

That's Ritchie!

Madonna will pocket £3m.....continued below

Advertisement starts

Advertisement ends

when she sells her country mansion to spend more time at her London home, according to a report in free newspaper thelondonpaper. It says the star - headlining Radio 1's Big Weekend concert in Maidstone, Kent, tonight - is set to sell her Wiltshire estate, Ashcombe House, for £12m, "just weeks after husband Guy Ritchie attacked wealthy foreigners for pricing Brits out of the property market". They spent £9m on the eight-bed house in 2001.

Boris's Olympic task

London's new mayor, Boris Johnson, is likely to halt the "relentless" rise in council tax bills initiated by Ken Livingstone, so that in four years time the average council tax-paying family could be as much as £100 a year better off. That prediction has been made not by the Tories, but by forecasting group the Centre for Economics and Business Research. It adds that it wishes Boris would subcontract the Olympics to Paris, "which would save Londoners the cost. Moreover, Paris is easier to get to than east London. But this is politically unlikely".

Doubting Freds

First, there was Sid. Now meet "Fred". This is the acronym coined by researchers to describe the millions of older people who are "Facing Retirement Earnings Doubts". A study by investment, pensions and insurance group LV= (Liverpool Victoria) claims there are more than 6 million Freds. It found that those who are due to stop working soon believe higher utility bills and food prices will be the biggest threat to their financial security after they retire. And they are aware there is a significant gap between the income they will need to maintain their standard of living, and what they will actually have. Those surveyed said that on average they would need £20,100 a year, but believed they would actually have an income of only £16,900.

Euros coin it in

This week marked the 10th anniversary of the agreement that launched the euro. The single currency has now been adopted by 15 countries, and euro banknotes and coins are in the wallets and purses of 320 million people. The private bank Cater Allen says Brits can take advantage of the strength of the euro, relative to sterling, by opening one of its accounts. The bank allows customers to hold currency accounts in euros, dollars or sterling, with a minimum balance of €10,000, $10,000 or £5,000. "The appreciation of the euro has meant that those with a currency-holding in euros have received a 14.9% increase in the value of their deposits in sterling terms over the past 12 months," says a spokesman.

guardian.co.uk © Guardian Newspapers Limited 2008