Mick Forster

Kitesurfer, surfer, sailor, father & IT geek in no particular order! Retweets not an endorsement

[Mick Forster @mickforster1]

@ARCBulletn Dayz vibes if they're friendly

[Mick Forster @mickforster1]

@Ronnie2K @2K @Borderlands #Borderlands4

[Mick Forster @mickforster1]

@2K @Borderlands @GearboxOfficial Playstation 5

[Mick Forster @mickforster1]

@GoDaddy my website is still facing the "Coming Soon" issue (which I didn't activate) 36 hours after I first discovered it. Rang your support twice, to be told there's no ETA and it will be fixed soon. How are you in business?

[Mick Forster @mickforster1]

@AaronCharlton @Rolandnasr @todddefeo @GoDaddy @GoDaddyHelp Yeah been reading this. I need the site up urgently or well have to migrate to a new hosting provider.

[Mick Forster @mickforster1]

@AaronCharlton @Rolandnasr @todddefeo @GoDaddy @GoDaddyHelp Thanks, I'm still down 😭

[Mick Forster @mickforster1]

@AaronCharlton @todddefeo @GoDaddy Did you get this resolved? My site is still showing this and I need it up ASAP.

[Mick Forster @mickforster1]

@GoDaddy I've made changes to my site and not downloaded any plugins and it's still showing a coming soon landing page instead of the live site. I can't make it live in the admin. What's going on?

[Mick Forster @mickforster1]

@discoveryplusUK can't watch the Olympics because it's buffering every 5 seconds.

[Mick Forster @mickforster1]

@TomF43 @discoveryplusUK I have the same issue. Driving me mad

[Mick Forster @mickforster1]

@thestebe Having trouble here

[Digital Transformation Flexible Fund @d_t_f_f]

DTFF has now opened registrations for online and in-person pre-briefing sessions! To register your attendance at one of these sessions, please visit: https://t.co/gFRM5Nul2f. Expressions of Interest for Call 1 will open on 8th November and close on 6th December 2023 at 12pm.

[Mick Forster @mickforster1]

@DojasLeftFlap Yip

[Mick Forster @mickforster1]

#ParamountPlus @paramountplus Are you down in UK?

[DayZ 🖥 🎮 ❤️ @DayZ]

📢⚠️Dear Survivors🎮,
Today, we are deploying the 1.22 hotfix 2 on #Xbox and #Playstation 🙌
The servers will go down at 14:00 CEST (to be back at 15:00 CEST).
Patch notes: https://t.co/qcp1cAKmjk
We apologize for the delay 🙏❤️

[NIAS @NIAS999]

Please RT
48 hour Industrial Action across HSC will be happening from 00:01 on September 21. The impact on NIAS will be significant. Please contact us only in life threatening emergency situations. Please also help us get this message out by retweeting. Thank you

[Police Newry, Mourne and Down @PSNINMDown]

Police and other emergency service colleagues are currently dealing with an incident in the Quoile Road area of Downpatrick. The road is closed at Quoile Bridge and at Strangford Road. Local diversions are in place. Please avoid the area at this time.

[Martin Lewis @MartinSLewis]

They can't say they weren't warned!
Last Autumn, I raised an alarm about a coming potential mortgage ticking time bomb with millions facing huge bill-shock as their fixes end.
So much so the Chancellor called a mortgage summit; sadly it was just a missed opportunity talking shop...

I want to briefly bash out some thoughts on this.

The summit in December was attended by the Chancellor, FCA chair, the bosses of UK's biggest banks and me (I'd asked for consumer charities & mortgage experts to attend too but that wasn't agreed - tho my team and I worked hard talking to charities and mortgage brokers before to collate ideas).

My reason for suggesting the Chancellor took action was simple. We needed to prepare in case it rates rocketed - waiting for it to happen would be too late. Yet now, the time bomb has exploded, and we're scrambling about what to do.

One of the big concerns I raised was that banks were increasing their margins - basically the gap between what lenders are charged and savers paid. That should (and still should) be tightened and political pressure needs applying to ensure either better mortgages or better savings or best, both.

Other practical suggestions were not about radical change, but easy to agree forbearance and help measures to get people over the hump while they readjusted their finances.

A range of methods such as payment holidays, payment reductions, lengthening the mortgage term were discussed, plus proactive communication with borrowers who look like they may be struggling and independent solid guidance about what people's options were if they were struggling.

There were lots of nods from the bankers and many 'we do that alreadies', and indeed some extra customer communications did come out on the back.

Yet real changes met push back - sometimes the banks both from banks and the FCA. For example

1. Any help options should be easily reversible on request. Eg if you extend your term, to reduce payments, when things improve you should have an automatic right to reduce the term.

Knowing there is a reversibility option gets rid of a barrier to action - without reversibility people are scared to be locked into a longer mortgage (which means more interest).

2. It should have no or minimal impact on people's credit scores (as it did in the pandemic). Again negative credit file impact is a big barrier to action
- as it leaves people reticent to make a decision, which can lead to snowballing problems.

None of the suggestions have seen any real fruition. The attention faded, especially when rates didn't rise as sharply as first expected.

Though we are now in exactly the situation that the whole meeting was meant to prepare for. Now I read about proposed 'forbearance' measures being looked at, it does feel as a shame the stable door is already closing...

[Amanda Ferguson @AmandaFBelfast]

The Enterprise🚆train service is marking over 1 million passenger journeys made on the cross-border service between #Belfast and #Dublin in 2022/23 - which @Translink_NI says is the highest level in 20 years.

[Mick Forster @mickforster1]

@irishelt good luck on your onward travels! Was good craic today.