Risk and return

* Yorkshire Building Society has launched a mortgage deal fixed at 5.99% for two years. The rate drops to 5.79% for cash rich borrowers who can put up a downpayment of at least 25% of the value of the house. West Bromwich Building Society is offering to trim 2.15% off its current variable mortgage rate of 7.74% until May 31, 2002.

* On the savings front, supermarket chain Safeway's banking arm is offering returns of 7% gross fixed for a year on a minimum deposit of £1,000, while savers opting for Leeds & Holbeck building society's new two-year bond will earn 6% gross 4.8% after tax in the first year and then 8% before tax, 6.4% net in the second.

* Disabilty Benefits Consortium (DBC), a coalition of more than 500 disability organisations, has launched a campaign to ensure that all those entitled to Severe Disablement Allowance (SDA) register their claim before it is abolished in April 1, 2001. Severe Disablement Allowance is a non-contributory, non-means tested benefit paid to people under 65 who cannot work through disability and have not paid sufficient National Insurance contributions to qualify for incapacity benefit. For example, women who give up work to start a family and are then struck by acute arthritis may be entitled to claim SDA worth £45.30 a week. But they must claim before next April when it will be too late to activate their claim for SDA. The DBC has produced an information pack for individuals and benefits advisers which is available from the RNIB, tel: 0845 766 9999.

* Armed with the damning report by the Competition Commission, motorists are preparing to drive a hard bargain when shopping for a new car this Easter, according to a survey by Churchill Insurance. More than half the car buyers interviewed want savings of between £1,000 and £3,000 because of pressure on the motor industry to cut prices. The survey showed that women motorists are more determined to hold off buying or renewing their cars than men.