IMEI code
IMEI (International Mobile Equipment Identity) is a unique 15-digit code for identifying an individual GSM mobile phone.
Why is this number important? One reason is theft. When you activate a mobile phone account, the SIM card records and registers the IMEI number and sends the information to the operator.
If you report the phone as stolen or lost, its IMEI number then goes onto a "blacklist". If another SIM card from the company is put into the blacklisted phone, it recognises that it is blacklisted and won't work with it.
You may also need to know the IMEI number in other dealings with your operator.
On most phones, you can display the IMEI by dialling the code *#06#. Or it should be printed near the SIM card on the back of your phone, or under the battery.
Indemnity bond
If you're taking out a home loan, your lender might take out this kind of insurance policy if you borrow above a certain percentage of the property's value. The lender can then make a claim against the policy if they repossess the property and lose money.
In the past, the cost of the indemnity bond was charged to borrowers. Nowadays most lenders pay the premium.
Inertia selling
This means retailers demanding payment for unsolicited goods or services, in other words something you didn't ask to be sent to you.
Book clubs are a common example of inertia selling. If they send you books that you hadn't ordered and they don't provide for return post, they cannot then try to invoice you for the books or initiate debt collection proceedings against you.
But read the small print. If you are contracted to a company and receive unwanted products (e.g. books or CDs), check whether your contract contains a term that commits you to receiving, say, four or five items a year.
If it does, the company's actions cannot be considered inertia selling.
Interest-only mortgage
A type of mortgage where you only pay interest during the term of the loan. Then at the end of the term you have to pay off the principal - the original amount borrowed.
The advantage is that the monthly mortgage repayments are lower, but the disadvantage is that at the end of the loan you still have that principal to pay off, rather than reducing it gradually over the term of the loan.
International roaming
The ability to use your mobile phone in Northern Ireland and abroad, with compatible systems and billing arrangements.
There has been ongoing controversy across Europe about the high cost of international roaming charges, and the European Commission is addressing the problem.
The Commission wants to ensure that prices paid by consumers for roaming services within the EU are "not unjustifiably higher" than those they pay for calling within their own country.