The impact of the Covid-19 pandemic was the fifth most common reason for debt according to StepChange’s Statistics Yearbook 2020, The report also reveals some noteworthy shifts in client trends and characteristics in 2020 compared with previous recent years. However, the debt charity says that what is equally striking is that all the debt pressures…
Borrowers with prime credit ratings accounted for an increased share of second-charge lending in the past six months, according to new tracker data by Evolution Money. The company’s analysis looking at its total lending data for the last six months, up until the end of February 2021, found that the product split by volume of…
The UK’s ‘Big Four’ internet service providers Sky, Virgin Media, BT and TalkTalk are set to hike prices which will impact 24 million households, according to comparethemarket.com. The average price is going to increase by £3.03 per month or the equivalent of £36.39 per year. The total cost to consumers is estimated to be £909…
Latest figures from the Centre for Retail Research figures have shown that almost 190,000 jobs have been lost in the retail sector since shops were forced to close under the first coronavirus lockdown in March 2020. The analysis shows that between 23rd March last year and 31st March this year, that 188,685 retail jobs have…
A year on from the start of the pandemic, new research from StepChange Debt Charity has revealed that nearly a quarter (23%) of the 1.6m people who’ve accessed credit payment deferrals have subsequently missed repayments, while half (50%) say they have resumed repayments but with difficulty. Since last week people struggling financially as a result…
Two in five consumers find discussing their finances makes their heart race or leads to stress according to MoneySuperMarket research. The company asked consumers to rate a range of financial events on a stress scale of 1 to 10, revealing even day to day matters are causing anxiety and that being unemployed but needing to…
More than 375,000 households could be automatically switched onto more expensive ‘default’ energy tariffs in April if they do not switch tariff or provider when their fixed deal comes to an end. An additional 15 million households, who are already on their provider’s standard tariff, could face a price rise of £96 on 1st April.…
New research by Resolver has found that thousands of people are being penalised or pursued for buy now, pay later (BNPL) debts incorrectly, as a direct result of errors by retailers and credit companies. Resolver says that it has helped people sort out more than 17,500 complaints about buy now, pay later credit in the…
A new report from the Institute of Economic Affairs (IEA) has drawn attention to the shortcomings of the Financial Ombudsman Service (FOS). The report has found that the FOS has failed to deliver its key objectives of ‘providing fair and reasonable resolution of disputes at speed’ and ‘providing value for money and supporting competition and…
New research by Key has indicated that retired households saw their average disposable incomes fall by 12% last year. The analysis shows average disposable incomes for retired people fell in the financial year ending 2020 from the previous year by nearly 12% with much of the cut coming from lower private pension income and investment…