Credit, Collections & Insolvency News
While signs appear positive for the UK economy gradually moving in the right direction, this progress is not yet translating into tangible benefits being felt by households. Recent months have brought news of a more positive outlook for the UK’s finances, albeit with progress relatively marginal and slow. However, while welcome news for hard-pressed households…
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It is nearing the end of exam season and in the last couple of weeks, I have also spent some time marking… judging industry award entries. As always it has been an interesting process, with lots of close entries, which often made it hard to determine winners. Of course a winner there has to be.…
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It’s ten years since Taking Control of Goods Regulations came into force. The regulations are used to define and measure the work of enforcement firms, but they are basic and no longer reflect modern enforcement practices. So what more is needed? The industry has been on a path of reform since the review of civil…
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If you asked most people which of their assets was the most desirable for criminals, they’d probably respond with a range of high-value goods, such as vehicles, jewellery and tech. They’d be wrong. In the digital era, arguably the asset which has the most financial value to criminals is you – in the form of…
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The cost of affording a place to live and call home is placing significant pressure on all kinds of different UK household budgets. Steep price rises in all areas of the housing market, home ownership to renting, are creating an additional burden on already-pressured household budgets across the UK. Renters in particular are increasingly vulnerable…
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Working families remain under significant financial pressure as they struggle to cover their most essential living costs, with family members of all ages increasingly aware of these challenges. UK families continue to grapple with balancing the books as living costs increase. These increases ever more frequently offset any rises in regular pay, rates for which…
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I don’t know about you, but whenever I hear someone talk about AI or Artificial Intelligence, I feel somewhat sceptical, even scathing. When I was quite a bit younger, I remember watching Tomorrow’s World on the BBC, learning all about something new called an ‘Information Superhighway’ that had been invented and was going to change…
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There are a number of key employment law changes that are coming in this April that businesses need to be aware of. Flexible working rights A significant change to worker rights set to be introduced in April will ensure flexible working is more accessible than ever before and demonstrates the traditional 9-5 working pattern is…
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While some indicators have shown small positive signs of improvement, these are not yet at the point where they can decrease the financial pressures on many UK households. Increasing wages and falling inflation bring some welcome indications of improvement for the UK’s economic outlook this month, but neither are yet significant, or long-lasting, enough to…
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Lenders are waking up to the fact that Consumer Duty is not going to be a ‘one and done’ project. Unlike other aspects of financial regulation that they have had to adopt in the past, complying with the FCA’s latest regulatory advancement looks set to be a year-round challenge. The reason for this is that…
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As we approach the 2024 general election, both sides of the political divide clearly want to stake their claim to be the party of law and order. However, when we look at the political narratives around crime, it is clear that politicians (and indeed the public) view ‘crime’ primarily through a very limited lens of…
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In spite of a minor decrease in the last month of £62 in the total average amount of debt held by UK adults, average personal debt remains almost exactly equal to one year’s average earnings at 99.9%. In the year to December 2023, outstanding credit card debt increased by 9.2% (£5.8 billion), with the average interest rate on credit card…
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The new Consumer Duty rules for retail financial services, which came into force in July 2023, marked a considerable shift in the regulatory expectations on firms for consumer protection. As noted by the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA), who will supervise firms for compliance, the Consumer Duty “sets higher and clearer standards of consumer protection across…
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