Credit, Collections & Insolvency News
New research from KPMG has found that 30% of the UK public have changed their spending as a result of Brexit uncertainties. A fifth (22%) have avoided making big ticket purchases with almost one in ten (9%) missing out on overseas holidays and 6% avoiding investing in the economy via stocks & shares. Meanwhile, 8%…
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The number of residential and buy-to-let mortgages taken out in June 2019 has fallen as has pound-for-pound remortgaging, according to UK Finance. The mortgage trends update also showed that there was a ten per cent drop in overall remortgaging activity in June 2019, compared to the previous year. This has been driven largely by a…
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The average cost of electricity has more than tripled and gas has more than doubled in the last 20 years, outstripping the cost of all other goods and services outside of the sector, according to analysis by comparethemarket.com. The average cost of gas for households has risen by 221%, while electricity has risen by 193%…
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Up to half of older homeowners are using equity release to repay debt as they struggle to meet payments, new analysis from independent equity release adviser Key shows. Analysis of customer data suggests that 30% of people are using equity release to repay unsecured debt while 20% are using it to repay mortgages. Debt is a…
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The income squeeze that followed the last financial crisis has left low and middle-income households more vulnerable to the next economic shock than they were in 2008, according to new analysis published by the Resolution Foundation. The report titled ‘A problem shared?’ examines the distributional impact of recessions in the light of the financial crisis.…
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Latest figures from the Insolvency Service have shown that the number of individuals entering a personal insolvency procedure has increased and shows few signs of slowing as the rolling 12-month insolvency continues to rise, representing the highest Quarter 2 (Q2) figure since 2010. following an 8 year high in Q4 2018. This was driven by…
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The Bank of England has announced its latest Money & Credit statistics which showed that the extra amount borrowed by consumers to buy goods and services was £1 billion in June, in line with the average of the past year. Annual lending growth to UK consumers slowed to 5.5% in June however, from 5.7% in…
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£10.5 billion was spent on credit card purchases in June 2019 according to the latest figures from UK Finance. Credit card spending was 1.1 per cent higher than the same month in 2018 whilst the outstanding level of credit card borrowing grew by 4.0 per cent in the 12 months to June. Repayments have remained…
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The number of personal insolvencies (bankruptcies and protected trust deeds) in Scotland rose by 7% in April-June 2019 compared with the previous quarter (January-March 2019), and rose by 9% compared with the same quarter the previous year (April-June 2018) according to latest Accountant in Bankruptcy (AiB) statistics. The figures showed that there were 3,520 personal…
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The Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) has launched a consultation on proposed guidance for firms on the fair treatment of vulnerable customers. The guidance sets out the FCA’s view of what the FCA Principles require of firms to ensure that vulnerable consumers are consistently treated fairly across financial services sectors. The FCA wants to see doing…
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New figures out today reveal that only one in four female small business owners (25%) say they will be having a two-week holiday this summer. Overall, 42% of female entrepreneurs said they couldn’t afford to take a summer holiday this year (compared to 30% across the sector) and 13% said they were too busy to…
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Britain is facing the highest risk of a recession since the financial crisis and preparations need to be made to mitigate the impact, according to the Resolution Foundation annual audit. Typical household incomes are estimated to have fallen by 0.5 per cent over the past two years – between 2016-17 and 2018-19 – the Resolution…
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According to figures released under the Freedom of Information Act (FOI), 15.9% of all shops and retail outlets in the UK now lie empty. The figures obtained by Duff & Phelps, the global advisor that protects, restores and maximises value for clients, quantify the scale of the challenge facing the UK high street after one…
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