Credit, Collections & Insolvency News
More than 50 leading businesses and organisations have contributed to the development of a £1 billion deal to put the nation at the forefront of the artificial intelligence industry, featuring almost £300 million of new private sector investment. The deal between government and industry, announced by Business Secretary Greg Clark and Digital Secretary Matt Hancock…
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Bradford & Bingley plc (B&B), part of UK Asset Resolution Limited (UKAR), has confirmed that it has agreed to sell two separate portfolios of buy to let and residential owner-occupied mortgages to an investor group led by Barclays Bank PLC for a total of £5.3bn. Financial completion is expected within the next few weeks and…
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Illegal lending loan sharks will face a fresh new crackdown today as the government announces new funding to tackle unlawful lending. Over £5.5 million will be spent to fund the fight against loan sharks, helping to investigate and prosecute illegal lenders and support their victims. 100,000 of money already seized from loan sharks will also…
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Levels of arrears and repossessions are expected to grow this year, according to Jackie Bennett, Director of Mortgages at UK Finance, at the UK Finance Speaking at a UK Finance annual mortgage lunch, Bennett noted that arrears were at a historic low in 2017 with 89,000 people with arrears balances of 2.5% or more of their…
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The Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) is urging the public to be alert to the growing threat of loan fee scams targeting borrowers. This plea comes as last year over £3.5 million was lost to loan fee fraud and reports to the FCA consumer helpline increased by 44%. Victims of loan fee fraud are often targeted…
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A third of millennials could be forced to rent in retirement, according to a report from the Resolution Foundation. Up to half of that generation could also be renting into their 40s, and around 40 percent are renting at the age of 30. A Resolution Foundation statement says: “Our estimates suggest that if recent conditions…
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The availability of consumer credit dropped “significantly” in the first quarter of 2018, according to a survey of credit conditions published by the Bank of England. The Credit Conditions Survey asks banks and building societies about the past three months and the next three months as part of the Bank’s role in maintaining financial stability. The Bank…
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The Bank of England has published its latest monthly Money and Credit report showing a slight jump in growth in consumer credit of 9.4 percent in the year to February 2018, up from 9.3 percent in January. Outstanding balances for consumer credit now stand at over £209.4 billion. Joanna Elson OBE, chief executive of the…
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The Office for National Statistics has today published its latest UK consumer price inflation figures showing the Consumer Prices Index was at 2.7% in February 2018, down from 3% in January 2018, its lowest level since July 2017. Commenting on the figures Joanna Elson OBE, chief executive of the Money Advice Trust, said “This slight drop in…
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Here is an overview of The Money Charity’s latest statistics for March 2018: Personal debt in the UK People in the UK owed £1.576 trillion at the end of January 2018. This is up from £1.52 trillion at the end of January 2017– an extra £1,077.51 per UK adult. Per adult in the UK that’s an average debt…
Read morePersonal finance should be included as a standalone subject in UK schools, according to the deVere Group. Nigel Green, the founder of deVere Group, has made the suggestion speaking out days after the leader of the Church of England, the Archbishop of Canterbury, said that learning about finances is as important as learning about sex…
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Ofgem has proposed new rules that would lead to UK consumers saving £5 billion on energy bills over five years. The Office of Gas and Electricity Markets (Ofgem) has announced a proposal to input strict price controls on energy costs. The proposals will lead to £15-£25 in savings per year for household consumers and 5…
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Young people across the UK are slashing spending to make ends meet at the start of the year, according to the latest Lloyds Banking Spending Power Report. In the monthly Ipsos MORI survey of over 2,000 bank account holders in the UK, 60% of all consumers say they have changed their eating and going out…
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