Customers who stay loyal to their essential service providers could be paying £987 more per year – equivalent to four months’ worth of food for the average household – new research from Citizens Advice reveals. The report found that charging loyal customers more than new customers for the same service is a common practice across…
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The Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) has published an update on its work in the high-cost credit sector. The update follows a Feedback Statement the FCA published in July 2017 which identified key areas of concern with the sector including overdrafts, rent-to-own, home-collected credit and catalogue credit. Work undertaken since July 2017 has demonstrated an emerging…
Read moreOfgem has chosen Green Star Energy to take on supplying the customers of Future Energy, which went out of business last week. This follows a competitive process run by Ofgem to get the best deal possible for Future Energy’s customers. Green Star Energy is offering Future Energy’s customers the same price as they were paying…
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New research from Mintel has found that the majority of unsecured loan borrowers are living in ignorance as three in five Brits (60%) admit they are unaware of the interest rate being charged. More figures suggest 74% of Brits aged 45-64 with structured personal loans say they do not know the rates they are paying.…
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The Bank of England has today published its latest monthly Money and Credit report showing growth in consumer credit of 9.5 percent in the year to December 2017 up from 9.3 percent in November. Outstanding balances for consumer credit now stand at over £207.1 billion .The 8.9% growth in credit card lending has pushed the…
Read moreThe Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) has asked lenders to do more to tackle the issue of maturing interest-only mortgages with the FCA finding that many people have still not talked to their lender about their repayment options. Nearly one in five mortgage customers have an interest-only mortgage and the FCA is concerned that shortfalls in…
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Significantly more UK households say they are spending more on essential products and services than they were a year ago, according to the latest Lloyds Bank Spending Power Report. The report has also found that significantly more consumers say they have increased their spending on essentials compared to 12 months ago with 70% of adults…
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The Insolvency Service has released its latest statistical release shows the outcome status of Individual Voluntary Arrangements (IVAs). The statistics show: The percentage of IVAs failing within the first two years has increased Ten IVA providers accounted for over 80% of new IVAs registered in 2017. Total insolvencies rose for the second consecutive year, returning…
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UK Finance has published the latest mortgage lending figures. Key data highlights from the report include: Mortgage activity has been building through the year, helped by increasing numbers of first-time buyers. Gross mortgage lending in the month is estimated to have been £20.2 billion, 1.2 percent more than a year earlier. Credit card spending decreased slightly…
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Styles & Wood has become a Supplier Member of the Credit Services Association (CSA), the first to join the extended category of membership since it was announced in November last year. Arctick, winner of the Regulatory Technology solution at the 2017 Credit & Collections Technology Awards with its enterprise Governance, Risk and Compliance (GRC) management software…
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1.3 million elderly people will struggle to afford their energy bill this winter according to new research by comparethemarket.com. Two fifths (43%) of over 65-year olds are worried that cold weather this winter will lead to higher energy costs, over one in ten (11%) don’t feel they are in a position to afford an increase in…
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Household spending increased more rapidly than income growth in the last financial year (2016-17), with the biggest rises taking place among lower-income households, the Resolution Foundation said in response to the latest ONS Family Spending figures. The ONS figures show that households increased their spending by 4 percent in 2016-17, helped by low inflation and…
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Private Equity firm, AnaCap Financial Partners has announced that it has reached an agreement to acquire a portfolio of seasoned, performing UK unsecured personal loans from Secure Trust Bank. The portfolio is highly diversified, covering more than 10,000 individual loans geographically spread across the U.K., with an average seasoning of almost two years, thus providing…
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