Lloyds Banking Group (Lloyds) has agreed to set up a redress scheme for mortgage customers who incurred fees after they fell behind with their mortgage payments. Following engagement with the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA), Lloyds acknowledged that when customers fell into arrears, they did not always do enough to understand customers’ circumstances to be confident…
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Debt Recovery law form Ascent Performance Group has announced a new partnership with Francis Hanna & Co, allowing Ascent to provide its full range of services across Northern Ireland. The move gives Ascent the widest UK geographical coverage of any debt recovery law firm. Ascent already operates in England, Wales and Scotland. The relationship will be based…
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The Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) has published proposals to extend the Senior Managers and Certification Regime (SM&CR) to almost all regulated firms. The new regime will essentially replace the Approved Persons Regime. The aim of the new regime is to reduce harm to consumers and strengthen market integrity by making individuals more accountable for their…
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The board directors of the BCCA and the Consumer Finance Association have released a joint statement announcing their intentions to merge both associations. The statement read “The short-term lending sector has changed radically over the last few years in areas such as regulation and lending culture. It is time for a change in sector representation.…
Read moreAn interest rate rise of just 0.5% would cost households an extra £3.4 billion in interest payments in just the first year according to analysis by Moore Stephens. Bank of England data shows UK households are currently paying £39.2 billion in interest payments on debt that is likely to be affected immediately by an interest rate…
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The Credit Services Association (CSA) has appointed Arran Hope as its Apprenticeship Coordinator. Hope’s appointment follows the Association’s successful inclusion on the Register of Apprenticeship Training Providers (RoATP) – meaning that the CSA is approved to deliver apprenticeship training for employers paying the Apprenticeship Levy. He will be the central point of contact regarding the…
Read moreThe Credit Services Association (CSA) has secured an agreement with Royal Mail to bring the Test & Innovate Scheme (TIS) to the collections industry. TIS is an incentive for trying new ideas in mail applications that could prompt higher response rates from customers. These range from changes to letter content and layout through to envelope changes…
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The government has announced that card charges will be consigned to history, after Ministers act to end these unfair fees for millions of people across the country.rules that will mean card-charging in Britain – where people can be charged 20% extra for purchases like a flight just for paying with a credit card – will come to…
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Consumers will have greater control over their bank data and financial decisions thanks to new laws coming into force in January. The government is bringing in a new regulatory regime for innovative FinTech firms which will transform the way people engage with their finances and make it possible to manage all of their finances at the…
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Italian banks could take 10 years to reduce their level of non-performing loans (NPLs) to the European average according to Morgan Stanley, adding that setting up a “bad bank” could help. A recession that ended in 2014 saddled Italian banks with 349 billion euros (305.94 billion pounds) in impaired debts, one-third of Europe’s total, while…
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Collections Conference (UKCCC), the Credit Services Association’s 2016 flagship event, has been named Conference of the Year by the Trade Association Forum (TAF) in its Best Practice Awards 2017. The award judges were looking for an outstanding event which featured ‘particularly relevant and informative content specific to the audience’, as well as utilising ‘innovative technology’…
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The Insolvency Service is clamping down on individuals who are disposing of their assets irresponsibly when facing financial stress, rather than paying back their debts, says accountancy firm, Moore Stephens. Moore Stephens says that there has been a 24% rise in the number of Bankruptcy Restriction Orders (BROs) issued to penalise the ‘dissipation of assets’…
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MoneySuperMarket analysed three million loan enquiries made on its Smart Search tool from January 2015 – March 2017 to find that more than one in four (28 per cent) Brits want to borrow an amount equal to at least half of their annual income. Worryingly, almost 10 per cent of personal loan enquiries are from people hoping…
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