New polling by Debt Justice indicated that a record 6.7 million people in Britain are now in financial difficulty. The polling conducted for Debt Awareness Week indicates that 13% of people have missed three or more credit or bill payments over the past six months. Debt Justice’s ,anifesto calls on all political parties to make a…
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Users of alternative financial products, like home-collected loans and payday loans, are four times more likely to be contacted by a debt collector, according to a new study of customers by Lowell. One in five adults who use alternative financial products were contacted by a debt collector in 2023, while one in twenty people in…
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The Insolvency Service has published its latest monthly Insolvency Statistics, showing personal insolvencies were up by 23% compared to February 2023 at 10,136. The rise was driven by a 44% increase in Debt Relief Orders (DRO) applications compared to February 2023. In the Spring Budget, the Chancellor announced an end to fees for DRO’s from…
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As the cost of living crisis continues to escalate, a personal insolvency specialist has issued a warning about a concerning trend of mounting debt among the hospitality workforce. According to Creditfix, hospitality workers are grappling with unprecedented financial burdens, with an alarming average debt level of £13,151 with the industry faces a dual challenge as operating…
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Latest Bank of England figures show that the proportion of mortgages in arrears increased to its highest level since 2016 in the last three months of 2023. The share of outstanding mortgage balances in arrears rose to 1.23% in Q4 2023 from 1.12% in Q3. The value of these balances in arrears stood at £20.3…
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Energy regulator Ofgem has announced a call for input to examine issues around affordability and debt in the energy market. The regulator says that its first responsibility is to protect consumers, and we remain very concerned that struggling households have a limited ability to cope with future price shocks. At the same time, the cost…
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New figures released by the Finance & Leasing Association (FLA) show that second charge mortgage new business volumes grew by 2% in January 2024 Commenting on the latest new business figures for the second charge mortgage market, Fiona Hoyle, Director of Consumer & Mortgage Finance and Inclusion at the Finance & Leasing Association (FLA), said…
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The Treasury has announced that it expects to raise £240 million in the first year after launching a new tax collection policy. Private sector debt collectors will be enlisted to collect up to £4.3 billion in unpaid taxes, as part of a budget crackdown spearheaded by HMRC. The plan involves increasing HMRC’s capacity to follow…
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Over 270,000 people in Scotland missed a council tax payment in 2023 according to analysis by Citizens Advice Scotland (CAS). The analysis by the charity of polling it commissioned from YouGov found that 276,186 people in Scotland had missed a council tax payment at least once from December 2022. On average around one in three…
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Women are suffering the most in the financial squeeze, according to the latest figures from credit management group Intrum. A survey of 20,000 consumers across Europe shows that people are spending more of their income on essentials than they did in the past. Banks recommend following the 50-30-20 rule, suggesting an allocation of half income…
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Credit Connect hosted its Online Collections Technology Think Tank last week which saw collections strategies and the impact of cost of living economic stresses discussed by eight collections professionals from a variety of industry sectors. In the eighth edition of the Collections Technology Think Tank series, hosted by Credit Connect Media, industry professionals gathered to…
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Here is an overview of The Money Charity’s latest statistics for February 2024 Personal debt in the UK People in the UK owed £1,836.4 billion at the end of December 2023. The average total debt per household, including mortgages, was £65,395 and per adult was £34,526, around 99.9% of average earnings. Net mortgage lending decreased by…
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Ongoing financial strain is taking an increasing toll on the health and wellbeing of the nation, with almost half of UK adults saying their mental and physical health has suffered because of their financial situation in the last year, according to new research from St. James’s Place (SJP). As the UK slips into recession, around…
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