Two-thirds of parents feel pressured to spend above their means at Christmas

Latest research from the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) has found almost half of UK adults (47%) feel pressured to spend above their means during Christmas to provide for loved ones, rising to almost two-thirds (64%) for those with children under 18. Two in five (40%) UK adults, and over half of those (52%) with children…

Read more

6.5 million will struggle to heat homes at Christmas 

6th December 2023 Consumer Collections | #energy

6.5 million people in the UK (14 percent) will struggle to heat their homes as much as they need this Christmas due to the impact of the cost of living, according to findings from National Debtline. The findings show 2.7 million people (5 percent) are having to choose between buying food or presents and four…

Read more

33% of shoppers plan to haggle this Christmas

A new survey by Purbeck Personal Guarantee has underlined the impact of the cost of living crisis on shopping habits with 33% of shoppers plan to haggle this Christmas. 51% confessed they have haggled for an essential product or service this year. The research suggests that 21% in the survey think it’s fine to haggle…

Read more

2023 Credit & Collections Technology Think Tank review

Credit Connect hosted its third in-person Credit & Collections Technology Think Tank in mid-November in Manchester which saw credit and collections strategies and the impact of the cost of living discussed by sixteen professionals from a variety of industry sectors at the Midland Hotel in Manchester. The themes of cost of living impacting customer engagement,…

Read more

Money Statistics: November 2023

Here is an overview of The Money Charity’s latest statistics for November 2023 Personal debt in the UK People in the UK owed £1,845.6 billion at the end of September 2023. The average total debt per household, including mortgages, was £65,724 and per adult was £34,700, around 100.7% of average earnings. Net mortgage lending decreased by…

Read more

One in five households won’t turn on Christmas lights to save on energy costs

29th November 2023 Consumer Collections |

New research from Go.Compare Energy has revealed that the number of UK households who won’t be putting up Christmas lights to save on energy costs has increased in 2023. This year, 18% of people told Go.Compare they wouldn’t be lighting up their homes this Christmas – an increase from December 2022, when 16% of bill…

Read more

Families hit by £605 food bill increases in past two years

The average UK food bill has gone up by around £605 over the last two years, as climate and energy costs continue to hit shoppers in their pocket, according to new research for the Energy and Climate Intelligence Unit (ECIU). The report was carried out by researchers from the universities of Bournemouth, Exeter and Sheffield…

Read more

Parents gift children average £109 each at Christmas

28th November 2023 Consumer Collections |

New research by Halifax has found that over three-quarters of parents will give children money at Christmas with their children receiving £109.93 on average. The research found that over three-quarters of parents (76%) make gift giving a touch simpler, by handing over cash at Christmas time with money also gifted on birthdays. The pros and…

Read more

One in three households will struggle to afford Christmas

28th November 2023 Arrears and Recoveries |

New YouGov polling commissioned by StepChange Debt Charity, which explores people’s finances and borrowing habits, reveals that one in four people will struggle to afford Christmas this year, rising to more than one in three (34%) households with children. The survey also found that. one in twelve (8%), around 4 million people, will be relying…

Read more

Half of workers regret post pay-day purchases

24th November 2023 Consumer Collections |

Over half (52%) of UK workers say they always or occasionally feel regret about what they’ve spent their salary on just one week after payday, with half (50%) of non-essential spend going towards dining out (50%), followed by clothes shopping (48%), takeaways (42%), hobbies and activities (39%), socialising (34%), and subscriptions (32%). New research from…

Read more

Financial stress in workforce costs businesses £10.3bn every year

A new report by the Centre for Economics and Business (CEBR) on behalf of Aegon has found that the proportion of both full-time and part-time private sector workers missing work due to financial concerns has risen to 12%, – up from 10% in 2021. On average, employees lost 4.7 workdays per year, leading to over…

Read more

Households resorting to desperate measures to cope with rising bills

15th November 2023 Consumer Collections | #rising bills

Families resorting to ‘desperate measures’ and struggling with ‘frightening’ level of hardship amid cost of living crisis according to research by the Joseph Rowntree Foundation (JRF) charity. About 2 million households have been forced to turn off their fridge or freezer to save money as they continue to struggle. Nearly half of those households said…

Read more

Millennials are struggling to catch up with the living standards of older groups

13th November 2023 Consumer Collections |

Millennials are still bearing the ‘economic scars’ of the 2008 financial crisis and are struggling to catch up with the living standards of older groups while their new research shows from the Resolution Foundation has found.  The research compares the fortunes of millennials – born between 1981 and 2000 – with their predecessors, including Generation…

Read more

1 2 3 130