Credit, Collections & Insolvency News
New research by StepChange estimates that 1.4 million lower-income households resorted to high-cost credit to meet day to day living costs last year – up from 1.1 million households in 2016. The charity’s new research now identifies three distinct groups of those living on lower incomes in the UK, and how alternatives could be developed…
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Credit card debts have surged at the fastest annual rate in 12 years in February. The latest figure from UK Finance shows that consumer spending use of credit cards, with outstanding levels of card borrowing, grew at a rate of 6.3 percent over the year, whilst the use of loans and overdrafts continues to fall.…
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Latest UK Finance lending figures show that gross mortgage lending in February is estimated to have been £19bn, 4.9 percent more than a year ago but below the monthly average of £21.4bn for 2017, The data also shows re-mortgage approvals in the month are up over 9 percent in both number and value compared to…
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New research from Citizens Advice shows high-interest rates, late payment fees and expensive add-ons are leaving rent-to-own consumers struggling to pay for goods that they can end up having to return. Figures in the charity’s new ‘Rent to Return’ report show if existing rent-to-own loans were priced down through a similar cap to that on…
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New Lloyds Bank analysis shows 3% year-on-year growth in essential spending putting pressure on outgoings with only 35% of working consumers believing they have seen their household income increase over the last 12 months according to the latest Lloyds Bank Spending Power Report. In the monthly Ipsos MORI survey of over 2,000 bank account holders…
Read moreParents are dipping into their kids’ savings to supplement day-to-day living costs, a study has found. Researchers polled 5,000 mums and dads and found one fifth have borrowed money from their children’s piggy banks and accounts in order to pay their living expenses. Nearly half of those have taken cash out of their little one’s…
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The Financial Ombudsman Service (FOS) is to carry out an internal investigation following a television exposé by Channel 4’on its “Dispatches” programme. Chief Executive Caroline Wayman has replied to a letter from Treasury Committee chair Nicky Morgan and says FOS will appoint an independent party to “better understand and address the concerns raised” by the…
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The number of people living in absolute poverty has fallen by 1 million since 2010, according to statistics by the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP). Figures show that children are around 5 times more likely to live in poverty if they live in a workless household, compared to a household where all adults work. The…
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New figures released by the Finance & Leasing Association (FLA) show growth of 12% in consumer finance new business in January, compared with the same month last year. Credit card and personal loan new business together grew by 12% compared with January 2017, while retail store and online credit new business increased by 13% over…
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New figures released by the Finance & Leasing Association (FLA) show that new business in the point of sale (POS) consumer car finance market increased 7% by volume and 13% by value in January, compared with the same month in 2017. New business volumes in the POS consumer new car finance market fell by 4%…
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New figures released by the Finance & Leasing Association (FLA) show that new business figures for the second charge mortgage market in January continued to show growth. Fiona Hoyle, Head of Consumer and Mortgage Finance at the Finance & Leasing Association (FLA), said “The second charge mortgage market reported growth in January, with new business up…
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New research from NS&I reveals that personal finance worries are having a negative impact on the well-being of 17 million Britons, with a quarter (26%) revealing that the state of their personal finances has had a negative effect on their mental health. In total 85% of Britons admit to worrying at least some of the…
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Tens of thousands of people are missing from society, hiding away and suffering acute anxiety because of poverty. These are the findings from a new Christians Against Poverty (CAP) report launched today by the charity’s patron the Archbishop of Canterbury. Archbishop Justin Welby said at the launch of the report that debt problems are now at…
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