One in six people have financial worries

19th September 2017 Consumer Collections |

The Money Advice Service has announced its 2017 over-indebtedness figures for the UK. This year’s report by the Money Advice Service and CACI reveals that 8.3 million (15.9%) people in the UK are living with a debt problem – the figures show a moderate increase from figures released in 2016 (15.4%). The statistics from the…

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Callcredit and TotallyMoney announce credit score partnership

18th September 2017 Consumer Collections |

Callcredit Group and Totallymoney have launched a new Live Credit Score service. The service provides customers with information about changes in their credit status each time they log in. Credit file data is provided by Callcredit and customers now have access to six years’ of credit history information and receive real-time notifications to help them…

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Universal Credit wait creating rent arrears

18th September 2017 Consumer Collections |

A new report from the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) says that a five-week wait for Universal Credit has been a major factor in pushing claimants into rent arrears. The report shows that people on the new benefit are falling into rent arrears, with over 2 in 5 saying this was due to problems with…

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Qualco UK accredited for Environmental Management System

15th September 2017 Consumer Collections |

Qualco UK has been awarded ISO 14001 certification by The British Assessment Bureau.  The internationally recognised standard is awarded to organisations that have an effective Environmental Management System (EMS) in place, demonstrating a business-wide commitment to reducing the environmental impact of its activities, products and services through effective recycling, safe waste disposal, pollution prevention and…

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Half of families on Universal Credit receive help with housing costs

14th September 2017 Consumer Collections |

New figures released by the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) show over half of families on Universal Credit receive help with their housing costs, Citizens Advice says that problems with the new benefit – such as the long wait for payment – mean thousands could be at risk of falling behind on their rent.…

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Card expenditure and contactless growth continues

13th September 2017 Consumer Collections |

UK Finance has released the latest card expenditure statistics for July, the highlights include: The number of card payments increased to 1.39 billion in July, largely because of the migration of cash payments to card and the increased use of contactless. Total spending was £57.8 billion, up from £54.2 billion in July 2016. Contactless payments…

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MAS launches debt advice behavioural science guide

13th September 2017 Consumer Collections |

The Money Advice Service (MAS has launched a free new resource ‘How to use behavioural science to increase the uptake of debt advice’. The guide has been designed to assist debt advisers across the UK, to encourage over-indebted people to engage with their services. Money Advice Service worked with Ogilvy Change, a specialist behavioural interventions…

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Household financial help from water companies has almost doubled

13th September 2017 Consumer Collections |

The number of low-income households in England and Wales receiving financial help from their water company has almost doubled to more than 400,000 in the past year, according to the Consumer Council for Water (CCWater). The water watchdog has welcomed the rise in support for cash-strapped customers but warned that it remains a drop in…

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Irish residential mortgage arrears continues to decline

12th September 2017 Consumer Collections |

The Bank of Ireland has released its latest arrears and repossessions statistics. The Residential Mortgage Arrears and Repossessions Statistics for Q2 highlights indicate: The number of mortgage accounts for principal dwelling houses (PDH) in arrears fell further in the second quarter of 2017; this marks the sixteenth consecutive quarter of decline. A total of 73,706 accounts…

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Remortgaging shows growth in July

12th September 2017 Consumer Collections |

UK Finance has released the latest remortgaging date which shows that lending for house purchases in July was lower than in the preceding month but higher than a year earlier. Highlights from the statistics show: First-time buyers borrowed £5 billion, 15% lower than in June but 14% higher than in July 2016.  They took out…

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Instabank and Provenir announce cloud lending partnership

12th September 2017 Consumer Collections |

Challenger Bank, Instabank has announced a partnership with Provenir.  Instabank is using Provenir’s technology to aggregate credit applicant data from structured and unstructured data sources, including credit bureaux and its core banking system, to provide customers with an instantaneous credit decision. Robert Berg, CEO, Instabank said “Our entire approach is built on simplifying banking, making…

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Quarter of a million families enter debt after frequent home moves

12th September 2017 Consumer Collections |

250,000 private renting families in England are becoming burdened with serious debt because they have to move house so frequently, according to Shelter. New research from the housing charity says private renting is so unstable, short and expensive that families are being forced to move too frequently. One in four (255,944) renting families are taking…

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Second charge mortgage new business growth in July

11th September 2017 Consumer Collections |

Commenting on the July 2017 new business figures for the second charge mortgage market, Fiona Hoyle, Head of Consumer and Mortgage Finance at the Finance & Leasing Association (FLA), said “The second charge mortgage market reported its fifth consecutive month of growth in July, with new business up 23% by value and 21% by volume.…

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