Credit, Collections & Insolvency News
Analysis from The Insolvency Exchange, part of TDX Group, reveals that volumes of personal insolvency in the UK are likely to see a significant spike in 2017. The company’s latest Insolvency Market Trends data highlights that new Individual Voluntary Arrangement (IVA) and Trust Deed (TD) applications continue to rise and volumes could increase by as much…
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OnePlusOne, the relationship research charity, is launching a Debt and Relationships project, funded by the Department for Work and Pensions, which highlights real-life stories in short animations to show the impact of debt on family relationships and the importance of sharing the burden with loved ones. The project aims to help people in relationships to start conversations…
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More than three million people have been frozen out of credit in the past 12 months, despite mainstream lenders promising to increase access, according to new research. Almost one in five people who applied for credit in the last 12 months – either a credit card, personal loan or mortgage – had their applications refused,…
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Commenting on figures published by the ONS today (Friday), which shows that unsecured borrowing is at its highest level (as a share of household income) in 8 years, TUC General Secretary Frances O’Grady said: “Today’s figures should set alarm bells ringing. The last thing our economy needs right now is another consumer debt crisis. But…
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Regulators in the water, energy, telecommunications and financial services sectors could do more to support the increasing number of vulnerable consumers, according to the National Audit Office (NAO) Consumers spend around £136 billion annually on energy, water, telecommunications and retail financial services. Vulnerable consumers are those who, because of their circumstances, are particularly susceptible to…
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Financial fraud losses across payment cards, remote banking and cheques totalled £768.8 million in 2016, an increase of 2 per cent on the previous year, figures from Financial Fraud Action UK show. The new data shows banks and card companies prevented £1.38 billion of fraud last year, equivalent to £6.40 in every £10 of attempted…
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Consumer expectations about house prices have bounced back to pre-EU Referendum levels after a period when the immediate ramifications of the vote were unclear according to data from the Building Societies Association Property Tracker survey. Almost half of consumers (49%) expect house prices to rise over the next 12 months. Just 10% expect them to…
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A record 600,000 people sought advice for debt problems from StepChange Debt Charity last year (up 9% from 550,000 in 2015), equating to one person every 53 seconds. The average unsecured debt of the charity’s clients has increased for the first time in eight years from £13,900 to £14,251. The figures are taken from the…
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New research from Equifax, shows that 56% of people online would prefer to use a biometric security method over traditional options like passwords to log into their financial accounts online. The online survey, conducted by YouGov, found that a third (33%) of people would prefer to use fingerprint recognition as a security method to access their…
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Poorer people in Britain are being excluded from the financial system and forced to rely on expensive and substandard banking products, according to a new report. There are 1.7 million adults in the country that do not have access to a bank account, the report said, raising the risk that they will turn to high-cost…
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The British Bankers Association (BBA) has released February 2017 figures for the high street banks. The data shows that household borrowing of £13.4 billion in February was 4.6% higher than in the same month last year. Main highlights included: The BBA’s latest high street banking data show that consumer credit is growing at an annual rate…
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Irish Legal rights group FLAC (Free Legal Advice Centres) has raised concerns over mortgage arrears figures released by the Central Bank of Ireland’s latest statistics on Residential Mortgage Arrears and Repossessions from Quarter 4 in 2016. The group said the data confirms that worrying trends continue where family homes are in mortgage arrears. Over 5,000…
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The Council of Mortgage Lenders (CML) has published it’s latest monthly statistics. The CML estimates that gross mortgage lending reached £18.2 billion in February. This is 8% lower than January’s lending total of £19.8 billion, and closely matches the £18.1 billion lent in February last year. Commenting on market conditions in this month’s market commentary, CML…
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