Customer Vulnerability research guide launched

21st March 2017 Consumer Collections |

The Finance & Leasing Association (FLA) and The UK Cards Association are today launching a new publication – Vulnerability; a guide for debt collection – that will help their members to better identify and support customers in vulnerable circumstances. Both trade associations worked in partnership with the University of Bristol’s Personal Finance Research Centre (PFRC)…

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New parents spend almost £10,000 on new baby in first year

21st March 2017 Consumer Collections |

The financial impact of having a baby is placing a significant burden on parents. According to new research by comparethemarket.com, new parents will spend £184 a week on necessities such as food, clothing, nappies and childcare for their baby, equating to £9,568 in the first year of parenthood. The cost of starting a family is…

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Brits spend longer making a cup of tea than pausing to look at their finances

21st March 2017 Consumer Collections |

New research from Skipton Building Society has found that the majority of us spend longer each day on making a cup of tea than we do pausing to look at our finances. Skipton Building Society interviewed 2,000 UK adults about their financial habits, highlights of the report include: Three in five people (57%) spend half…

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Cabot Credit Management wins Customer Service Award

20th March 2017 Consumer Collections |

Cabot Credit Management (CCM),has won a customer service award at the seventh UK Customer Satisfaction Awards ceremony. CCM won the Customer Feedback Strategy award, ahead of nine other finalists including EDF Energy, HM Passport Office, Virgin Money and RSA Insurance. This award is centred around how easy it is for customers to give feedback and how…

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Consumer spending growth to slow in 2017-18

17th March 2017 Consumer Collections |

​Real consumer spending growth will moderate from around 3% in 2016 to around 2% in 2017 and 1.7% in 2018, according to PwC which summarises that the impact of Brexit on consumers will also vary by category of spending. In an extract from the UK Economic Outlook, which launches in full on 21st March 2017,…

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Affordability high on the agenda for UK organisations

17th March 2017 Consumer Collections |

Despite the rising importance of affordability assessments’ for UK organisations, less than half (40%) of risk leaders rate themselves as very effective at identifying customers who are financially vulnerable, according to a new study from Callcredit Information Group. The New Affordability study of UK risk and customer experience managers finds that organisations increasingly see it…

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Modest Income growth and poverty roughly unchanged in 2015–16 figures

17th March 2017 Consumer Collections |

The Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) has published the latest official statistics on household incomes, covering the financial year 2015–16. IFS researchers have summarised the headline trends observed in the new data and placed them in historical context in order to understand better changes in living standards in recent years. Key findings include: Average household…

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Financial fraud costing £2 million a day

17th March 2017 Consumer Collections |

In 2016, the UK lost £2 million each day as a result of financial fraud, according to official figures released by Financial Fraud Action UK (FFA UK). The figures show the overall scale of financial fraud was £768.8 million, an increase on the £755 million lost in 2015. The figures are published as all major…

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Identity fraud reaches record levels

15th March 2017 Consumer Collections |

Cifas has released new figures showing that identity fraud has hit the highest levels ever recorded.  A record 172,919 identity frauds were recorded in 2016 more than in any other previous year. Identity fraud now represents over half of all fraud recorded by the UK’s not-for-profit fraud data sharing organisation (53.3% of all frauds recorded…

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March 2017: Money Statistics

14th March 2017 Consumer Collections |

Here is an overview of The Money Charity’s latest statistics for March 2017: Personal debt in the UK The average total debt per household – including mortgages – was £56,310 in January. The revised figure for December was £56,148. Based on January 2017 trends, the UK’s total interest repayments on personal debt over a 12…

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Consumer finance rises by 10% in January

10th March 2017 Consumer Collections |

New figures released today by the Finance & Leasing Association (FLA) show growth of 10% in consumer finance new business in January, compared with the same month in 2016. Credit card and personal loan new business together grew by 11% compared with January 2016, while retail store and online credit new business increased by 1%.…

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Latest Wealth and Asset Survey from the ONS

8th March 2017 Consumer Collections |

The  Office for National Statistics (ONS) has published its latest Wealth and Assets Survey. Early indicator estimates from the survey: attitudes towards saving for retirement, credit commitments and debt burden show that nearly half (46%) of GB adults thought buying property would be the best way of making money for their retirement in 2014/16, up from 43%…

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Renting cost puts home ownership out of reach for tenants

7th March 2017 Consumer Collections |

Private tenants are struggling to get a foot on the housing ladder because of the costs that come with renting according to the Citizens Advice Service. A new report from the charity finds that just under three quarters (74%) of private tenants say the combined costs of rent, agency fees and moving make buying a…

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