Credit, Collections & Insolvency News
Household bills rose by almost £200 in 2016 according to new findings from comparethemarket.com. An analysis of costs across energy, motor and home insurance found that, after a £180 drop in 2015, bills rose by 9.7% in the past year from £2,032 in 2015 to £2,223 in 2016. Key finings in the report included: The…
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Ofgem has confirms it has asked energy providers to return £670million of customer money owed since 2014. In 2014, Ofgem challenged large suppliers to do more to return money to former customers who had credit on their account after their account was closed, typically after switching supplier. The regulator says that today, most customers are…
Read moreLiving beyond means, relationship breakdowns, and reduced levels of income were the leading causes of bankruptcy in 2015, according to new government statistics. R3 says the statistics also reveal significant differences between the reasons why men and women enter bankruptcy. One-third (34%) of men’s bankruptcies in 2015 were caused by the bankrupt’s own company running…
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Three and a half million young Brits say that they have borrowed money to pay for food according to research conducted by Debt Advisory Centre. In total seven million adults have borrowed money to pay for food, another four and half million have borrowed money to pay their rent or mortgage, highlighting the financial squeeze that…
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The Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) has found that many firms are improving the way they deal with customers in early arrears. However, there are a number of areas where consumer credit firms still need to improve their practices. Jonathan Davidson, Executive Director of Supervision – Retail and Authorisations, said “Firms must treat customers in default…
Read moreThe latest Money Stats indicate that consumer credit has risen above £190 billion, the highest level seen since 2008. The report by the Money Charity says that’s £7,042 for every household in the UK in credit cards, personal loans and other borrowing not secured against property. Day-to-day, people have more control over how much they borrow…
Read moreNew figures released by the Finance & Leasing Association (FLA) show growth of 6% in consumer finance new business in October, compared with the same month last year. Credit card and personal loan new business together grew by 7% compared with October 2015, while retail store and online credit new business fell by 4%. Second charge…
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Irish bank Permanent tsb has announced their intentions to focus on new controls within their contact centre and provide enhanced customer service with Noble System’s Composer Real-Time Speech Analytics. Alan Murphy, Head of Collections at permanent tsb, said “At permanent tsb, we take customer service very seriously and we have invested heavily in technology that will support…
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Research from Equifax has revealed that 23% of Brits say they have reduced their spending habits since the end of June 2016 and a further 60% say it has stayed the same. The online survey, conducted by YouGov, also found that since the EU referendum (end of June till now) 19% of respondents have delayed…
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Almost half (44%) of Brits overspend in pursuit of creating the perfect Christmas for family and friends, according to new research from TSB. Driven by pressure to appease loved ones, more than half (54%) of Brits don’t even set themselves a budget for their Christmas spending. In some cases this has included forking out on…
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The number of British consumers who have taken on more debt over the last five years has risen sharply to 37%, up from 27% just a year ago, according to a UK-wide survey by Arrow Global. The findings come from a survey of 2,008 consumers with debt, including 804 debt defaulters (borrowers have been late with…
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More than 12 million* UK adults find themselves too time poor to effectively manage their personal finances, according to comparethemarket.com estimates. A poll of 2,000 adults found that 24 per cent feel that they don’t devote enough time to sorting out their finances. The biggest barrier to devoting more time is being “too busy with…
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Nearly half a million young people are struggling to cope with the cost of running their mobile phone, according to new research from National Debtline, run by the Money Advice Trust. Newly-published findings from the charity’s Borrowed Years research, based on a survey of 2,042 18 to 24 year olds conducted online by YouGov, reveal…
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