Credit, Collections & Insolvency News
New figures released by the Finance & Leasing Association (FLA) show that consumer finance new business fell in March 2020 by 16% compared with the same month in 2019, and contracted by 4% in Q1 2020 as a whole. Credit card and personal loan new business together fell in March 2020 by 10% compared with…
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New figures released by the Finance & Leasing Association (FLA) show that new business volumes in the consumer car finance market fell in March 2020 by 27% compared with the same month in 2019, and by 13% in Q1 2020 as a whole. The consumer new car finance market reported new business volumes 29% lower…
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Nearly 1.2 million payment holidays on credit cards and personal loans have been granted by UK banks for customers struggling with the COVID-19 outbreak. New figures from UK Finance have shown that almost 700,000 customer accounts have been given a payment holiday on their credit card. with another 470,000 payment holidays agreed on personal loans.…
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Profits at Virgin Money more than halved in the first half of its financial year, with impairment charges in the six months to March tripling to £232 million, from £77 million a year earlier. The firm’s underlying pre-tax profit was down from £280 million to £120 million, with statutory net profit of £22 million higher…
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Families are coming to terms with the fact that their finances could be negatively affected by the coronavirus pandemic long after the lockdown lifts. According to the second week of comparethemarket.com’s Financial Confidence Tracker, over two thirds (67%) of households with children at home think the economic impact of the pandemic will have a long-term…
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The Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders (SMMT) has revealed that the number of new car sales in the UK has declined by 97% in April. Only 871 cars went to retail customers last month, with the rest of the 4,321 cars sold going to fleets or business buyers. The figures are at the lowest…
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Age UK has written an open letter to the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) to help older and vulnerable customers who are struggling to get cash as the lockdown continues, saying that “we are now approaching a critical time in the crisis…for older people.” The letter asks the FCA to consider introducing guidance to force banks…
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Lending platform. Freedom Finance has announced the launch of ‘Fusion Score’ the first open banking enabled score that creates a single metric that interprets a customer’s eligibility based on both credit and transactional data, a first for the lending industry. The Fusion Score can unlock better rates or a smoother journey for those with established…
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The Bank of England had published its latest banking statistics which have indicated that mortgage approvals for house purchase fell to 56,200, their lowest level since March 2013. House purchase decreased by 24 per cent from almost 74,000 in February, hitting their lowest level for seven years. The Bank of England data shows that while…
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Nearly a fifth of households are struggling to pay their bills because of the government lockdown imposed due to COVID19. According to comparethemarket.com’s new Financial Confidence Tracker, 20% of households are not confident that they will be able to meet due payments or stay on top of household finances over the coming weeks. Amongst those…
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The Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) has announced it is proposing a series of measures to support both consumers who hold insurance products and who are facing other issues as a result of coronavirus (Covid-19). The package of measures sets out the FCA’s expectations that insurance firms should consider whether their products still offer value to…
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New research from Citizens Advice has revealed that over 13 million people have already been unable to pay, or expect to be unable to pay, at least one bill because of the coronavirus outbreak. Of these, almost 11 million have missed or expect to miss a bill that would leave them vulnerable to severe consequences…
Read moreThe Insolvency Service has published the latest personal insolvency figure for England & Wales which indicates that the total numbers of insolvencies in Q1 2020 decreased when compared with the previous quarter and the same quarter in the previous year (Q1 2019). The figures largely pre-date the Government lockdown and wider impact of the Coronavirus…
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