Credit, Collections & Insolvency News
More than three out of ten consumers (34%) say they would be most likely to take on extra debt if they were faced with a sudden gap in their finances, according to new research from R3, the insolvency trade body. Thirteen percent of over 2,000 people surveyed by Savanta ComRes for R3’s latest Personal Debt…
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The Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) has today imposed a fine of £2.77 million on car finance provider, Moneybarn for not treating customers fairly when they fell behind with loan repayments while in financial difficulties, between 1 April 2014 and 4 October 2017. The FCA says Moneybarn also did not communicate the likely financial consequences of…
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A new investigation from Admiral Car Finance has revealed a range of hidden and unexpected costs consumers could unwittingly be hit with when purchasing their next car on finance, which could see them spending almost £1,200 more than they need to. With 2.4 million people spending a total of £37.6 billion on car finance last year, consumers…
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Communities are being encouraged to take part in a new initiative to help improve access to cash. The new Community Access to Cash Pilots, being funded by the financial services industry, will help to work out ways to meet local access to cash needs. ATM and bank branch closures have fuelled fears that “cash deserts”…
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UK Finance has published its latest Card Spending Update, outlining the data for spending on card transactions by UK cardholders in November 2019. The update shows there were 1.6 billion transactions on debit cards in November 2019, 8.8 per cent more than on the same month in 2018. This reflected a total spend of £51.2…
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Consumer spending grew 3.9 percent year-on-year in January, marking a distinct uplift from the low levels of growth seen in 2019. Consumers are feeling upbeat about the country’s economic prospects, with three quarters confident about their household finances. Data from Barclaycard, which sees nearly half of the nation’s credit and debit card transactions, reveals that…
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Credit Connect’s first webinar of 2020 saw the theme of business transformation within collections discussed at an event hosted by Credit Connect in association with Lightico. Collections professionals from banks, motor finance, utility firms, debt collection agencies, fintechs and credit managers were amongst the viewers. Some of the questions asked in the webinar (with answers)…
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New research from NatWest shows that consumers are wasting £25 billion each year on unused direct debits, standing orders and recurring card payments. The typical consumer pays out £496 in recurring payments each month, yet £39 of that goes on things they don’t use or want. Gym memberships (12%), phone contracts (11%) and video streaming…
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Debit card spend in the first two weeks of January was 3.2% higher than a year ago as consumers looked to battle the January blues. Lloyds Bank’s analysis of its own card spending data between 1st January and 14th January 2020 revealed that over £4.3 billion was spent on all goods and services by its…
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The proportion of people with a job who live in poverty went up for the third consecutive year in 2018 to a record high, with about 14 million struggling to make ends meet according to a report by Joseph Rowntree Foundation (JRF). The report shows that rising levels of employment have failed to translate into…
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The Treasury has published an impact assessment of its forthcoming ‘breathing space’ scheme to help people in debt by giving them 60 days free from creditor contact in which to talk over their options with a professional debt advisor. 700,000 people are expected to take part in the scheme in its first year, and 1.2…
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Latest research from Cifas, the UK’s leading fraud prevention service, has revealed that the number of people failing to disclose a previous address in an attempt to hide their adverse credit rose by just over a quarter (26%) in 2019. Adverse credit refers to a poor repayment history – usually on loans or credit cards.…
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One in three (36%) people in the UK say they would be in financial arrears within a month if they were to lose their jobs tomorrow, according to new research by AA Financial Services. This figure rises to a staggering one in two (51%) amongst people who rent their homes. The findings come at a…
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