Credit, Collections & Insolvency News
Water regulator, Ofwat has published new guidelines for water companies to help household customers across England and Wales pay bills, get help and repay debts. The new guidelines cover several areas, including requiring companies to: Offer more flexible payment options for customers on irregular incomes and zero-hours contracts; Talk sensitively with customers struggling to pay…
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Ofgem boss Jonathan Brearley has told MPs the regulator expects the price cap to increase by more than £800 this October as the war in Ukraine continues to exacerbate the energy crisis. Appearing before the Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy (BEIS) Committee both Brearley and former Ofgem Chief Executive Dermot Nolan apologised for not intervening…
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One in five people in Scotland are running out of money before payday, new polling for Citizens Advice Scotland (CAS) by YouGov has revealed. The polling shows 9 per cent of people always run out of money before pay day – defined as wages as well as pensions and benefit payments. A further 11 per…
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Consumer spending stalled in April in the first sign that the cost of living is starting to hit the pockets of the average household, according to Nationwide Building Society’s latest Spending Report. As households appear to be starting to reduce spend, the rising costs of goods and services threatens to undermine their efforts, the data…
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Families faced with uncertainties about how they can make ends meet with soaring living costs are not getting the kind of backup from the government that helped them survive the pandemic, a study has found. The research, from the Centre for Research in Social Policy (CRSP) at Loughborough University, funded by Joseph Rowntree Foundation, has followed a group…
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The Work and Pensions Committee has pressed the Prime Minister on his pledge to consider raising the level of Universal Credit and other benefits to help people cope with the rapidly rising cost of living, with MPs also inviting submissions on how the Government could offer additional support. The letter to Boris Johnson and calls for evidence are part of…
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The cost of living gap between rich and poor household is at its highest level since records began in mid-2000s according to the Resolution Foundation. The Foundation’s research found that the gap in the inflation experienced by the richest and poorest tenth of households grew to 1.5 percentage points in April – the largest gap…
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Nationwide has become the first bank or building society to offer ReachOut – a free service for the Society’s members to provide support, reassurance and confidence to those impacted by financial hardship. Britain’s biggest building society is building on the ways it can help its members who are struggling financially to get back on track.…
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Households spent 7% more on their energy bills in April compared to March, as the increase in the energy price cap first hit household budgets. According to the latest Spending Power Report, which includes regular standing order and direct debit payments alongside card payments in its analysis, energy spending increased by almost a third (28%)…
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Latest data from the Ministry of Justice (MoJ) have indicated that mortgage possession actions in Quarter 1 (Q1) have dropped significantly compared to Q1 2019. Compared to 2019, pre-Covid-19, mortgage possession claims, orders, warrants and repossessions by county court bailiffs have decreased by 53%, 47%, 55% and 57% respectively. However, compared to the same quarter in…
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The Money Advice Trust has announced that a number of its training programmes across both its vulnerability training and consultancy and Wiseradviser services, have achieved the City & Guilds Assured Quality Mark. On the charity’s vulnerability training and consultancy side, the courses that have achieved the Quality Assured Mark are, its ‘Supporting customers in vulnerable…
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More than half of older people living in rural areas (51%) are now concerned about paying their bills, according to research from insurer NFU Mutual. The figures have shot up in the past six months from 22%, as rising inflation impacts elderly rural dwellers. The number of people in rural communities concerned about their pension…
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New research by InDebted has found that around 2 in 3 UK adults (64%) who have interacted with existing debt collectors say the experience was stressful’, increasing to about 3 in 4 (74%) among 18-34-year-olds. The company polled over 2,000 people and found that one in three (34%) who previously or currently have debts say…
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