Credit, Collections & Insolvency News
The number of decrees and total amount of debt registered against Scottish consumers in 2021 rose compared to 2020, according to figures released by the Registry Trust. The number increased from 13,308 in 2020 to 14,444 in 2021, a rise of nine percent. The total value rose even more, by 19 percent, from £37 million…
Read more
Latest figures from the Insolvency Service have indicated that personal insolvencies in England & Wales fell by 10.1% to 8,434 in December 2021 compared to 9,385 in November 2021, and were 12.4% lower than December 2020’s figure of 9,625. There were, on average, 6,648 IVAs registered per month in the three-month period ending December 2021,…
Read more
New figures released by the Finance & Leasing Association (FLA) show that second charge mortgage new business volumes grew by 36% in November 2021. Commenting on the latest new business figures for the second charge mortgage market, Fiona Hoyle, Director of Consumer & Mortgage Finance and Inclusion at the Finance & Leasing Association (FLA), said…
Read more
The anticipated £700 increase to the default tariff cap is set to put energy bills as a proportion of benefit levels at a generational high and tip many more into hardship, new research by Citizens Advice has revealed. Citizens Advice is calling on the government to provide a one-off grant this April to support families…
Read more
More than a quarter (27%) of consumers think they could be losing money due to lack of, or insufficient, understanding of financial terminology, according to recent research from Aviva. The insurer also found that women (30%) are more likely to think financial lingo could be losing them money than men (23%). To understand the saving…
Read more
Benefits will need to be hiked by twice as much as planned this spring in order to protect millions of the poorest in society from the impact of surging inflation according to new analysis by the Insititute of Fiscal Studies (IFS). The analysis shows poorer households tend to spend almost three times as much of…
Read more
New research by Moneyfarm and Dectech has revealed that 25% of the nation are financially dependent on a partner. A further 17% are reliant on their parents with a further 10% reliant on other relatives. Whilst 8% of UK adults are dependent on their children, most surprisingly, 22% of 18 to 30-year-olds are actually financially…
Read more
New research from Quilter has found that if another lockdown is implemented as a result of the Omicron variant, many women consider themselves in a worse off position financially. The research, carried out by YouGov for Quilter, found that more than one in five (22%) women said they were in a worse position financially than…
Read more
Nearly half of consumers(44%) want urgent help in managing their own money, according to a new opinion poll highlighting the dire state of the personal finances of millions of people. The findings come from a poll by Opinium of 4,000 people commissioned by the leading think-tank, the Centre for Social Justice (CSJ), and credit management company…
Read more
Black Friday and Christmas has helped card average spending to increase to a new over two-year high according to new analysis of UK card trends for November 2021 by FICO. With average spending and cash usage rising, the data was typical of previous festive seasons. However, a drop in the percentage of payments to balance…
Read more
Households have suffered the sharpest fall in the amount of cash they have available to spend for almost eight years, amid a worsening cost of living crisis driven by high inflation and rising energy bills. Research by Scottish Widows’ Household Finance Index found that surging living costs hit people’s pockets and led to the steepest…
Read more
Consumers using Buy Now, Pay Later (BNPL) are much more likely to be struggling according to latest research by debt charity StepChange. In response to the HM Treasury’s consultation on how to regulate BNPL StepChange is pointing to clear evidence that BNPL products are being widely used by people experiencing financial difficulty. For example, consumers…
Read more
The Bank of England data for November showed a significant net increase in borrowing on credit cards, which StepChange Debt Charity warns may be an indicator of increasing underlying financial stress among some households. Credit cards remain the most common type of unsecured debt held by new StepChange clients at the time they take advice.…
Read more