Credit, Collections & Insolvency News
Regulators in the water, energy, telecommunications and financial services sectors could do more to support the increasing number of vulnerable consumers, according to the National Audit Office (NAO) Consumers spend around £136 billion annually on energy, water, telecommunications and retail financial services. Vulnerable consumers are those who, because of their circumstances, are particularly susceptible to…
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The Bank of England’s latest money and credit statistics show consumer borrowing increasing by 10.5% in the year to February to £196 billion. As the Bank and the Financial Conduct Authority launch reviews into lending practices, Citizens Advice says more must be done to make sure lenders across all consumer credit markets behave responsibly towards…
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The UK government is to make households that are made homeless exempt from Universal Credit following reports that the new benefits system has led to an increase in rent arrears. According to The Guardian, local authorities in London have said that rent collection levels for homeless tenants placed in emergency accommodation have collapsed following the introduction…
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The share of British adults concerned about their future financial health has been slowly but steadily increasing since June 2016, according to a new survey of over 2,000 British adults by insolvency and restructuring trade body R3, and ComRes. Almost 1 in 5 (19%) British adults think their personal financial situation will worsen over the next…
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People’s confidence in their own finances grew stronger in February, according to the latest Lloyds Bank Spending Power Report. As the UK prepares to trigger Article 50, Lloyds Bank’s regular consumer survey – conducted in conjunction with Ipsos MORI – found that positivity towards personal finances increased by 5pp to 68% last month. That’s marginally…
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The number of home repossession cases going through the Scottish courts has fallen by more than 40% in a year, according to new figures published today. There were 1,874 repossession court cases initiated in 2015-16, down 43% on the previous year and 82% fewer than in 2008-09. The Civil Justice Statistics show 77,721 civil law…
Read moreA record 600,000 people sought advice for debt problems from StepChange Debt Charity last year (up 9% from 550,000 in 2015), equating to one person every 53 seconds. The average unsecured debt of the charity’s clients has increased for the first time in eight years from £13,900 to £14,251. The figures are taken from the…
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Poorer people in Britain are being excluded from the financial system and forced to rely on expensive and substandard banking products, according to a new report. There are 1.7 million adults in the country that do not have access to a bank account, the report said, raising the risk that they will turn to high-cost…
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A Select Committee on Financial Exclusion has called on the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) and Banks to give greater priority to tackling financial exclusion in the UK. With more than 1.7 million people in the UK without a bank account and 40% of the working age population with less than £100 in savings, the Committee asks them to end…
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The Money Advice Trust has welcomed a call by members of the House of Lords for a new government strategy on financial inclusion, and the designation of a lead Minister tasked with driving this agenda across government. The charity, which runs the free National Debtline advice service, called the Financial Exclusion Committee’s final report an…
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The deliberate exclusion of social landlords from the Universal Credit system means arrears levels are even worse than was originally feared, according to the Glasgow and West of Scotland Forum (GWSF) of Housing Associations. Submitting evidence to the Work and Pensions Committee’s Inquiry into Universal Credit, GWSF says that arrears aren’t just down to teething…
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The Finance & Leasing Association (FLA) and The UK Cards Association are today launching a new publication – Vulnerability; a guide for debt collection – that will help their members to better identify and support customers in vulnerable circumstances. Both trade associations worked in partnership with the University of Bristol’s Personal Finance Research Centre (PFRC)…
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New research from Skipton Building Society has found that the majority of us spend longer each day on making a cup of tea than we do pausing to look at our finances. Skipton Building Society interviewed 2,000 UK adults about their financial habits, highlights of the report include: Three in five people (57%) spend half…
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