Credit, Collections & Insolvency News
Eight million households on means-tested benefits will receive their final cost of living payment to help with high food and energy bills this month, The £299 payment, the last of three instalments that totalled £900, will go directly into people’s bank accounts between now and 22 February, without the need to apply. It is part…
Read more
New figures released by HMRC have revealed that 1.1 million people missed the 31st January deadline to submit their tax returns and could be on the hook for late filing penalties. Despite its estimate of late filers, HMRC has reported that it received over 500,000 more returns than it expected prior to the deadline, suggesting…
Read more
Average water bills are set to rise by 6% in April to around £473 annually for combined services according to suppliers’ trade body Water UK. Water UK said, was below inflation and represents a real-term reduction since 2019, however, consumer body CCW urged the sector to go further in support of households struggling to pay.…
Read more
New research by Pepper Advantage showed a 29.5% annual jump in arrears across it’s 100,000+ residential mortgage portfolio in the fourth quarter (Q4) of 2023, the figures were 5.7% higher than the previous quarter, to reach a new post-financial crisis high. The growth in the arrears rate follows successive increases in the percentage of mortgages…
Read more
Annual figures from the Insolvency Service for England & Wales have indicated that personal insolvency figures fell by 13% The number of personal insolvencies registered in 2023 was 103,454, lower than the 118,766 in 2022. The number of personal insolvencies was the lowest annual number since 2017. However 2023 saw the lowest annual number of…
Read more
Latest quarterly figures from the Insolvency Service for England & Wales have indicated that personal insolvency numbers increased by 3%. In Quarter 4 (Q4) 2023 there were 24,910 personal insolvencies, 3% higher in the previous quarter, but 15% lower than during the same quarter in the previous year. The number of debt relief orders (DROs)…
Read more
Research from Nationwide shows how costs have soared for the typical British family since 2021 – from mortgage or rent payments to food, energy and fuel – with more than one in five households having less than £100 spare each month. Continued high costs have led to more than two-thirds (69%) of family households feeling…
Read more
The demand for online money help has surged by 34% in the first week of 2024, the Money and Pensions Service (MaPS) has confirmed. Total visits to MoneyHelper’s Money Troubles pages hit 10,187 in the first week of January this year, rising from 7,625 during the week up to Christmas Eve. January 1-7 also…
Read more
One in eight (12%), around six million people, have borrowed money to make ends meet in the last 12 months according to research by StepChange. The debt charity is urging the government to reassess its cost of living support for households ahead of the Spring Budget as new polling finds that two in five (40%),…
Read more
The amount of debt racked up by prepay energy customers has hit £1 billion according to new research by Bfy Consulting. Over the past two years, the number of prepayment meter (PPM) energy customers in debt has risen by 220,000 to 750,000 – a 40% increase. The average debt balances have also risen by 40%…
Read more
Almost one in six renters missed an essential payment in a single month, Which?’s latest Consumer Insight Tracker. Overall, an estimated 2.4 million households missed or defaulted on at least one mortgage, rent, loan, credit card or bill in the month to 12 January. This is on a par with the levels of missed payments…
Read more
Here is an overview of The Money Charity’s latest statistics for January 2024 Personal debt in the UK People in the UK owed £1,847.6 billion at the end of November 2023. The average total debt per household, including mortgages, was £65,795 and per adult was £34,737, around 100.5% of average earnings. Net mortgage lending decreased by…
Read more
The vast majority of those likely to be approaching, or in, retirement lack confidence and critical knowledge about key aspects of their retirement finances, spelling potential uncertainty ahead for thousands of retirees, according to new research from Standard Life, part of Phoenix Group. Standard Life’s Retirement Voice study, conducted among 6,000 consumers, found that only 9% of…
Read more