Credit, Collections & Insolvency News
Research from HSBC and housing charity Shelter has found that one in five people feel less confident than they did six months ago about being able to pay their rent or mortgage on time for the rest of the year. The survey of more than 2,100 adults across the UK shows that those in the…
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A study by the Resolution Foundation think-tank almost two-fifths of 35 to 44-year-olds have had to borrow to make ends meet amid the cost-of-living crisis. The research found that 37% of people in the age bracket relied on formal lending, such as credit cards, overdrafts or loans in March. This was more than double the…
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Here is an overview of The Money Charity’s latest statistics for April 2023 Personal debt in the UK People in the UK owed £1,839.3 billion at the end of February 2023. The average total debt per household, including mortgages, was £65,510 and per adult was £34,582, around 105.3% of average earnings. Net mortgage lending rose by…
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Annual figures from Accountant in Bankruptcy (AiB) have indicated that personal insolvency numbers in Scotland rose by nearly 3% in the year 2022-2023. The figures showed taht there were 8,004 personal insolvencies, this was an increase of 3% on 2021-2022’s figure of 7,769, a rise of 5.3% on 2020-2021’s figure of 7,600 and a fall…
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More than 16 million households have over £6.7 billion in energy credit balances with their suppliers according to new research from Uswitch.com. Credit balances are £5.3 billion higher than last year against the background of a mild winter and household efforts to reduce energy use. Households also benefited from the £400 in Government energy support between…
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Money and mental health are strongly linked, with a report from the Money and Mental Health Policy Institute showing one in five people (18%) living with a mental health problem are also in problem debt and are also 1.5 times as likely to struggle with bills and credit commitments. A report titled ‘Mental Health and…
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Latest ONS data has found that the cost of living crisis has seen as a fifth of households go without heating. The research found that around one in twenty adults (5%) reported that they had run out of food and couldn’t afford to buy more in the previous two weeks amd that almost half (49%)…
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The Government has announced new legislation which will aim to ensure businesses and consumers are protected from rip-offs and can reap the full benefits of the digital economy with confidence. Fake reviews that cheat customers, subscription traps that cost more than a billion pounds a year and new powers for the Competition and Markets Authority…
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More than half of low-income households are in the dark about broadband deals that could save them around £200 a year, with just 5% of eligible households signed up to a discounted package. These special offers, known as social tariffs, are available to an estimated 4.3 million households that receive one of a range of government…
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StepChange Debt Charity has revealed the toll a year of increased living costs has had on Scots’ finances. Despite government interventions to help with soaring costs, the average amount a StepChange client is behind on household bills has increased by a shocking 68%, from £1,739 in 2021 to £2,920 in 2022. Among arrears on essentials,…
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New research from Tink has found that almost one in four (23%) consumers are ‘financially vulnerable’, with the majority (56%) expecting their situation to get worse over the next 12 months. The research also found that 56% say the situation will worsen as they expect their discretionary income to fall over the next 12 months.…
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Nearly a third of homeowners (30%) are struggling to cover the increased cost of borrowing having seen the monthly cost of their mortgage increase by hundreds of pounds a month following interest rate rises, according to new research by Barrows and Forrester. The survey of 2,304 current homeowners with a mortgage found that 57% have…
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The consumer prices index (CPI) measure of inflation fell to 10.1% in the year to March from 10.4% in February, according to the Office for National Statistics (ONS). The static inflation was driven by food prices rising at their fastest rate for 45 years. Commenting on inflation figures for March, ONS Chief Economist Grant Fitzner…
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