Unsecured debt levels rise by 25%

Debt charity StepChange has released its client data for February 2023, which shows monthly client volumes continue to rise, they were 19% higher in February 2023 (16,076) compared to February 2022 (13,543). StepChange says the average (mean) unsecured debt per client has increased by 25% from £11,176 in 2021 to £13,941 in 2022.  There was also…

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Money Statistics: March 2023

Here is an overview of The Money Charity’s latest statistics for March 2023 Personal debt in the UK People in the UK owed £1,837.4 billion at the end of January 2023. The average total debt per household, including mortgages, was £65,434 and per adult was £34,546, around 105.2% of average earnings. Net mortgage lending rose by…

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Half of parents currently let their adult children live rent free

28th March 2023 Consumer Collections | #renting

New research from TopCashback has found that half of parents (52 per cent) who have children aged 18-30 living with them at home, currently let them live rent and board free. This is despite the fact that by having their adult children live with them, parents estimate it adds an extra £630 a year to…

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Household debt passes £2tn

For the first time household debt  has risen to over £2 trillion, which is almost the equivalent to the UK’s GDP. The fresh findings, from PwC’s Strategy& UK Consumer Credit Confidence report, also shows that UK consumers struggle to answer basic financial multiple choice questions. This is despite 88% of consumers reporting that they felt…

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Inflation gap widening between rich and poor

Analysis by Legal & General shows that the cost-of-living crisis has hit the poorest households hardest, deepening existing economic inequalities. The firm’s Rebuilding Britain Index shows that 95% of working UK households have experienced a real terms pay cut over the last 12-months. The report finds that the cost of living crisis has hit the…

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Four in ten use credit to cover essentials as consumer spending grows

Inflation and rising bills mean households are spending 12% more on essentials than they were a year ago, with almost four in 10 people having to use credit cards to cover these costs, research by Nationwide Building Society data shows. The monthly Spending Report analysed around 208 million debit card, credit card and Direct Debit…

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Over 50% of renters have experienced an increase

Latest ONS data has indicated that 51% of properties surveyed had seen a rent increase in the year to February. In London, this was 67%, in the South East 62% and in the South West 53%. Among those with rising rents, the average hike was 10% – up from 7% a year earlier. In London…

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Interest rate increases for 11th consecutive time – credit industry reaction

The Bank of England has raised interest rates for an 11th consecutive time to 4.25% following the surprise rise in inflation. The Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) voted for this change by a majority of 7-2, with the minority vote wishing to keep the rate at 4%. Commenting on the rise, Paul Broadhead, Head of Mortgage…

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Younger adults rely more heavily on debt to weather cost of living crisis

24th March 2023 Arrears and Recoveries |

The cost of living crisis looks set to deepen generational financial inequality as Gen Z and millennials are four times more likely to need to take on new debt this year to meet rising costs according to research by Credit Karma The research found that nearly three quarters (70%) of UK currently use credit, holding…

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1.5 million more people are in poverty in working households since 2010

24th March 2023 Arrears and Recoveries |

The Department for Work and Pensions has published new figures which show that the number of people living below the poverty line in working households is 1.5 million higher than in 2010. Commenting data, TUC General Secretary Paul Nowak said “If you work hard, you shouldn’t have to worry about making ends meet. But working…

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Rise in customers missing two credit card payments

New data from FICO has revealed that there was a 13.6 per cent rise in customers missing two credit card payments from December 2022 to January 2023. The figures also that accounts missing one payment fell by 0.7% in the same period. Average total sales per card down 8 percent compared to December 2022 at…

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Inflation rebounds unexpectedly – credit industry reaction

Figures from the Office for National Statistics (ONS) show inflation rose more than expected last month to hit 10.4%, up from 10.1% in January. Economists had predicted a slight drop to 9.9%. The rise was driven by a continued rise in food costs, which increased by 18.2% in the year to February, the fastest rise…

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More than 782,000 Scottish people expect to increase credit card use

22nd March 2023 Company News | #credit cards

Over 782,000 adults in Scotland expect to see their credit card use increase during the cost of living crisis according to new analysis from Citizens Advice Scotland (CAS). The research found that an estimated 782,529 adults in Scotland expect to increase their credit card use. Previous research from the charity found that close to half…

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