Credit, Collections & Insolvency News
More than 25 million consumers are only just managing to scrape by financially, fearing their income soon won’t cover their essential spending according to research by Tink. The research found that almost half (47%) of people in the UK are ‘only just managing’, where they expect their income not to cover their essential spending in…
Read more
Annual from the Insolvency Service for England & Wales have shown that there were 118,851 seasonally adjusted personal insolvencies in 2022, an increase of 8% on 2021’s figure of 110,044, rise of 6.5% on 2020’s figure (111,571) and a fall of 2.2% compared to pre-pandemic levels in 2019 (122,148) One in 399 adults (at a…
Read more
New research by Fuel Bank Foundation has revealed the extreme measures people with prepayment meters are taking to avoid being disconnected from their energy supply. A survey by the charity, which provides fuel vouchers to people who can’t afford to top up their prepayment meter, found that in the 12 months prior to receiving help…
Read more
Business and Energy Secretary Grant Shapps has given energy bosses a deadline of Tuesday (7th February) to report back to him on what remedial action – such as providing compensation – they plan to take should they have wrongfully installed prepayment meters in the homes of vulnerable customers. The Business Secretary has today told Ofgem…
Read more
As firms continue to get ready for the implementation of the Consumer Duty, the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) has announced that is offering support to firms through the transition with a programme of engagement, which includes setting out in letters the expectations of the Duty and arranging a series of regional in-person events for specific groups of…
Read more
Around 2.3 million households missed an essential payment in January, an increase of 400,000 on the month before, but similar to previous years according to new research by Which. The research found that 2.3 million households missed or defaulted on at least one mortgage, rent, loan, credit card or bill in January 2023. This marks…
Read more
The Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) has announced that is to push ahead with proposals to ban debt packager firms from receiving referral fees from debt solution providers, following further analysis of the market. The FCA initially consulted on a ban in November 2021 after identifying a lack of adequate management of the conflict of interest…
Read moreThe largest rise in the average household water and sewerage bill for almost 20 years could prove a tipping point for the one in five customers already struggling to pay. The Consumer Council for Water (CCW), the independent voice of water consumers, has issued the warning in response to Water UK confirming the average household…
Read more
Motor and home insurance customers are more likely to get the same or better prices at renewal highlighting the strong performance of insurers in delivering good outcomes, a new report from leading insurance market insight business Consumer Intelligence shows. The research of more than 25,000 home insurance and 25,000 motor insurance customers for the report…
Read more
The Money Advice Trust has announced major enhancements to its National Debtline and Business Debtline services, as the charity’s new contracts with the Money and Pensions Service (MaPS) go live. National Debtline and Business Debtline – which offer free, independent and confidential debt advice by phone, webchat and online – will help 440,000 people in…
Read more
Latest quarterly figures from Accountant in Bankruptcy (AiB) have indicated that personal insolvency numbers (liquidations and receiverships) in Scotland decreased by 5% when compared with Quarter 4 2021. In Quarter 4 2022, there were 1,966 individual insolvencies in Scotland. The personal insolvencies comprised of 1,392 protected trust deeds and 574 bankruptcies (also known as sequestrations),…
Read more
Here is an overview of The Money Charity’s latest statistics for January 2023 Personal debt in the UK People in the UK owed £1,831.9 billion at the end of November 2022. The average total debt per household, including mortgages, was £65,914 and per adult was £34,636, around 106.5% of average earnings. Net mortgage lending rose by…
Read more
Information from Ofwat and CCW has shown that water companies are increasing financial support for their customers, with record numbers benefiting from discounted water bills. However, both organisations are calling on companies to do even more to help in the face of immediate and urgent cost of living pressures. In October 2022, Ofwat and CCW…
Read more