Credit, Collections & Insolvency News
Just has announced that it has launched a virtual enforcement solution. The new virtual enforcement solution means collection will be performed by qualified and trained enforcement staff from the comfort of a desk rather than in a debtor’s home. Debtors will be able to arrange suitable payment plans and arrange a time and day for…
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The Money Advice Trust, the charity that runs National Debtline and Business Debtline, has welcomed a new Cabinet Office call for evidence on fairness in government debt collection, calling the move an opportunity to bring about ‘real and lasting improvements’ to protect people in financial difficulty. The call for evidence comes at a time when…
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The High Court Enforcement Officers Association (HCEOA) has welcomed the Government announcement that visits to residential properties to enforce debts owed to UK companies can restart from 24th August. High court enforcement agents will be re-starting visits at this time to residential properties in order to take control of goods. The restrictions on visits have…
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Three-quarters of people will struggle to pay off their debt after lockdown according to new research bey free debt advice company, PayPlan. The company conducted a survey to find out how people in debt have been affected during the Coronavirus outbreak. The FCA have extended payment holidays for mortgages and other debts, and although the…
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The UK’s three largest debt charities – Citizens Advice, Money Advice Trust and Stepchange – have today written to the Local Government Minister to call for urgent action on council tax. The charities are urging the government to implement simple measures that could protect millions of people from the prospect of spiralling council tax debt Following legislation…
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The Ministry of Justice has announced that it will allow enforcement visits to recommence from 24th August 2020. Responding to the announcement, debt charity StepChange says that it believes this is unsafe, and deeply troubling when compared with the more careful approaches being taken in other sectors where regulators are closely overseeing the practices of…
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Energy regulator Ofgem has given the green light for collections on unpaid bills can resumer but has urged suppliers to avoid aggressive collection tactics. Ofgem has told energy suppliers it is not in anyone’s interests for an open-ended debt collection delay. In an open letter, the regulator set out it’s updated approach to regulating domestic…
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Councils in deprived and affluent areas face serious financial risks from the COVID-19 crisis as incomes fall and costs grow. A new report from IFS researchers and funded by UK Research and Innovation says that the government has provided an additional £3.2 billion of general-purpose funding to English councils to help support them through the…
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More than 1.9 million mortgage payment deferrals have been offered to customers impacted by Covid-19 in the three months since the support was launched according to new figures from UK Finance which means that one in six mortgages in the UK are now subject to a payment deferral. UK Finance says that this means that…
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The Accountant in Bankruptcy, Scotland’s Insolvency Service that administers person insolvencies in Scotland has published its statistics for May 2020 which indicated that there were 616 personal insolvencies (bankruptcies and protected trust deeds (PTDs)) in May 2020, The figures show that this 650 (51.3%) less than in May 2019. Bankruptcies decreased by 79.3% in May…
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Debt charity StepChange has welcomed a cross-party call for a Debt Management bill. Welcoming the letter to the Chancellor sent by more than 50 MPs and Peers calling for a Debt Management Bill to implement serious and systematic improvements to Government debt collection, StepChange says that the time to address this longstanding issue is absolutely…
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The Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) has fined Lloyds Bank and its subsidiaries Bank of Scotland and The Mortgage Business £64,046,800 (over £64 million) after it was found to have failed its vulnerable mortgage customers. Failures were found in relation to their handling of mortgage customers in payment difficulties or arrears. The banks have estimated that…
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More than a third of furloughed private renters (37%) are worried about being able to pay their rent when the coronavirus lockdown ends, according to new research published today by the independent Joseph Rowntree Foundation (JRF). This means around 250,000 people in this group could be in a position where they struggle to meet their…
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