Credit, Collections & Insolvency News
Early intervention is key to stop Welsh households falling behind on their council tax or social housing rent payments, according to a new report from the Wales Centre for Public Policy. As councils across Wales are seeking large increases in their council tax rates for the coming year, the report highlights the importance of building…
Read moreDebt recovery firm DSL has launched a specialist service to help local authorities collect sundry debt after a recent pilot for a single Inner London council delivered a 54% success rate. Sundry debt covers a range of commercial invoices, from bin collections and licensing fees to nursing home overpayments, service charge arrears and planning fees.…
Read moreHere is an overview of The Money Charity’s latest statistics for February 2019: Personal debt in the UK People in the UK owed £1.625 trillion at the end of December 2018. This is up from £1.576 trillion at the end of December 2017, an extra £935.34 per UK adult, £81.72 higher than the previous month. The average total debt per…
Read moreThe Credit Service Association (CSA) has responded to last week’s Financial Ombudsman’s figures on debt collection. In a statement the CSA said “Recent media reports using figures from the Financial Ombudsman Service (FOS) fail to mention that the total number of complaints relating to debt collection activities has in fact fallen year-on-year, is significantly lower…
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People claiming Universal Credit are still struggling to pay for the roof over their heads, despite the wait for their first payment being reduced from six weeks to five, according to new Citizens Advice data. One in two people the charity helped were in rent arrears or fell behind on their mortgage payments, the same…
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The Financial Ombudsman Service (FOS) has released its latest report which shows that it has dealt with around 3,300 inquiries about debt collection and took on over 1,000 new complaints for investigation in 2018. The complaints cover credit and consumer loans, such as mortgages, credit cards and personal or business loans. They don’t include household debts…
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Here is an overview of The Money Charity’s latest statistics for January 2019: Personal debt in the UK People in the UK owed £1.613 trillion at the end of November 2018. This is up from £1.569 trillion at the end of November 2017, an extra £898.71 per UK adult and £78.15 higher than the previous month. The…
Read moreSlough Borough Council is to become the latest local authority to pass unpaid debts to ethical credit management firm Intrum in a bid to enhance the experience of residents and raise revenue for the borough. The agreement with H&F Ethical Collections, the joint venture partnership set up by Intrum UK and Hammersmith & Fulham Council…
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Local authorities from across the UK will next month come together to discuss ways of transforming their debt collection practices. Credit management firm Intrum UK and its joint venture partner Hammersmith & Fulham Council have launched an ethical debt collection conference to drive change in council collections after a series of reports suggested the public…
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In the past six months, there has been a slew of reports calling for a fundamental change to public sector – and particularly council – collections. From the Treasury Select Committee to Citizens Advice and the Money Advice Service, the message is that the public sector needs to alter its approach. The disparity between the…
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A new industry careers site for the credit industry and collections industry has been launched by Credit Connect Media. The website is a careers platform which aims to connect the UK’s top credit and collections industry talent with the best career options. Credit-connection.co.uk is an industry careers website sharing the latest job vacancies and a training course…
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Bailiffs are not being held to account when they break the rules because the complaints system is complicated and intimidating, according to new research from Citizens Advice. Figures obtained by Citizens Advice from the Ministry of Justice show just 56 complaints were made through a court-based process introduced as part of the bailiff reforms in…
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New data obtained by Royal London reveals nearly a third of public health funerals carried out were as a result of bereaved families being unable to afford the cost of a funeral. A public health funeral is held by a local authority if the deceased has no family or the family are unable or unwilling…
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