Credit, Collections & Insolvency News
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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Stafford Borough Council is set to write-off business rate and tax debts worth more than £77,000. The authority’s cabinet agreed to write off eight cases at a meeting last Thursday. A cabinet report said that there were five council tax cases totalling £22,037.64 and three business rate cases totalling £55,027. Councillor Ken Williamson, cabinet member for…
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Here is an overview of The Money Charity’s latest statistics for December 2018: Personal debt in the UK People in the UK owed £1.613 trillion at the end of October 2018. This is up from £1.564 trillion at the end of October 2017, an extra £928.44 per UK adult and £142.69 higher than the previous month. The average…
Read moreThe Money Advice Service (MAS) has launched new guidance which they say will assist Local Authorities to take a more progressive approach to the recovery of Council Tax, encouraging improved resident engagement, fairer outcomes and sustainable arrears repayments. Across the UK, the number of overindebted people is approximately 8.3 million. Furthermore, a third of people…
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More than 80 percent of North Ayrshire Council tenants on Universal Credit are in rent arrears. Responding to the news the local authority’s leader has branded the welfare policy a ‘tragedy’. Labour Council Leader Joe Cullinane said Universal Credit was pushing families into debt, which could lead to a sharp rise in poverty, hardship and anxiety. Since…
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