Credit, Collections & Insolvency News
The government has announced that card charges will be consigned to history, after Ministers act to end these unfair fees for millions of people across the country.rules that will mean card-charging in Britain – where people can be charged 20% extra for purchases like a flight just for paying with a credit card – will come to…
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Consumers will have greater control over their bank data and financial decisions thanks to new laws coming into force in January. The government is bringing in a new regulatory regime for innovative FinTech firms which will transform the way people engage with their finances and make it possible to manage all of their finances at the…
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Coventry City Council is owed more than £12.5million in council tax, according to a new report. Only six of 36 metropolitan councils in England had lower levels of council tax arrears relative to their collectable council tax at the end of March 2017. However, only four metropolitan local authorities collected more council tax arrears than Coventry in 2016/17.…
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Aberdeenshire Council is owed more than £12 million in unpaid council tax for the last four financial years with the figure rising to more than £18 million including council tax owed from the financial year 2016/17. Since 1993, the local authority is owed almost £33.3m in unpaid council tax.cAn Aberdeenshire Council spokeswoman said: “We take…
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The Federation of Small Businesses (FSB) has called on Communities Secretary Sajid Javid to provide a letter of direction to local councils in England to speed up help for small firms facing unacceptable increases in their Business Rates. £300 million in discretionary relief was promised in the Budget in March, yet many local authorities have so…
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Hammersmith & Fulham Council and Debt Purchaser 1st Credit have launched a new joint venture: H&F Ethical Debt Collections, at the Local Government Association’s annual conference in Birmingham.The partnership changes the way public sector debts are handled, ending the two-tier treatment of customers in debt by applying Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) standards to public as…
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A new toolkit to bring consistency to the way creditors work with debt advice agencies when collecting repayments from people who are in debt has been launched by the Money Advice Service today. This is the first time that all major debt advice agencies and creditors have worked together to raise standards of creditor practice…
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The Debt Counsellors Charitable Trust has today published new research which identifies good practice for Local Councils when collecting Council Tax debts. Sevan local councils agreed to be interviewed for the report and based on these interviews, it details recommendations that would allow the collection of council tax in a more responsible, fair and consumer focused…
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Debt charity Christians Against Poverty has discovered that household bills and costs have tripled in the past ten years. A decade ago, the average client owed £1,412 in priority arrears, a figure representing just nine per cent of that person’s whole debt problem. In 2016, it had ballooned to £4,582, nearly a third (32%) of…
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With the implementation date just over a year away, there is still a lot of conjecture surrounding the impending General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR), particularly around its appropriateness and applicability once the UK leaves the EU. One thing that is clear, however, is that now is the time for any firm handling personal data to…
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The UK government is to make households that are made homeless exempt from Universal Credit following reports that the new benefits system has led to an increase in rent arrears. According to The Guardian, local authorities in London have said that rent collection levels for homeless tenants placed in emergency accommodation have collapsed following the introduction…
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The National Audit Office (NAO) has published the findings of its investigation into the Department for Work & Pensions’ closure of its 1993 and 2003 child maintenance schemes. The 1993 and 2003 ‘Child Support Agency’ schemes struggled with IT problems leading to poor customer service, backlogs and incomplete information about amounts due. Inaccurate assessments can…
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The HMRC spend on private sector debt collection agencies to chase people who have fallen behind on their tax bills has jumped by 92% in just one year to £24 million according to latest figures released by UHY Hacker Young. This is compared to a spend of £12.5 million on private sector debt collection agencies…
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