Credit, Collections & Insolvency News
New quarterly data released by StepChange Debt Charity Scotland reveals the continued impact of the wider cost of living pressures as almost two fifths of new clients (37%) responsible for paying council tax bills were in arrears between July and September, up from 31% in the previous quarter. The charity has also reported an uptick…
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Worries about housing costs have hit the highest levels ever recorded by Which?’s Consumer Insight Tracker, as interest rates are widely expected to rise further. The Insight Tracker recorded highest levels of concern around housing costs – with four in five mortgage owners (79%) and 4 in 5 renters (81%) saying that they were worried…
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A Freedom of Information request to Thanet District Council has revealed the total value of unpaid council tax debt owed in the district up to the end of the 2022-2023 financial year is a £23,202,000. The figure has built up over the past 30 years, since the charge was first introduced, and includes £2 million…
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Money Wellness is calling for the government to review school uniform grants, after 93% of parents said they were unaware there was any help available. A survey by the company found that 97% of families, already struggling with debt, were worried about being able to afford school uniform this September. The same number (97%) said…
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The Money Advice Trust, the charity that runs National Debtline and Business Debtline, has responded to figures which show that council tax arrears for households in England have reached £5.5 billion by calling for urgent reform of council tax collection rules. Current rules mean that households can be liable for their full annual bill after…
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New research from National Debtline, the free debt advice service run by the Money Advice Trust, has revealed that the average level of priority debt – including council tax, energy and rent arrears – held by callers has risen 54 percent since 2018, from £2,642 to £4,080. The findings, based on a survey of National…
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Here is an overview of The Money Charity’s latest statistics for March 2023 Personal debt in the UK People in the UK owed £1,837.4 billion at the end of January 2023. The average total debt per household, including mortgages, was £65,434 and per adult was £34,546, around 105.2% of average earnings. Net mortgage lending rose by…
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Credit Connect’s hosted its sixth Online Collections Technology Think Tank 4.1 last week which saw collections strategies and the impact of cost of living economic stresses discussed by thirteen collections professionals from a variety of industry sectors. The themes of collections risk, customer engagement, affordability and the future of collections were discussed by panelists and…
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The Government has been criticised for failing to collect £42bn in unpaid tax from businesses and individuals. The Public Accounts Committee (PAC) says HMRC is still not deploying the resources required to maximise the tax revenues it collects or provide an acceptable level of customer service. At a time of huge strain for the public…
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BDO is warning taxpayers who are in arrears that HMRC is expected to get much tougher when it comes to recovering tax debts in 2023. For the last two years, HMRC has waived late filing and late payment penalties for a month after the 31st January Self Assessment deadline to ease Covid pressures, but the…
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Financial education charity, The Centre for Financial Capability, is calling on the Government to intervene in the growing cost of living crisis, as households across the North of England in particular struggle to make council payments. New research published by The Centre has found that over the last five years, the number of households struggling…
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Credit Connect’s hosted its fifth Online Collections Technology Think Tank 3.2 last week which saw collections strategies and the impact of cost of living economic stresses discussed by twelve collections professionals from a variety of industry sectors. The themes of collections risk, customer engagement, affordability and the future of collections were discussed by panellists and…
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New analysis from Age UK has indicated that one-in-five (21 per cent) older households are living in poverty or just above the poverty line and/ or are in receipt of income-related benefits. The Charity is warning that these older households, which include some of the poorest and most vulnerable older people in England, will miss…
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