Credit, Collections & Insolvency News
The Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) has launched a consultation on proposed guidance for firms on the fair treatment of vulnerable customers. The guidance sets out the FCA’s view of what the FCA Principles require of firms to ensure that vulnerable consumers are consistently treated fairly across financial services sectors. The FCA wants to see doing…
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Ofcom has set out a range of measures to increase fairness for mobile customers – including greater transparency, fairer contract terms and a range of price cuts by operators. Many mobile customers pay for both their handset and its usage (or ‘airtime’) bundled together in a single contract. Ofcom said that they have been concerned that…
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More women than men in England and Wales became insolvent in 2018, following a pattern which has been in place for several years, says insolvency trade body R3, commenting on the annual personal insolvency statistics released by the Insolvency Service. The statistics all showed that the total rate for personal insolvencies increased for the third…
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New figures released by the Finance & Leasing Association (FLA) show that consumer finance new business fell in May by 2%, compared with the same month last year. The retail store and online credit sector reported new business up in May by 2% compared with the same month in 2018, while credit card and personal…
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Here is an overview of The Money Charity’s latest statistics for June 2019: Personal debt in the UK People in the UK owed £1,637 billion at the end of April 2019. This is up from £1,588 billion at the end of April 2018, an extra £946.00 per UK adult over the year. The average total debt per…
Read moreCitizens Advice has said that it is concerned that loyal customers have been penalised by nearly £3 billion since it submitted its super-complaint. The charity lodged a super-complaint in September calling for the Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) to outline how the loyalty penalty could be fixed in five essential markets (mobile, broadband, home insurance,…
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Firms that overcharge or mislead their customers could be hit with direct fines without the need to go through a court, under plans unveiled by Business Secretary Greg Clark. The government has confirmed it will consult on giving the Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) new powers to decide itself whether consumer law has been broken,…
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The Ofcom Board has announced that Sharon White is to step down as Chief Executive. White is leaving to become Chair of The John Lewis Partnership. She is expected to leave Ofcom around the turn of the year. White joined Ofcom in March 2015 from HM Treasury where she was Second Permanent Secretary. Lord Burns,…
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The UK’s biggest broadband, phone and pay TV companies have committed to put fairness at the heart of their business, after signing up to Ofcom’s new Fairness for Customers commitments. Ofcom has developed commitments to strengthen how companies treat their customers. They aim to help ensure people are always treated fairly by their provider –…
Read moreCitizens Advice has found regulators have allowed water, energy, broadband and telephone networks to overcharge customers by £24.1 billion over the past fifteen years. The charity is calling for companies to return some of this to customers through a rebate on their bills and for regulators to stop this happening again. The research follows its…
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Here is an overview of The Money Charity’s latest statistics for May 2019: Personal debt in the UK People in the UK owed £1,633 billion at the end of March 2019. This is up from £1,588 billion at the end of March 2018, an extra £852.40 per UK adult over the year. The average total debt per…
Read moreBroadband, phone and TV (Media) customers must be told when their contract is coming to an end, and shown the best deals available, under new rules announced today by Ofcom. Ofcom wants customers to be able to take advantage of choice in broadband, phone and TV, and get the best deals for their needs. This…
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New figures released by the Finance & Leasing Association (FLA) show that consumer finance new business fell by 2% in March compared with the same month last year. In Q1 2019 as a whole, new business was at a similar level to Q1 2018. Retail store and online credit new business increased by 4% in…
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