Credit, Collections & Insolvency News
Two in five (41%) young adults are worried about their ability to pay household bills at a time when many costs are set to rise over the coming months, according to Comparethemarket’s latest Household Financial Confidence Tracker. As the cost of living has risen over the past 12 months, 44% of 18 to 24-year-olds feel…
Read more
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…
Read more
Here is an overview of The Money Charity’s latest statistics for February 2023 Personal debt in the UK People in the UK owed £1,832.8 billion at the end of December 2022. The average total debt per household, including mortgages, was £65,946 and per adult was £34,653, around 105.7% of average earnings. Net mortgage lending rose by…
Read more
Households expect to need more than £200 extra per month to cover the increase in bills set to take place in April, according to Comparethemarket.com’s latest Money Action Index. The index tracks the proportion of households who are concerned about the rising cost of living and are taking action to get their finances under control. The latest index…
Read more
Ofcom has announced that is investigating mobile phone and broadband operators over mid-contract prices. The review will examine whether inflation-linked, mid-contract price rises give phone and broadband customers sufficient certainty and clarity about what they can expect to pay. The telecoms and broadband regulator says it is concerned about the degree of uncertainty consumers face…
Read more
Consumer champion specialist, Which? is calling on telecoms firms to let customers leave without penalty if prices are hiked mid-contract, as new research shows that many broadband customers are trapped in a lose-lose situation where they either have to accept exorbitant mid-contract price increases or pay exit fees of over £200. Many broadband firms –…
Read more
Millions of broadband and mobile phone customers look set to face rises of more than 14% in their monthly bills from April. BT, TalkTalk, Three and Vodafone are among the big telecoms suppliers that are contractually allowed to increase their bills in line with the previous year’s inflation rate, as measured by the consumer prices…
Read more
As the cost of living continues to spiral people are cancelling or switching their insurance policies in a bid to make savings, according to research by Consumer Intelligence. Around 7% of people have already cut back on insurance to make savings in the last three months and a further 7% are considering back in the…
Read more
Ofcom is urging telecoms firms to do more to support their customers through the cost-of-living crisis, as new research reveals record numbers of households are struggling to afford their communications services Ofcom’s annual affordability study finds that nearly a third (29%) of customers, around 8 million households, are having problems paying for their phone, broadband, pay-TV…
Read more
Latest data from the Bank of England has indicated that credit card borrowing grew by £730 million in the 12 months to July. The 13% rise on borrowing on cards is the fastest rise since October 2005. The annual growth rate for all consumer credit, which also includes overdrafts, personal loans and car finance, increased…
Read more
Broadband bills could be cut for millions of low-income households under Government plans to encourage ‘social tariffs’. A new service, which will go live next week and be run by the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP), will allow internet service providers to verify, with customers’ permission, whether they are in receipt of a relevant…
Read more
Nearly six million households are struggling to afford essential telecoms services according to a new analysis by Which?, as it calls on the government to cut the amount of VAT paid on mobile, broadband and telephone services. The consumer champion found that millions of households reported issues affording essential telecoms services such as mobile phone…
Read more
One-in-seven customers are still paying the loyalty penalty across the broadband, mobile and mortgages markets in the midst of a cost-of-living crisis according to latest Citizens Advice research, The charity found two-fifths of people (41%) who are paying the loyalty penalty have struggled to sleep due to their finances. Three in 10 (28%) have already…
Read more