Credit, Collections & Insolvency News
Latest data from UK Finance has shown that the overall proportion of mortgages in arrears remains low, at 0.91 per cent of homeowner mortgages and 0.47 per cent of BTL mortgages. In the first quarter of 2026, there were 79,110 homeowner mortgages in arrears of 2.5 per cent or more of the outstanding balance. This…
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Water companies are failing to win back customers’ trust amid deepening concerns over the fairness and affordability of water bills, a new report has revealed. Trust in water companies across England and Wales has reached a new low, according to the Consumer Council for Water’s (CCW) annual Water Matters report, which has been tracking household…
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Households reduced spending in April, marking the first annual decline in card spending since late 2024. Barclays reported a 0.1% fall overall, with travel spending dropping 5.7% as consumers became increasingly cautious. Fuel spending rose sharply due to higher oil prices and concerns linked to Middle East tensions. The data showed that consumer card spending…
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Latest figures released by the Finance & Leasing Association (FLA) show that second charge mortgage new business volumes grew by 20% in March 2026. Commenting on the latest new business figures for the second charge mortgage market, Fiona Hoyle, Director of Consumer Finance & Mortgages and Inclusion the Finance & Leasing Association (FLA), said “The…
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New research by MoneySuperMarket shows that raising a child in the UK costs anywhere between £143,412 and £500,982, depending on the childcare and schooling choices families make. By combining the latest Office for National Statistics (ONS) data with a new survey of UK parents, MoneySuperMarket’s analysis shows how underestimated the financial commitment of parenthood really is. Even when families can opt out of pre-school nursery…
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More than half (58%) of adults who are single or live alone say they could not cope with an unexpected bill of £850 according to new research by Aviva According to the research, people who live alone spend on average a little over £630 a month on essential costs, such as food/ groceries, transport, council…
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Three million households are being forced to skip meals and cut family visits, according to new research from Which? Which?’s latest Consumer Insight Tracker shows that households across the country are having to take more and more drastic measures to mitigate rising costs. In the month to 10th April, analysis found consumer confidence fell to…
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New research by Age UK has found that 3.4 million (28%) pensioners, more than one in four, are struggling financially, and nearly half of them have been struggling for three years or more. Notably, a fifth (22%) of those struggling, equivalent to 740,000 aged 66+ said they have been struggling financially for more than five…
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New research from debt management firm Lowell has revealed that on average, it takes families until mid-April (3.8 months) to clear their festive debt. The survey found that 74% of UK families relied on credit cards and Buy-Now-Pay-Later schemes to help cover the cost of Christmas. While some families have the luxury of being able…
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While the use of AI in payments management continues to grow, the UK is proving slower to adopt AI solutions than its European peers, with skills gaps and regulatory uncertainty slowing progress according to new research by Intrum. Intrum’s European Payment Report, based on a survey of over 8,000 businesses in 20 markets, is produced…
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Latest monthly figures from the Insolvency Service for England & Wales have indicated that personal insolvencies increased by 3% when compared to February 2026 and 30% higher than in March 2025, totalling 12,252 personal insolvencies The insolvencies consisted of 654 bankruptcies, 4,523 debt relief orders (DROs) and 7,075 individual voluntary arrangements (IVAs). T The 7,075 IVAs registered…
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The Credit Services Association (CSA) has set out ten challenges for how public sector recoveries and collections could evolve, to better support people in financial difficulty and improve outcomes for taxpayers. The new paper, published by the CSA, is titled ‘Ten key discussions in the debate around modernising public sector collections.’ The trade body for…
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Neither the Covid-19 pandemic nor the cost-of-living crisis produced significant deterioration in average collections on established paying portfolios, according to analysis by credit management firm Intrum. Using advanced econometric techniques, Intrum examined the performance of proprietary portfolios of defaulted debt between 2016 and 2025. The analysis examined the influence of macroeconomic variables (such as real…
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