Credit, Collections & Insolvency News
This month marks one year since the launch of the Standard Financial Statement (SFS), an initiative designed to bring greater consistency to the way organisations assess people’s finances when they fall behind on payments. Dan Osmond, Product Owner, Lloyds Banking Group said: “As we explore the future design of customer budgets in a fast changing…
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Millions of pounds in unpaid debts are being written off by East Renfrewshire council following a hike in council tax rates. Local authority bosses are preparing to accept the loss of £3.363m in historical community charge arrears, dating back more than 20 years. A further £739,000 of ‘bad debt’, including unpaid council tax and housing benefit…
Read moreDebt purchaser, Motormile Finance UK (MMF) has announced that it will now be known as Lantern going forward. Since 2008, MMF have purchased more than 2 million accounts with a notional value of over £1bn. In 2015, the company underwent a significant transformation as a result of regulatory changes in the sector, which includes the implementation…
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Debt purchaser, Lowell has announced the appointment of John Pears, to the new role of UK Managing Director. Pears will join the business later this year, subject to formal approval from the Financial Conduct Authority. Pears will join Lowell’s UK and Group Executive teams and report to Group CEO, James Cornell. He will take charge…
Read moreOfgem has announced that is going to formally back-billing. Energy firms will be banned from charging catch-up bills for energy used more than 12 months earlier. Customers who pay via direct debit often receive bills based on estimated meter readings. When an actual reading is taken, the supplier “back-bills” the customer for any shortfall. A…
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Peter Wallwork, Chief Executive of the Credit Services Association (CSA) has again called for the adoption of a Code of Practice as the de facto best practice ‘standard’ across all sectors and organisations collecting consumer debts. Whereas agencies collecting financial services debts are regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) and adhere to the CSA Code,…
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The Bank of England has today published its latest monthly Money and Credit report showing growth in consumer credit of 9.3 percent in the year to January 2018. Outstanding balances for consumer credit now stand at over £207.5 billion. Commenting on the latest figures Money Advice Trust Joanna Elson OBE, Chief Executive said “Whilst the…
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Debt purchaser, Arrow Global has announced that it has agreed terms for two acquisitions which strengthen the Group’s investment and asset management capabilities and reinforce its growing presence in Italy. The first acquisition is for Europa Investimenti S.p.A., a leading originator and manager of Italian distressed debt investments, for an equity value of €62 million.…
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The private sector outsourcing market soared to a three-year high in 2017 as businesses signed contracts worth £4.93 billion, according to the Arvato UK Outsourcing Index. The research, compiled by business outsourcing partner Arvato and industry analyst NelsonHall, found that the total value of contracts signed by UK companies rose 36 per cent year-on-year, from…
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Two small energy suppliers have left the big six energy companies trailing when it comes to customer satisfaction according to a new survey by Uswitch.com. Challenger supplier Octopus Energy, which launched in 2016 and is included in the report for the first time, takes first place for overall customer satisfaction with a score of 96%.…
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Judge and Priestley LLP (J&P) has announced that it has recently gained Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) authorisation. This comes in addition to its traditional authorisation and regulation by the Solicitors Regulation Authority (SRA). The move to seek FCA authorisation came in response to increasing client demands for J&P Credit Solutions (J&P CS), the debt recovery…
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Here is an overview of The Money Charity’s latest statistics for February 2018: Personal debt in the UK People in the UK owed £1.572 trillion at the end of December 2017. This is up from £1.512 trillion at the end of December 2016 – an extra £1,105.77 per UK adult. Per adult in the UK that’s an average…
Read moreThousands of people with mental health issues are trapped in a spiral of escalating according to latest research by The Money and Mental Health Policy Institute. The institute said that in 2017, 23,000 people were being pursued while in hospital for mental health problems. Money and Mental Health is asking for the government to consider…
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