Credit, Collections & Insolvency News
Over 1.2 million subscription payments have been cancelled since the summer of last year as households feel the squeeze of the cost of living crisis, research from Lloyds Bank shows. Popular TV, film and music streaming services made up almost half (47.1%) of regular payments cancelled, with households taking further stock of their discretionary spending,…
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More than a third of customers (34%) struggle to pay bills fairly frequently, yet only 4% of billcpayers reported receiving financial help from their water company over the past year according to research by Ofwat and CCW. The research also highlighted that engagement with water companies was found to be fairly low, with 44% of…
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Retiring during a pandemic is unlikely to be easy but 2021’s retirees are still financially supporting their family to the tune of £3,700 a year, new research from Key Later Life Finance – the UK’s leading advice firm in this sector – shows. Despite the increasing strain on finances, more than a third of the…
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The Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) has launched a new strategy to improve outcomes for consumers and in markets throughout the UK. The FCA says as its remit is broad and growing, the three-year strategy prioritises resources to prevent serious harm, set higher standards and promote competition. The regulator will also, for the first time, hold itself…
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StepChange Debt Charity’s 2021 Statistics Yearbook, has shown that even before the latest rise in general inflation and the rise in the energy price cap, households in the UK experiencing problem debt were already facing a cost of living crisis. In 2021, StepChange was contacted by almost half a million (483,247) new clients seeking debt…
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Over half of private tenants relying on Universal Credit to pay their rent have a shortfall between the amount they receive and what they pay for their housing. It comes a year after the Government froze housing benefit rates. Official data suggests that 56 per cent of private renters relying on Universal Credit have an…
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The number of English households in ‘fuel stress’ will double from 2.5 to 5 million as a result of the price cap rising from today (Friday), with another 2.5 million households at risk in October if the price cap rises again to £2,500, according to new Resolution Foundation research. The research shows that low-income households…
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Citizens Advice has announced that, for the third month in a row, it has broken record for providing crisis support as the cost of living impact takes hold. In March 2022, the charity referred 24,752 people to food banks or to other charitable support, up by 44% compared to the same time last year. Research…
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Latest ONS figures have highlighted the impact of increased cost of living with adults not being able to afford an unexpected expenses. The figures showed that over 8 in 10 (83%) adults reported an increase in their cost of living in March 2022 compared with around 6 in 10 (62%) adults in November 2021. Early…
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A report from EY Item Club has revealed that the fifth of households on the lowest incomes will be hit the hardest by rising inflation – suffering a 9.6% rise in living costs compared with an average of 8.6% for the richest fifth of households. EY Item Club economists say inflation will peak next month…
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Here is an overview of The Money Charity’s latest statistics for March 2022 Personal debt in the UK People in the UK owed £1,767.1 billion at the end of January 2022. The average total debt per household, including mortgages, was £63,582 and per adult was £33,410, around 107.5% of average earnings. Net mortgage lending rose by…
Read moreNew polling commissioned by the anti-poverty group Jubilee Debt Campaign has revealed that three million people fear they will be pushed into debt over the next six months. This week’s rises in National Insurance contributions as well as the increase in the energy price cap and council tax are set to push even more people…
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A new survey by the Credit Services Association (CSA), the UK trade body for debt collection and debt purchase, found that firms expect to either explore or adopt new communications technologies in the coming years, which will afford customers a broader range of options to engage and discuss their debt. Despite this move toward digital…
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