Credit, Collections & Insolvency News
Latest Bank of England data released shows that households paid back £2.4 billion of borrowing on credit cards, personal loans and overdrafts in the first month of 2021. The total amount outstanding on credit cards and loans shrank to £199.4 billion, falling below £200billion for the first time since April 2017. Consumer borrowing fell at…
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The Government has announced that it has completed the £5 billion pound sale of the final chunk of its ‘bad bank’ comprising failed lenders Bradford & Bingley (B&B) and Northern Rock (NRAM0. The Government says that the final sale constitutes a significant milestone in the work to achieve the government’s objective of returning the institutions…
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The Insolvency Service has published its annual performance data for 2020 about Individual Voluntary Arrangements (IVAs). The figures show that early termination rates of IVAs have dropped 11% in the past year, while total IVAs have risen by almost 20,000 since 2018 and that IVAs have risen steadily on an annual basis since 2015, although…
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The Social Market Foundation (SMF) estimates that nearly 770,000 families are at risk of losing their homes if they suffer a loss in income when a ban on repossessions ends in April. The Social Market Foundation think tank analysed official data and found that of the 770,000 at risk of repossession, a quarter (26%) worked…
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Two in five families would fall into debt if the cost of their energy were to increase, according to the latest Household Financial Confidence Tracker from comparethemarket.com. If their energy bills were to rise, 44% of families with children at home believe that it would push them into debt with their energy provider– double the…
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The Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) has published final guidance clarifying its expectations of firms on the fair treatment of vulnerable customers. The guidance aims to drive improvements in the way firms treat vulnerable consumers so that they are consistently able to achieve outcomes that are as good as everybody else. People can find themselves in…
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Research by the National Institute of Economic and Social Research (NIESR) shows there were 220,000 more households living in destitution by the end of last year. The pandemic has helped push the figure up to 421,500 households – with destitution defined as a two-adult household living on less than £100 a week and a single-adult…
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New research from Experian reveals how the acceleration of digital transformation, through the Covid-19 pandemic, has led to greater demand for data insights to inform decision making and strategy. The annual Global Data Management report, which surveyed 700 data practitioners and data-driven business leaders globally, found that changing customer behaviour has intensified businesses’ need for high-quality data.…
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The House of Lords will this week debate an amendment to the Financial Services Bill to ensure a ‘fair debt-write down’ is incorporated within Government’s plans for a Statutory Debt Repayment Plan. The amendment, which has been tabled by former Green Party Leader Baroness Bennett and the Bishop of St Albans, seeks to make it…
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New analysis published today by Standard Life Foundation has found that 1.8 million people excluded from government income support schemes have seen their total household incomes fall by at least a third during the pandemic – five times greater than the rest of the UK population. Only 9% of the rest of the population have…
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Scottish personal insolvencies in December 2020 fell 38.6% when compared with January 2020 numbers. The figures released by Accountant in Bankruptcy (AIB), Scotland’s Insolvency Service which administers company liquidations and receiverships in Scotland showed that in January 2021 that there were 8,412 personal insolvencies in the 12 months to January 2021 (inclusive), 5,289 (38.6%) fewer…
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Latest statistics from the Insolvency Service have shown that personal and business insolvencies continue to remain low in comparison to previous years. There were 96 Individual Insolvencies In January 2021 which were 62% lower than January 2020; this consisted of 74 IVAs, 11 DROs and 11 bankruptcies. In January 2021 there were three company insolvencies…
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A joint statement by The Big Issue Ride Out Recession Alliance, Crisis, Citizens Advice, Joseph Rowntree Foundation, Money Advice Trust, The Mortgage Works, National Residential Landlords Association, Nationwide Building Society, Propertymark, StepChange Debt Charity and Shelter has urged that the Chancellor takes action to tackle the rent debt crisis. The group says that at least…
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