Credit, Collections & Insolvency News
New Ofcom research reveals the challenges and tough choices many telecoms customers are facing this year, with more action needed from the industry to support customers in financial difficulty. Ofcom says that reliance on phone and broadband services has increased significantly in recent years, and this trend accelerated in 2020 as people continue to spend…
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The European Commission has today presented a strategy to prevent a future build-up of non-performing loans (NPLs) across the European Union, as a result of the pandemic crisis. The strategy aims to ensure that EU households and businesses continue to have access to the funding they need throughout the crisis. Banks have a crucial role…
Read moreNew figures from the Insolvency Service have shown that personal insolvencies in England and Wales fell by 22% in November 2020, with 9,319 personal insolvencies compared to October’s figure of 11,945, and were 3% lower than November 2019’s figure of 9,568. Both DROs and Bankruptcies fell by around one third in November 2020 compared with…
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Scottish personal insolvencies in November 2020 fell by almost a third when compared with November 2019 numbers. The figures released by Accountant in Bankruptcy (AIB), Scotland’s Insolvency Service which administers company liquidations and receiverships in Scotland showed that in November 2020 that there were 8,417 personal insolvencies in the year to the end of November…
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New research from Citizens Advice has shown that 2.1million households are behind on their energy bills, 600,000 more than in February. The charity’s research also reveals a quarter of all energy customers, up to seven million households, worry they won’t be able to pay their bill this winter. According to data, the charity has obtained…
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The Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) has fined Barclays Bank £26 million for failures in its treatment of more than 1.5m retail and small business customers in financial difficulties who fell behind on credit card and loan payments between April 2014 and December 2018. Barclays has pro-actively redressed these customers, paying over £273 million to at least…
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New survey results from debt PayPlan have found that during a year where two-thirds saw an income drop due to Covid-19, the majority of parents are worrying about how they will feed their children and far too many are going without food themselves. A lack of income forced 55% of people to cut back on…
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A recent financial survey by KIS Finance has revealed that 43.2% of consumers anticipate having to take out some kind of credit facility before the end of this year. The company says that Christmas is already an expensive time of year and scammers know that many people struggle financially and turn to borrowing to get them through. With…
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One in seven (14%) of people have fallen behind on essential bills, including energy, water, mobile phone and broadband bills, council tax, rent or mortgage payments, the equivalent of seven million people in the UK, according to new research from Citizens Advice. A poll of 6,004 people, conducted by ICM Unlimited for the charity, also…
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The number of people experiencing destitution increased by more than 50% to 2.4m between 2017 and 2019, according to the Joseph Rowntree Foundation (JRF), which is calling for the Government to make permanent and extend a £20 uplift to the basic rate of benefits, along with other reforms to make the welfare system more generous.…
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New research has found that 45.5% of people have been forced to take out some kind of financial facility or borrow money from friends/family due to the pandemic according to KIS Finance. Alongside this, a further 43.2% of people expect to seek out more financial help before the end of the year. Young adults between…
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The rate of personal insolvencies in England and Wales rose for the fourth year in a row in 2019, to 26.1 per 10,000 adults according to new analysis of Government figures by insolvency trade body R3. Women (27.8 per 10,000) had a higher personal insolvency rate than men (24.1 per 10,000) whilst the North East…
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New figures from debt advice provider Financial Wellness Group has indicated that people are falling into problem debt at a younger age. 31% of new debt advice and solution customers are now under 30, up from 23% last year. Alongside this trend, customers are also more likely to be single now (60% of all new…
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