Credit, Collections & Insolvency News
Nationwide Building Society has announced that it will only lend to mortgage borrowers with a deposit of at least a 15%, scrapping its deal for those with 10% of the property’s value amid concerns about falling house prices in the wake of the coronavirus crisis. Nationwide, which before the pandemic offered loans where a deposit…
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New research by the Joseph Roundtree Foundation (JRF) and Save the Children has revealed that nearly two thirds of hard-pressed families on Universal Credit are borrowing money to stay afloat during the Covid-19 emergency, as the organisations call for an urgent £20 a week increase to the Child Element of Universal Credit and Child Tax…
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Firms must do more to ensure they are always giving appropriate advice to equity release consumers, a Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) review has found. Demand for later life lending has grown in recent years. With the option of no monthly payments, equity release is an attractive option for some – allowing consumers to benefit from…
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Consumers who have experienced mental health problems are three times as likely to run out of money within a week if they lost their main source of income as those who have never had issues, during pandemic according to a new report by the Money and Mental Health Policy Institute. People with mental health problems…
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The Insolvency Service has published its latest insolvency statistics which have shown a year on year rise in individual voluntary arrangements (IVAs) in England & Wales. In the three months ending May 2020 there was a monthly average of 7,899 registered IVAs. The figures show that there were 1,540 Debt relief orders and 739 bankruptcies…
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The Accountant in Bankruptcy, Scotland’s Insolvency Service that administers person insolvencies in Scotland has published its statistics for May 2020 which indicated that there were 616 personal insolvencies (bankruptcies and protected trust deeds (PTDs)) in May 2020, The figures show that this 650 (51.3%) less than in May 2019. Bankruptcies decreased by 79.3% in May…
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The Finance & Leasing Association (FLA) continues to call for the Government and the Bank of England to take immediate action to support the non-bank lending market, as new FLA figures released today show that the number of Covid-19 related requests for forbearance reached 1,623,000 (over 1.6 million) in the twelve weeks to 29th May…
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Debt charity StepChange has welcomed a cross-party call for a Debt Management bill. Welcoming the letter to the Chancellor sent by more than 50 MPs and Peers calling for a Debt Management Bill to implement serious and systematic improvements to Government debt collection, StepChange says that the time to address this longstanding issue is absolutely…
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The Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) has fined Lloyds Bank and its subsidiaries Bank of Scotland and The Mortgage Business £64,046,800 (over £64 million) after it was found to have failed its vulnerable mortgage customers. Failures were found in relation to their handling of mortgage customers in payment difficulties or arrears. The banks have estimated that…
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The Bank of England has published it’s latest Mortgage Lending and Administrators Statistics which show that the value of outstanding balances with some arrears increased by 1.8% over the quarter to £13.7 billion, and now accounts for 0.91% of outstanding mortgage balances. The statistics also showed that the outstanding value of all residential mortgages loans…
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The impact of the Coronavirus on the lives of consumers may lead them to consider consolidating loans to pay off debt leading to a healthier financial situation. according to analysis by Moneyfacts.co.uk The company says that despite a drop in base rate by the Bank of England, interest rates on unsecured personal loans are starting…
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New research from data insight specialist Consumer Intelligence has indicated that homeowners are considering cancelling their insurance as the cost of insurance rises to create further financial strains. The research shows the cost of buildings and contents insurance has risen 0.5% in the last 3 months (to an average premium of £151), but remains competitive,…
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New figures released by the Finance & Leasing Association (FLA) show that consumer finance new business fell in April 2020 by 64% compared with the same month in 2019, and decreased by 19% in the first four months of 2020. Credit card and personal loan new business together fell in April 2020 by 48% compared…
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