Mobile and broadband customers face 14% bill increase in April

Millions of broadband and mobile phone customers look set to face rises of more than 14% in their monthly bills from April. BT, TalkTalk, Three and Vodafone are among the big telecoms suppliers that are contractually allowed to increase their bills in line with the previous year’s inflation rate, as measured by the consumer prices…

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Octopus Energy energy tops customer ratings survey

20th January 2023 Arrears and Recoveries |

Octopus Energy has come top in Which?’s annual customer survey as the consumer champion calls on energy firms to do more to support consumers during the cost of living crisis. Over the last two years, the energy market has changed completely – gas prices have soared, millions of consumers have been transferred to a new…

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Tenants pay as much as 43% of earnings to rent

20th January 2023 Arrears and Recoveries | #rental

Latest insight into the rental sector has revealed that the average tenant is paying 23.5% of their net earnings on the cost of renting, climbing as high as 42.8% in the nation’s least affordable pockets of the rental market according to research by Ocasa. The research shows that the average household earns £4,030 after tax…

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Intrum appoints new President and CEO

20th January 2023 Company News |

The board of Directors of Intrum AB has appointed Andrés Rubio President and Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of Intrum. Rubio has a background from several management positions (including Cerberus, Apollo Management International and Altamira Asset Management) and was elected Board member of Intrum in 2019. Magnus Lindquist, Chairman of the Board of Intrum said “I…

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CSA launches learning website

19th January 2023 Appointments | #training

The Credit Services Association (CSA) has announced it has launched a new standalone website to specifically promote its training and apprenticeship services. The CSA says that the new learning website aims to educate visitors on how working with CSA can help you to “reduce churn, unlock capability and build capacity” through its training products and…

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Over half of financial services sector say AI initiatives are a high priority

New research by FICO has found that the demand for Artificial Intelligence (AI) products and tools is on the rise with more than half of the financial services sector (52%) saying they are a higher priority than 12 months ago, despite the fact that the vast majority (71%) have not implemented ethical and Responsible AI…

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One in seven cut back on insurance due to cost of living costs

As the cost of living continues to spiral people are cancelling or switching their insurance policies in a bid to make savings, according to research by Consumer Intelligence. Around 7% of people have already cut back on insurance to make savings in the last three months and a further 7% are considering back in the…

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Two in five over-55s saw costs exceed income in 2022

18th January 2023 Arrears and Recoveries |

Almost two in five over-55s (39%) said that their outgoings exceeded their income during parts of 2022, new data from more2life and economics consultancy Cebr has found, with a growing number turning to unsecured borrowing to cover shortfalls. The research also revealed that the number of people whose spending exceeded their income every month has more than doubled to 8% (2022) from…

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Charities call for Chancellor to introduce discounted energy bills for low-income households

18th January 2023 Consumer Collections | #energy bills

In an open letter sent today to the Chancellor, Jeremy Hunt MP, 95 Charities and non-profit organisations across the UK have joined together to call for more targeted support in the form of a social tariff for the energy market to help older and disabled households heat their homes. New research by Age UK reveals strong…

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Personal insolvencies fell by 20.4% in December

Latest monthly figures from the Insolvency Service for England & Wales have indicated that personal insolvencies decreased by 20.4% to 8,339 in December 2022 compared to 10,473 in November. They were 1.3% lower than December 2021’s figure of 8,453, and 0.8% lower than December 2019 (8,406). There were 397 bankruptcies were registered, which was 13%…

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Inflation falls to 10.5% – industry reaction

The latest UK Consumer Prices Index (CPI) figures, published by the Office for National Statistics (ONS) show that CPI rose by 10.5 percent in the twelve months to December 2023, down from 10.7 percent in November. The drop was due to fuel prices falling along with clothing and footwear prices, however, this was offset by…

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Intrum achieves gold accreditation

18th January 2023 Company News |

Intrum UK has announced that it has secured Investor in Customers (IIC) Gold accreditation, reinforcing its commitment to deliver the highest standards of customer service. It’s the ninth consecutive year that Intrum has held the highest mark of distinction since IIC was founded in 2006. Each IIC assessment is based on four pillars of customer…

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Third of people have poor or very poor debt resilience

A third of people have poor or very poor debt resilience according to new analysis by HL Savings & Resilience Barometer. The research also found that higher earners are more likely to score poorly for debt resilience than lower earners. 38% of those in the fourth quintile (who earn more than three fifths of the…

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