Credit, Collections & Insolvency News
Latest quarterly figures from the Insolvency Service for England & Wales have indicated that personal insolvencies numbers decreased by 6.4% to 9,824 in June 2022 compared to 10,497 in May, and were 0.3% lower than June 2021’s figure of 9,852. For individuals, 471 bankruptcies were registered, which was 37% lower than in June 2021 and 64%…
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New research from national poverty charity, Turn2us, has highlighted the impact of soaring living costs as almost half its users (47%) report being left with nothing to live on each week after paying housing, council tax and utility bills. The survey, completed by 2,730 of the charity’s service users, found that the same group of…
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Almost one in four families across England, Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland are set to receive £326 the Government’s first cost of living payment today which will be sent directly to them with the second instalment of £324 sent later this year as part of the government’s £37 billion support package. Over eight million households…
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StepChange debt charity guided, advised or supported more than half a million people last year, according to the charity’s impact report for 2021. The support included providing full debt advice to over 157,000 people, helping clients to repay more than £402 million of debt, and seeing over 24,000 people becoming free from problem debt with…
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Benefit cuts have pushed up relative child poverty in the years running up to the pandemic, measured as living in a household with incomes below 60% of median income. However, based on asking their families whether they could afford essentials, the share of children in material deprivation fell by a quarter, from 24% in 2013…
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Average private rents in Britain have hit record highs, jumping by more than 20% in some areas. Data from Rightmove shows that the average advertised rent outside London is 11.8% higher than a year ago, while in the capital it is up by 15.8%. Between April and June the average advertised asking rent outside London…
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Research by EY shows that consumers are cutting back their spending as inflation hits household budgets. Over a third (37%) of low and middle-income consumers are now only buying essential items, with this an increase of 11% compared to February, while 32% have switched to cheaper brands to try and save money. While almost half…
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Credit Connect’s hosted its fifth Online Collections Technology Think Tank 3.2 last week which saw collections strategies and the impact of cost of living economic stresses discussed by twelve collections professionals from a variety of industry sectors. The themes of collections risk, customer engagement, affordability and the future of collections were discussed by panellists and…
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With the latest projections from Cornwall Insight pointing to the next price cap exceeding £3,300 this winter, Energy UK is calling the Government to again look at actions that could reduce customer bills. These could include removing VAT from bills, moving existing levies onto general taxation and seeing whether other costs can be spread over a…
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Energy regulator Ofgem has told a number of energy suppliers to take immediate and urgent action after a review found a range of weaknesses or failings in the way they charge customers direct debits. Out of a total of 17 large suppliers in the market, the majority were found to only have minor issues, but…
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The Credit Services Association (CSA), the UK trade body for the debt collection and debt purchase industry, has cautiously welcomed the Government’s recent announcement of their intention to reform and modernise the now almost fifty-year-old Consumer Credit Act. In a new report, the trade body draws attention to the mismatch between the requirements of the…
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Registry Trust, the not-for-profit organisation which maintains the Register of Judgments, Orders and Fines, is calling on stakeholders from across the credit and debt landscape to support its project to create a Register of Partial Settlements. Registry Trust’s monetary judgments data is used for public good in millions of credit and lending decisions every year…
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Citizens Advice has raised concerns over unregulated debt collection by the administrators of failed energy suppliers and called for an urgent review of the interactions between insolvency rules and the Supplier of Last Resort (SoLR) process. Customers of failed suppliers are at risk of aggressive debt collection tactics from administrators because they’re not bound by…
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