Ofwat to report on how water companies help vulnerable customers

5th October 2017 Consumer Collections |

Ofwat has announced that it is going to report on how each water company serves, supports and protects customers in vulnerable circumstances. The report will show clearly those companies that are leading the field and those that are letting their customers down. Ofwat has been calling on water companies to step up their efforts to…

Read more

Ascent Performance wins two awards

5th October 2017 Consumer Collections |

Ascent Performance has announced their success in winning Compliance and Best Customer Outcomes Awards at a Credit industry Awards. Mark Higgins, Chairman of Ascent, collected the award and said “This award recognises the hard work that all our colleagues in Ascent have put into ensuring we offer the best customer experience – and deliver the…

Read more

Morses Club results show 14% increase in revenue

5th October 2017 Consumer Collections |

Home collected credit specialist, Morses Club has announced its interim results for the twenty-six-week period ended 26 August 2017. Highlights from the results include: ·     Strong first half performance with revenue up 14.8% to £54.2m (H1 FY17: £47.2m) ·     Net loan book growth of 16.0% to £65.2m (H1 FY17: £56.2m) ·     Impairment as a percentage of revenue for the period was 26.6% (H1 FY17:…

Read more

Intrum acquires Greek NPL portfolio

5th October 2017 Consumer Collections |

Intrum has entered into an agreement to acquire a non-performing loan portfolio from Eurobank, one of the four Greek banks considered as critical for the stability of the Greek economy, for a total investment of approximately SEK 0.4 bn. The portfolio consists of well diversified unsecured consumer loans. Servicing of the portfolio will be outsourced…

Read more

Prime Minister reinforces energy price cap plans

5th October 2017 Consumer Collections |

The Prime Minister’s has announced plans for a cap on energy bills at the Conservative Party Conference. Citizens Advice has welcomed the Prime Minister’s announcement of legislation to tackle high energy bills, saying it could provide a solution to runaway energy costs. The national charity has also called for the government to look at protecting low-income…

Read more

Payment system operator appoints Board

5th October 2017 Consumer Collections |

The UK’s new payment system operator has announced the appointment of its first five Board members: Anna Bradley – Chair, Rail Safety and Standards Board Becky Clements – Head of Industry Engagement and Payment Change at Metro Bank Russell Saunders – Managing Director Global Payments at Lloyds Banking Group Peter Wyman – Chairman, Care Quality Commission…

Read more

Bank of Mum & Dad borrowing creates family guilt

5th October 2017 Consumer Collections |

The concept of the ‘Bank of Mum and Dad’ is growing in importance but more than half of potential first-time buyers expecting to receive financial help from family to complete their purchase would feel guilty about doing so, new research reveals. The latest First-Time Buyers Report by Yorkshire Building Society shows 66% of UK adults aged 18-40…

Read more

Newcastle Council signs up to Collections Protocol

5th October 2017 Consumer Collections |

Newcastle City Council has signed up to the Citizen’s Advice Council Tax Protocol to show it will collect debt in a ‘fair and reasonable’ manner and offering support and advice to residents. The council’s cabinet member for resources, Councilor Veronica Dunn, said: ‘We have a duty to collect the tax but where people are in…

Read more

ECB plans to force banks to raise bad debt provisions

5th October 2017 Consumer Collections |

The European Central Bank (ECB) plans to ask euro area banks to set aside more cash to cover bad loans, making it prohibitively expensive for lenders to keep sitting on them, a draft proposal seen by Reuters showed on Tuesday. Soured loans are clogging up bank balance sheets and holding back lending – a headache…

Read more

Merger of CFA and BCCA completed

4th October 2017 Consumer Collections |

The Consumer Finance Association (CFA) and the BCCA have announced the completion of their merger. This brings to a close the process that was first announced in late July. Jason Wassell, formerly Chief Executive of the BCCA has been appointed to run the new organisation said “Through this merger, we believe that we can better represent the…

Read more

Baldwins makes two acquistions

4th October 2017 Mergers and Acquisitions |

Advisory specialist Baldwins, who last year joined CogitalGroup to form part of their international business service group, has announced its largest acquisition to date. The firm is expanding into Scotland with two acquisitions which will see its revenue grow to £89 million. Campbell Dallas, which has offices in Glasgow, Perth, Kilmarnock, Stirling and Aberdeen, employs 260 staff…

Read more

Businesses fear insolvency as a result of GDPR penalties

4th October 2017 Regulation and Compliance |

55% of UK small businesses are still not familiar with the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) despite its introduction being now less than a year away, according to a new business research by Collyer Bristow. The survey further reveals that the knowledge of GDPR is higher in larger businesses. However, 30% of executives at companies…

Read more

StepChange appoints new Chief Executive

4th October 2017 Consumer Collections |

Phil Andrew has been appointed as the new Chief Executive of debt charity StepChange. He will take up the post on November 20th, taking over from Mike O’Connor CBE. Andrew’s most recent role was as Chief Executive of Working Links which provides innovative interventions to disadvantaged and socially-excluded groups within the UK, Ireland and the…

Read more