Credit, Collections & Insolvency News
The Finance and Leasing Association’s latest figures see continued growth in second charge mortgage lending during May 2017. Commenting on new business figures for the second charge mortgage market, Fiona Hoyle, Head of Consumer and Mortgage Finance at the Finance & Leasing Association (FLA), said “Second charge mortgage new business has ebbed and flowed over…
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New figures released by the Finance & Leasing Association (FLA) show consumer finance new business grew in May by 8% compared with the same month last year. Credit card and personal loan new business together grew by 11% compared with May 2016, while retail store and online credit new business increased by 3%. Second charge…
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Working families with children are facing bigger shortfalls in their household budgets this year, despite an increase in the National Living Wage and tax cuts, according to the Joseph Rowntree Foundation’s authoritative annual report on living standards. A return to inflation combined with a freeze in working benefits has caused the shortfall to increase for…
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The Federation of Small Businesses (FSB) has called on Communities Secretary Sajid Javid to provide a letter of direction to local councils in England to speed up help for small firms facing unacceptable increases in their Business Rates. £300 million in discretionary relief was promised in the Budget in March, yet many local authorities have so…
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Star Asset Finance (SAF) has continued its consolidation of the SME asset finance market by completing the acquisition of Credo Holdings. Norwich-based Credo was established in 2005 as an independent provider of asset finance. The company has a growing own-book portfolio, coupled with brokered finance supported by a number of industry funders. Specialising in hard and soft…
Read moreThe rollout of Universal Credit should be paused until significant problems with it are fixed, says Citizens Advice. In a major new report – Delivering on Universal Credit – the charity reveals that the requirement to wait for six weeks to receive any payment means people face serious financial insecurity, with many being forced into…
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FinTech and regulatory services businessEquiniti Group have announced the acquisition of the Nostrum Group. Nostrum is a provider of end-to-end loan management technology that helps banks, finance companies, and retail brands provide innovative credit solutions to their customers. They deliver services that support the whole lifecycle of lenders’ operations from front-end lead generation and application processing…
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Hammersmith & Fulham Council and Debt Purchaser 1st Credit have launched a new joint venture: H&F Ethical Debt Collections, at the Local Government Association’s annual conference in Birmingham.The partnership changes the way public sector debts are handled, ending the two-tier treatment of customers in debt by applying Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) standards to public as…
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Has the expansion of car finance overstretched borrowers? Over the past decade, there has been a significant shift in patterns of consumer behaviour in relation to purchasing of new cars. UK private car registrations were 39% higher in 2016 than they were in 2011, a trend which has in part been driven by the expansion…
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New research from innovative equity release lender more 2 life has revealed that 41% of over 65 year olds with a mortgage are on an interest-only product. Of these borrowers, almost 4 in ten are 65-74 year olds and over half (56%) are over 75 years old. Individuals who do not have a separate savings…
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A new toolkit to bring consistency to the way creditors work with debt advice agencies when collecting repayments from people who are in debt has been launched by the Money Advice Service today. This is the first time that all major debt advice agencies and creditors have worked together to raise standards of creditor practice…
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The creation of a Single Financial Guidance Body could help break down barriers stopping indebted individuals from receiving free and impartial advice, says insolvency trade body R3 ahead of a key parliamentary debate on the issue. On Wednesday (5th July), the House of Lords will debate the Government’s Financial Guidance and Claims Bill, which could…
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Three-quarters of students will never clear their debt with the average debt now standing at £50,000 according to the Institute for Fiscal Studies (IFS) report. Students in England graduate with average debts of £50,800, after interest rates are raised on student loans to 6.1%.Other key findings in the report include: Those from the poorest backgrounds…
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