Credit, Collections & Insolvency News
Suppliers will not be allowed to back-bill customers for energy used more than 12 months ago under new proposals from Ofgem. Back-bills mainly result from suppliers using estimated bills until they take an actual meter reading which may show that the customer’s consumption is higher than expected. Suppliers then send a ‘catch-up’ bill to recover the…
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More than three million people have been frozen out of credit in the past 12 months, despite mainstream lenders promising to increase access, according to new research. Almost one in five people who applied for credit in the last 12 months – either a credit card, personal loan or mortgage – had their applications refused,…
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The Central Bank of Ireland has announced the appointment of Bernard Sheridan, as Acting Deputy Governor (Financial Regulation) with effect from 8 April 2017. This interim appointment follows the resignation of Deputy Governor (Financial Regulation) Cyril Roux, who gave notice of his resignation on 28 February last. During this interim period, Bernard Sheridan will take…
Read moreThe Competition and Markets Authority’s (CMA) price cap on pre-payment meters has come into force to the benefit of around 4 million households. Last June, following a two-year investigation into the energy market, the Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) decided to put in place a temporary price cap to protect some of the most vulnerable households in…
Read moreThe Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) has proposed new rules to help customers who are in persistent credit card debt. This follows the FCA’s study of the UK credit card market, which found significant concerns about the scale extent and nature of problem credit card debt. Under the FCA’s definition, credit card customers are in persistent…
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The Central Bank of Ireland has released Ireland’s Money and Banking Statistics for February 2017. Here is an overview of the main findings. Irish residents’ draw-downs of non-housing loans were €162 million higher than repayments over the year to February 2017. This compares with net repayments of €614 million in the year to February 2016. The…
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Bradford & Bingley plc (B&B), part of UK Asset Resolution (UKAR), today confirms that following an open and competitive process it has agreed to sell two separate asset portfolios comprising performing buy to let loans for a total of £11.8bn to Prudential plc and to funds managed by Blackstone. Financial completion is expected within the…
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Commenting on figures published by the ONS today (Friday), which shows that unsecured borrowing is at its highest level (as a share of household income) in 8 years, TUC General Secretary Frances O’Grady said: “Today’s figures should set alarm bells ringing. The last thing our economy needs right now is another consumer debt crisis. But…
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Regulators in the water, energy, telecommunications and financial services sectors could do more to support the increasing number of vulnerable consumers, according to the National Audit Office (NAO) Consumers spend around £136 billion annually on energy, water, telecommunications and retail financial services. Vulnerable consumers are those who, because of their circumstances, are particularly susceptible to…
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Financial fraud losses across payment cards, remote banking and cheques totalled £768.8 million in 2016, an increase of 2 per cent on the previous year, figures from Financial Fraud Action UK show. The new data shows banks and card companies prevented £1.38 billion of fraud last year, equivalent to £6.40 in every £10 of attempted…
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The Bank of England’s latest money and credit statistics show consumer borrowing increasing by 10.5% in the year to February to £196 billion. As the Bank and the Financial Conduct Authority launch reviews into lending practices, Citizens Advice says more must be done to make sure lenders across all consumer credit markets behave responsibly towards…
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Quint Group has appointed Nicola Richardson as it’s new CRM Manager to help devise and drive the CRM strategy for the brand and to continue the site’s growth. Richardson brings ten years of CRM experience into her new role, having previously worked at price comparison site heavyweight moneysupermarket.com where she was involved in the delivery and optimisation…
Read moreMorses Club has announced the launch of Dot Dot Loans, its first online installment loans product. The launch follows the purchase of Shelby Finance earlier in the year The launch of this new online instalment product, Dot Dot Loans, is the next step in the Company’s strategy of developing digital products to complement its home…
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