Personal insolvencies rise by 9.2%
Latest figures from the Insolvency Service have indicated that person insolvencies increased by 9.2% to 9,954 in September 2021 compared to August’s figure of 9,118, and were 33.2% higher than September 2020’s figure of 7,471. There were 614 bankruptcies were registered, which was 42% lower than September 2020 and 55% lower than September 2019. Numbers…
Read more
Northern Irish business insolvencies rise whilst personal insolvencies figures stay low
Latest statistics from the Insolvency Service have shown that Northern Irish personal declined and that business insolvencies increased in September when compared to 2020’s figures. In September 2021 there were 11 business insolvencies registered in Northern Ireland, 10% higher than in September 2020 but 69% lower than September 2019. This comprised of one administration, nine…
Read more
Over one-third of care home residents struggling to pay for their care
Over one-third of care home residents face long term struggle of paying for their care according to new ONS statistics. The research found that in 2019/20 it is estimated 143,774 or 36.7% of people in care homes in England were self-funders. This compares to 248,153 who are state-funded. The South East had the highest proportion…
Read more
Fuel and household energy spend rise by a fifth in two weeks
New analysis of data by Lloyds Bank has found that its customers spent a fifth more on household energy (24%) and fuel (20%) in the last fortnight, compared to the two weeks before. Fuel spend peaked on 24th September (the day after one of the biggest UK petrol station operators said a number of its forecourts…
Read more
Card spending figures show that financial confidence remains strong
Latest card spending figures from global analytics software provider FICO has indicated that the summer holidays and continued reliance on pandemic savings probably contributed to a growth in average spending on cards. The analysis shows that the average spend on credit cards increased £23 to £711 in August 2021. This is the highest level since…
Read more
Only highest earners are able to rent privately at affordable cost
Latest ONS figures have highlighted that private renters on median income could expect to spend 23% of their income on a median-priced rented home in England. These figures are down from a recent high of 26.3% in 2016 because recently average wages have grown faster than average rents. The figures showed that East Midlands and North…
Read more
Consumers slash spending as winter of prices rises worries grow
Consumers have slashed spending as worries about winter of prices rises grow according to new research by AJ Bell. The research found that 59% of people are already making cutbacks amid rising costs with a quarter of the poorest households think cutting back will keep their finances on track. Rising energy bills and food costs…
Read more
Chair of Open Banking resigns
The Chair of the Open Banking Implementation Entity (OBIE), the body set up to deliver open banking in the UK, has resigned as an investigation found that the agency allowed’“a culture of bullying and intimidation to prevail.” The Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) says Imran Gulamhuseinwala tendered his resignation as trustee and chair as part…
Read more
Nearly two thirds workers on furlough received support beyond financial
Nearly two thirds (64%) of furloughed adults have received some form of support beyond financial while being on furlough, research from Canada Life has revealed. With the scheme drawing to a close at the end of September, the findings demonstrate employers’ commitment to supporting their employees throughout the pandemic. Among those workers who received consistent…
Read more
Post-lockdown boost to financial wellbeing fading
The boost to financial wellbeing triggered by the relaxing of pandemic measures dipped during the third quarter despite the first rise in household income from employment since Q1 2020, according to the latest Scottish Widows Household Finance Index. The Index, which measures households’ overall perceptions of financial wellbeing, dipped from 44.7 in the second quarter…
Read more
Money Statistics: September 2021
Here is an overview of The Money Charity’s latest statistics for September 2021 Personal debt in the UK People in the UK owed £1,741.7 billion at the end of July 2021. The average total debt per household, including mortgages, was £62,670 and per adult was £32,931, around 109.3% of average earnings. Net mortgage lending fell by…
Read more
Mortgage repayments hit record £38bn
Mortgage repayments jumped by 20% to a record £38 billion in the first half of the year compared to 12 months ago, according to latest Equity Release Council statistics. Debt payments were fuelled by regular repayments and record overpayments, new borrowing ahead of the stamp duty deadline and fewer mortgage payment holidays, as customers began…
Read more
Four in ten Universal Credit households face 13% energy bills increase
The Government must do more to protect low-and-middle-income households from rising energy bills, with families on Universal Credit (UC) four times as likely as the wider population to be on pre-payment meters and therefore face higher energy bill hikes in October, new Resolution Foundation research had found. The Foundation notes that 4.4 million households on…
Read more