Credit, Collections & Insolvency News
Four-fifths of the gains from tax and benefit changes coming into effect later this week (6 April) will go to the richest half of households, with the poorest third of households set to be £70 worse off on average, according to a new briefing note published by the Resolution Foundation. The analysis looks at the…
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The 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 share of British adults concerned about their future financial health has been slowly but steadily increasing since June 2016, according to a new survey of over 2,000 British adults by insolvency and restructuring trade body R3, and ComRes. Almost 1 in 5 (19%) British adults think their personal financial situation will worsen over the next…
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A record 600,000 people sought advice for debt problems from StepChange Debt Charity last year (up 9% from 550,000 in 2015), equating to one person every 53 seconds. The average unsecured debt of the charity’s clients has increased for the first time in eight years from £13,900 to £14,251. The figures are taken from the…
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A Select Committee on Financial Exclusion has called on the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) and Banks to give greater priority to tackling financial exclusion in the UK. With more than 1.7 million people in the UK without a bank account and 40% of the working age population with less than £100 in savings, the Committee asks them to end…
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West Lothian Council has launched a self-help guide for people who are at risk of repossession or facing eviction from their home. The West Lothian Court Advice Project is available to help anyone who, potentially, may face eviction as a result of non-payment of debts and is about to go to court. The Scottish Legal…
Read moreUK consumer debt now stands at £240 billion according to new insight from. Almost three quarters (73 per cent) of UK adults admit they currently have some form of unsecured borrowing, such as personal loan, bank overdraft or credit card, with a third (33 per cent) of those admitting they rely on credit to get…
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Britain is on course for an unprecedented 15 years of spending cuts and lost pay growth, according to the Resolution Foundation’s overnight analysis of Budget 2017. The report finds that despite the Budget day focus on short term forecast improvements, the date for achieving an overall budget surplus has been pushed back until 2025. Average…
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Following the announcement of today’s Budget the Money Advice Trust has suggested that a year of pressure lies ahead for UK households. Joanna Elson OBE, Chief Executive of the Money Advice Trust, the charity that runs National Debtline and Business Debtline, said: “While the economy is performing better than expected, the OBR’s forecasts point to a year…
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Accountant in Bankruptcy (AiB) has appointed respected insolvency sector figure Mike Norris to its Advisory Board. Norris joins AiB as a non-executive board member to offer independent challenge and professional expertise to the Executive Agency of the Scottish Government. Since 2008, Norris has headed up the UK, Canadian and Dutch operations for Max Recovery, the leading…
Read moreA Court of Appeal decision handed down earlier in the week has significant implications for thousands of personal insolvency procedures, says insolvency trade body R3. The Court of Appeal’s judgment in the case of Green v Wright has clarified what should happen to payment protection insurance (PPI) refunds paid to people who have completed an…
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The Office for Budget Responsibility (OBR)’s forecast for average earnings projects that median household income will not grow at all for the next two years. The Institute for Fiscal Studies (IFS) has calculated the future effects of the economic downtown indicating that following on from the deep recession and already-tepid recovery, this would leave median…
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New research from Which? has found that nearly five million working people in the UK are worried about their financial situation. Overall, 28% of all UK households said they were experiencing some form of financial distress, be it relying more on overdrafts and loans or struggling to pay bills. When Which? looked at working households that…
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