Credit, Collections & Insolvency News
There is a market failure in the provision of credit for financially vulnerable people who have to borrow to meet their essential costs, according to a major new report – ‘The high cost of credit’ – by StepChange Debt Charity. Over one million people in the UK are using high-cost credit to cover their everyday…
Read more
New proposals to ensure that debt advice commissioned by the Money Advice Service targets those most in need across the UK have been published for consultation. These are designed to deliver comprehensive, high-quality services that will both tackle debt and improve people’s well-being. A strategic approach to debt advice commissioning sets out a new vision…
Read more
The government’s latest insolvency statistics show that women continue to be more likely than men to enter an insolvency procedure and that insolvencies are most common in coastal towns, the North East and towns with declining industries, says insolvency and restructuring trade body R3. The 2016 statistics, published this morning, show that 53.4% of insolvencies…
Read more
The Insolvency Service is clamping down on individuals who are disposing of their assets irresponsibly when facing financial stress, rather than paying back their debts, says accountancy firm, Moore Stephens. Moore Stephens says that there has been a 24% rise in the number of Bankruptcy Restriction Orders (BROs) issued to penalise the ‘dissipation of assets’…
Read more
Helping people to build a £1,000 rainy day savings fund via the pensions automatic enrolment framework would prevent debt problems, would have a minimal impact on retirement incomes and would be better financially for people than if they stopped paying into their pensions to cover emergency costs, this is according to new analysis conducted by…
Read more
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…
Read more
The 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…
Read more
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…
Read more
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…
Read more
UK Asset Resolution Limited (UKAR) which incorporates Bradford & Bingley (‘B&B’) and NRAM has issued its results for the year ended 31 March 2017 (‘2016/17′). UKAR’s mission is to maximise value for the taxpayer, whilst serving our customers well and treating all our stakeholders fairly. Highlights from the results: Balance Sheet reduced by a further…
Read more
Here is an overview of The Money Charity’s latest statistics for July 2017: Personal debt in the UK People in the UK owed £1.537 trillion at the end of May 2017. This is up from £1.489 trillion at the end of May 2016 – an extra £929.97 per UK adult Based on May 2017 trends, the UK’s…
Read moreThe Credit industry has responded to the Queen’s speech. Here is an overview of the some of the main talking points: Financial Guidance and Claims Bill Citizens Advice Chief Executive Gillian Guy said “The right guidance can be an essential part of a secure financial future. We help people with 1.7 million money queries a…
Read more
The Money Advice Service is calling on friends and family to spot the signs that people close to them might be experiencing problem debts. Debt and money worries are often seen as a taboo subject in the UK so it is time to get people talking about their money worries and get them to advice…
Read more