Surge in young adults needing help with managing money

15th February 2024 Arrears and Recoveries |

The number of young people needing help with managing money has doubled since 2019, Citizens Advice has reported. The charity, which supported 66,000 under 25s last year alone, says one in five (20%) young adults seeking its advice need help with debt. Citizens Advice warns many young people are feeling particularly squeezed by the cost-of-living…

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One in three households not confident in being able to afford energy bills

14th February 2024 Arrears and Recoveries | #energy bills

A third of households (34%) are not confident in being able to afford their energy bills over the next twelve months, after wholesale energy cost pressures caused the energy price cap to increase on 1st January 2024 according to research by Compare the Market. The energy price cap increased by £94 for a typical household…

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Mortgage arrears rise by 7%

Latest UK Finance data has indicated that homeowner mortgages in arrears rose by 7 per cent (93,680) in the final quarter of 2023 compared to the previous quarter. Buy-to-let mortgages in arrears also increased 18 per cent to 13,570 compared to the previous quarter. 540 homeowner mortgaged properties were taken into possession in Q4, down…

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Over 11m reliant on loans to survive whilst access to credit plummets

9th February 2024 Arrears and Recoveries |

Over 11.5 million, or four in ten (39%), financially vulnerable people, have no option but to turn to credit to afford everyday expenses, over double the UK average (15%) according to research by analytics firm Fuse. Three in ten (28%) also say that they are reliant on credit to pay for their mortgage or rent…

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Five million people are in a negative budget

8th February 2024 Arrears and Recoveries | #arrears

New research from Citizens Advice has found that five million people are in a negative budget, with the charity warns a living standards catastrophe is becoming the new normal ahead of the general election. The charity’s new analysis shows that the number of people in the red has jumped from 3.25 million since the start…

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1.1 million people have missed tax return deadline

5th February 2024 Arrears and Recoveries | #tax returns

New figures released by HMRC have revealed that 1.1 million people missed the 31st January deadline to submit their tax returns and could be on the hook for late filing penalties. Despite its estimate of late filers, HMRC has reported that it received over 500,000 more returns than it expected prior to the deadline, suggesting…

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Annual personal insolvencies figures fall 13%

Annual figures from the Insolvency Service for England & Wales have indicated that personal insolvency figures fell by 13% The number of personal insolvencies registered in 2023 was 103,454, lower than the 118,766 in 2022. The number of personal insolvencies was the lowest annual number since 2017. However 2023 saw the lowest annual number of…

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Debt relief orders trigger slight increase in personal insolvencies

Latest quarterly figures from the Insolvency Service for England & Wales have indicated that personal insolvency numbers increased by 3%. In Quarter 4 (Q4) 2023 there were 24,910 personal insolvencies, 3% higher in the previous quarter, but 15% lower than during the same quarter in the previous year. The number of debt relief orders (DROs)…

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Average family energy bills have risen by 63% since 2021

Research from Nationwide shows how costs have soared for the typical British family since 2021 – from mortgage or rent payments to food, energy and fuel – with more than one in five households having less than £100 spare each month. Continued high costs have led to more than two-thirds (69%) of family households feeling…

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Demand for debt advice service surged 34% in first week of 2024 

30th January 2024 Arrears and Recoveries | #debt advice

The demand for online money help has surged by 34% in the first week of 2024, the Money and Pensions Service (MaPS) has confirmed.   Total visits to MoneyHelper’s Money Troubles pages hit 10,187 in the first week of January this year, rising from 7,625 during the week up to Christmas Eve.   January 1-7 also…

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One in eight people borrowed money to make ends meet in past 12 months

One in eight (12%), around six million people, have borrowed money to make ends meet in the last 12 months according to research by StepChange. The debt charity is urging the government to reassess its cost of living support for households ahead of the Spring Budget as new polling finds that two in five (40%),…

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One in six renters have missed an essential payment

Almost one in six renters missed an essential payment in a single month, Which?’s latest Consumer Insight Tracker. Overall, an estimated 2.4 million households missed or defaulted on at least one mortgage, rent, loan, credit card or bill in the month to 12 January. This is on a par with the levels of missed payments…

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Majority of over 65’s not confident in managing retirement finances

The vast majority of those likely to be approaching, or in, retirement lack confidence and critical knowledge about key aspects of their retirement finances, spelling potential uncertainty ahead for thousands of retirees, according to new research from Standard Life, part of Phoenix Group. Standard Life’s Retirement Voice study, conducted among 6,000 consumers, found that only 9% of…

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