Credit, Collections & Insolvency News
More than a third (35%) of young people expect to be made redundant or take a pay cut due the economic impact of coronavirus. New data fromcomparethemarket.com’s Household Financial Confidence Tracker shows that 17% of 18-24 year olds believe they will be made redundant in the coming months and a further 18% anticipate that they…
Read more
The Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) has fined Lloyds Bank and its subsidiaries Bank of Scotland and The Mortgage Business £64,046,800 (over £64 million) after it was found to have failed its vulnerable mortgage customers. Failures were found in relation to their handling of mortgage customers in payment difficulties or arrears. The banks have estimated that…
Read more
New research from data insight specialist Consumer Intelligence has indicated that homeowners are considering cancelling their insurance as the cost of insurance rises to create further financial strains. The research shows the cost of buildings and contents insurance has risen 0.5% in the last 3 months (to an average premium of £151), but remains competitive,…
Read more
New figures released by the Finance & Leasing Association (FLA) show that consumer finance new business fell in April 2020 by 64% compared with the same month in 2019, and decreased by 19% in the first four months of 2020. Credit card and personal loan new business together fell in April 2020 by 48% compared…
Read more
New data from Barclaycard has indicated that consumer spending contracted 26.7 per cent year-on-year in May. The data from Barclaycard, which sees nearly half of the nation’s credit and debit card transactions, reveals that spending on essential items grew slightly by 0.9 per cent. This was bolstered by a 24.5 per cent rise in supermarket…
Read more
The Government has announced an extra £37.8 million support package will be available to debt advice providers this year. The Money and Pensions Service (MaPS), will oversee the allocation of the funds, including to charities, for debt advice and other money guidance services. The support package, which will bring the MaPS budget for debt advice…
Read more
The Covid-19 crisis has reduced financial wellbeing in the UK and consumers expect a further decline in the next six months, according to a European survey by credit management group Intrum. Despite this, some UK consumers have experienced a positive effect on their spending. The whitepaper outlines the financial impact of Covid-19 on private households…
Read more
Debt charity StepChange has published a briefing revealing that a personal debt tsunami of £6 billion directly attributable to the pandemic is already being stored up among some 4.6 million households and, if left unchecked, is set to worsen. The charity warns that coronavirus-related debt will act as a drag on economic recovery and will…
Read more
New figures released by the Finance & Leasing Association (FLA) show that second charge mortgage new business volumes fall by 69% in April 2020 Commenting on the latest new business figures for the second charge mortgage market, Fiona Hoyle, Head of Consumer and Mortgage Finance at the Finance & Leasing Association (FLA), said “The second…
Read more
The economic fallout of the pandemic could leave 1.1 million more people below the pre-Covid poverty line at year end, including a further 200,000 children, according to analysis released by an IPPR think tank. The think tanks says that without urgent action to protect families from the financial hardship caused by the pandemic, this would…
Read more
Families with children at home during the coronavirus lockdown are turning to payment holidays to help them through the crisis. According to comparethemarket.com’s Household Financial Confidence Tracker, fewer than one in ten (9%) households without children at home say they have taken a payment holiday, but this figure leaps to over a fifth (21%) among…
Read more
The Scottish Building Society has pledged a 12-month pause on repossessions as it looks to support customers amid the coronavirus pandemic. It is also extending a three-month mortgage break to six months. Scottish Building Society is also encouraging landlords to help those struggling to pay rent, by offering mortgage holidays if they pass on the…
Read more
The Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) has directed insurance firms to consider the impact of COVID-19 on the value of their products, saying they should evaluate services and detail any alterations within six months. The new measures set out what the FCA considers firms should be doing to identify any material issues that affect the value…
Read more