Credit, Collections & Insolvency News
New trials are looking to build on evidence that training frontline support workers in money guidance can help the UK’s most vulnerable people to address and avoid financial problems such as going into debt. Funded and coordinated by the Money and Pensions Service (MaPS), the trials will be run by Shelter England, Shelter Scotland, Hafal in Wales and NIACRO…
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New figures released by the Finance & Leasing Association (FLA) show that the number of second charge mortgage repossessions in Q4 2019 was 25, 10.7% lower than in Q4 2018. The annual total of repossessions in this market fell to a record low of 98 in 2019. The rate of second charge mortgage repossessions (as…
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New figures released by the Finance & Leasing Association (FLA) show that Second charge mortgage new business volumes up by 19% in 2019. Commenting on the full year 2019 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…
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New figures released by the Finance & Leasing Association (FLA) show that consumer finance new business grew in December 2019 by 12% compared with the same month in 2018, driven by the timing of Black Friday and Cyber Monday retail events. In 2019 as a whole, this market reported new business growth of 1%. Credit…
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Two-thirds of consumers (66%) of current account holders are unaware of the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) changes to overdraft fees, according to new research by comparethemarket.com. The FCA has introduced new rules to make the costs of overdrafts clearer and easier to compare. But two thirds (66%) of customers have no idea these changes are…
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Over a million people are expected to receive communications from their credit card providers by the end of March asking them to increase their payments. StepChange Debt Charity has launched a dedicated new online information and guidance hub and an interactive credit card repayment calculator for people receiving these ‘persistent debt’ letters. People who have…
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The proportion of people with a job who live in poverty went up for the third consecutive year in 2018 to a record high, with about 14 million struggling to make ends meet according to a report by Joseph Rowntree Foundation (JRF). The report shows that rising levels of employment have failed to translate into…
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The Treasury has published an impact assessment of its forthcoming ‘breathing space’ scheme to help people in debt by giving them 60 days free from creditor contact in which to talk over their options with a professional debt advisor. 700,000 people are expected to take part in the scheme in its first year, and 1.2…
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Latest research from Cifas, the UK’s leading fraud prevention service, has revealed that the number of people failing to disclose a previous address in an attempt to hide their adverse credit rose by just over a quarter (26%) in 2019. Adverse credit refers to a poor repayment history – usually on loans or credit cards.…
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Nationwide is to repay customers after it failed to correctly warn them that they would be charged for entering an unarranged overdraft. The move comes after the building society was found to have broken Part 6 of the Competition and Markets Authority’s (CMA) Retail Banking Market Investigation Order, which states that customers with personal current…
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One in three (36%) people in the UK say they would be in financial arrears within a month if they were to lose their jobs tomorrow, according to new research by AA Financial Services. This figure rises to a staggering one in two (51%) amongst people who rent their homes. The findings come at a…
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Poverty rates fall from 35 per cent to 18 per cent when people move into work – but even sustained employment does not eliminate in-work poverty for too many households, highlighting the need for wider support, according to new research published today (Tuesday) by the Resolution Foundation in partnership with Clarion Housing Group. With almost…
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Customers took advantage of record low rates and increasing product flexibilities to access £3.92 billion of property wealth in 2019 despite a cautious economic climate, according to year-end market figures from the Equity Release Council, the sector trade body. The market has witnessed steady growth in the space of a decade, with the amount accessed…
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