Credit, Collections & Insolvency News
Equifax has commented that the clock has started for Telco businesses to prepare for new data protection rules. Neil Compton, Telco and Utilities Director at Equifax said “Privacy and data protection are high on the agenda for consumers and regulators. Telcos are custodians of vast amounts of data and must start overhauling their procedures now to…
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The Foundation for Credit Counselling, trading as StepChange Debt Charity and StepChange Debt Charity Scotland, has received authorisation from the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA). Following news of the approval of the charity’s application, Mike O’Connor, Chief Executive of StepChange Debt Charity, said “Our FCA authorisation is testament to the charity’s work in providing the highest…
Read moreA company that sent out 2.2 million illegal marketing text messages has been fined £70,000 and ordered to stop by the ICO. The penalty was issued to London-based Nouveau Finance Ltd, a company which provides a loan matching service. Although there were only 92 complaints made about the messages, an ICO investigation revealed that Nouveau…
Read moreThe Financial Ombudsman (FOS) has published it’s latest complaints data for the second quarter of the financial year 2016/17. The complaints data shows a rise in issues with payday loans. Between, April and September 2016, the Ombudsman received over 5,000 payday loan complaints, compared to 3,200 between April 2015 and March 2016. There has also been…
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The Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) has today announced that it will take action to improve competition in the current account market. This follows a series of recommendations which were proposed by the Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) as part of its investigation into retail banking. Christopher Woolard, Executive Director of Strategy and Competition at the…
Read moreMotormile Finance UK Limited, a debt purchase and collections firm, has entered into an agreement with the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) to provide redress to more than 500,000 customers for historic failures in its due diligence and collections process. The firm had inadequate systems and controls over due diligence. In particular, it failed to conduct sufficient…
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Ulster Bank has been fined 3.3 million (£3 million) by Ireland’s financial watchdog over breaches of money laundering and terrorist financing rules. The Central Bank said its inquiries uncovered significant failings in Ulster Bank’s procedures practices over six years from July 2010. It said its inquiries uncovered significant failings in Ulster Bank’s procedures but no money…
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Co-operative Energy has agreed to pay £1.8 million to energy consumers, because it let customers down in its complaints resolution, call handling and billing processes. £1.6 million of this money has already been paid with the remainder to be paid shortly to those customers not yet compensated. The money that Co-op is unable to return…
Read moreThe Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) has today launched a consultation on its Mission, which is designed to provide a guiding set of principles around the strategic choices the FCA makes. It will inform the FCA’s strategy and day-to-day work over the coming years. The intention of the Mission is to provide clarity over the objectives, the…
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While budgets for training and development came under pressure during the recent economic downturn, they are now firmly back on the agenda in the financial services sector, according to new research from leading specialist recruitment consultancy, Robert Half Financial Services. Recognising the perceived value of training and certification to employees, nearly four in 10 (39%)…
Read moreMore customers in vulnerable situations will get extra help, under changes to the Priority Services Register announced by Ofgem. Customers on the Priority Services Register can get free, vital services from network operators and suppliers to help them manage their energy. These include: customers being given a password so that they can safely identify representatives…
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Vodafone will be fined £4,625,000 by Ofcom for serious and sustained breaches of consumer protection rules. The Ofcom investigation uncovered mis-selling, inaccurate billing and poor complaints handling procedures The penalty is the result of two investigations into Vodafone completed by Ofcom. One investigation found that 10,452 pay-as-you-go customers lost out when Vodafone failed to credit their…
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Company directors could be fined up to £500,000 if their business is behind nuisance phone calls, under government moves to clamp down on the problem. The law is to be changed in Spring 2017 to make directors personally liable for breaches of regulations. At the moment only firms can be fined for ignoring rules on cold calling,…
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