County Court judgment volumes hit highest levels since 2019

New figures published today by Registry Trust have shown that court judgment activity rose sharply in 2025, reaching its highest level since before the pandemic. A total of 1,196,174 new County Court Judgments (CCJs) were registered across the UK and Ireland in 2025 – a 10.1% increase year-on-year and the highest annual total since 2019, 1,163,903…

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DWP faces scrutiny over bank account check powers

26th February 2026 Banking and Loans | #bank accounts

The Department for Work and Pensions’ (DWP) new powers to reach further into citizens’ lives must be used effectively and proportionately. In a new report on benefit fraud and error, the Public Accounts Committee (PAC) promises continued scrutiny of how the DWP will work to resolve the cases of carers wrongly pursued for overpayment debts,…

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Energy price cap to fall by 7% from April

25th February 2026 Arrears and Recoveries | #energy bills

Energy regulator Ofgem has announced a 7% (or £117) reduction of the energy price cap for the period covering 1st April to 30th June 2026. This change amounts to a reduction of around £10 a month for the average household using both electricity and gas. The price cap refers to the default tariff applied when a…

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Energy price cap forecasted to fall

20th February 2026 Consumer Collections | #energy prices

Cornwall Insight has released its final forecast for the April – June 2026 which predicts the cap will fall by £117 to £1,641 a year for a typical dual fuel household. This would represent a decrease of 7% from the current price cap, which is set at £1,758 per year. The main driver behind the…

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Report highlights scale of cyber security risks to the collections sector

3rd February 2026 Company News | #cyber security

The Credit Services Association (CSA), the UK trade body for the debt collection and purchase industry, has published a new report highlighting the rising scale, complexity and cost of cyber security risks facing its members, urging them to prioritise resilience as a core operational and governance responsibility. The report, titled ‘Cyber Security: The Billion Pound…

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Government extends energy bill support for millions of families

30th January 2026 Consumer Collections | #energy bills

The Government has announced that around six million low-income households will continue to receive £150 off their winter energy bills with the Warm Home Discount scheme extended by five more years. The Government’s expansion of the Warm Home Discount last year added 2.7 million families to the scheme, bringing the total number of eligible households…

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Water bills set to increase by £33 a year from April

29th January 2026 Consumer Collections | #water bills

New data from Water UK has indicated that water bills in household water bills in England and Wales will rise by an average of 5.4% – around £33 a year, or approximately £2.70 per month – from April, reflecting significant investment in upgrading water infrastructure. The rise is two percentage points above December’s official inflation…

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Government announces cap on ground rents

Millions of leaseholders across England and Wales are set to benefit from a major shake-up of the outdated leasehold system – with ground rents set to be capped at £250 a year, changing to a peppercorn cap after 40 years. Ground rents were abolished for most new residential leasehold properties in England and Wales in…

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Energy company to pay £2.7m redress for over payment failures

Energy company, OVO will pay over £2.7 million in redress after failing to provide Warm Home Discount (WHD) rebates to 11,646 customers by the statutory deadline of 31st March 2024. These customers did not receive their rebate until November 2025 – more than 19 months late. The delay meant that some of the most vulnerable…

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Nine in ten believe we will be poorer in the future without financial education

New research by the People’s Partnership has revealed how the majority of adults think that without financial education, we will all be poorer in the future, and we are failing future generations if we don’t equip them with financial literacy. The data shows that nine in ten (85%) of adults believe that without financial education,…

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Personal insolvencies increased by 7% in 2025

Latest data from the Insolvency Service for England & Wales has shown that personal insolvencies increased by 7% in 2025 when compared to 2024, rising to 126,240 from 117,958 in 2042 The annual number of IVAs in 2025 was 7% higher than in 2024, but remained lower than the record high annual numbers between 2019…

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ECB report highlights the scale of the enforcement industry

20th January 2026 Consumer Collections | #enforcement

The Enforcement Conduct Board (ECB) has published its first Insight Report, which presents new data on enforcement (bailiff) industry practices, drawing on evidence from its complaints handling service and oversight work. The data showed that the enforcement industry is handling over 7 million cases a year, impacting millions of people, with the industry sector collecting…

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People risk being pushed into poverty by DWP’s ‘unacceptable’ poor service

A new report on the DWP, the Public Accounts Committee (PAC) is calling out the unacceptable waits some people face for their Personal Independent Payment (PIP) to be processed, which can cause them to get into debt and push them into poverty. The report cites examples of people waiting over a year for their PIP…

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