Credit, Collections & Insolvency News
New figures from the Insolvency Service show that there were nearly 88,000 IVA’s were registered in England and Wales in 2022, the highest annual number since records began in 1990. In England and Wales, one in 18 Individual Voluntary Arrangements (IVAs) (5.5%) registered with the Insolvency Service in 2021 terminated within one year of being approved.…
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More than 900,000 more households across England, Scotland and Wales will benefit from the government’s £400 help with energy bills, as an online application portal opens today (Monday 27th February 2023). Households without a direct relationship to an electricity supplier, such as those living in park homes and care homes, can now apply via a…
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Ofgem has said that energy firms should start compensating customers whose homes were wrongfully fitted with a PrePayment Meter (PPM), without waiting for the results of a major review The energy regulator has announced the launch of urgent work with stakeholders to look at what further protections may be needed within the rules, regulations and…
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Households with energy prepayment meters in their homes are nearly twice as likely to dip into debt due to the cost of living crisis than others, according to new data. The Office for National Statistics (ONS) found that 26% of adults who pay for their gas or electricity up front, reported using credit because of…
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Research by Cornwall Insights has predicted that energy bills will rise by an estimated £500 a year despite an expected reduction in Ofgem’s household energy cap. Cornwall Insight predicts the cap for a typical household will be £3,294 equivalent per year meaning that customers will pay about 20% more on their bills, approximately £500, as…
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The Financial Ombudsman Service (FOS) saw a 17% year-on-year increase in the number of complaints it received in Quarter 4 (Q4). FOS recorded 41,303 complaints between October and December, up from 35,342 during the same period in 2021. On a quarterly basis, there were 2,833 more complaints in Q4 than in the July to September…
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Following Energy Security Secretary Grant Shapps’ intervention last week, all energy suppliers have now committed to ending the forced installation of prepayment meters in vulnerable customers’ homes. Concerns were raised about the sharp rise in companies seeking warrants to enter people’s homes to forcibly install prepayment meters, Mr Shapps wrote to energy bosses insisting they…
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Latest figures from the Ministry of Justice (October to December 2022) for England and Wales have revealed that landlord repossessions increased by 98% at the end of 2022 The new figures show that there were 5,409 landlord repossessions in this period, a 98% increase on the same quarter last year and a similar level to…
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Ofgem has announced that, following constructive engagement with Ofgem, CO-OP Energy has agreed to deliver additional energy efficiency measures after the company did not meet its Energy Company Obligation (ECO3). CO-OP Energy was a domestic supplier previously but exited the market in August 2019. It has committed to make up any shortfall in energy savings…
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Business and Energy Secretary Grant Shapps has given energy bosses a deadline of Tuesday (7th February) to report back to him on what remedial action – such as providing compensation – they plan to take should they have wrongfully installed prepayment meters in the homes of vulnerable customers. The Business Secretary has today told Ofgem…
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As firms continue to get ready for the implementation of the Consumer Duty, the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) has announced that is offering support to firms through the transition with a programme of engagement, which includes setting out in letters the expectations of the Duty and arranging a series of regional in-person events for specific groups of…
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The annual bill for an average household in England and Wales will hit £448, industry body Water UK has said. The 7.5% increase means customers will mean that bills will rise by an average of £31 to £448 a year. It has also been announced that support for low-income households will also be increased to…
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The Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) has announced that is to push ahead with proposals to ban debt packager firms from receiving referral fees from debt solution providers, following further analysis of the market. The FCA initially consulted on a ban in November 2021 after identifying a lack of adequate management of the conflict of interest…
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