Credit, Collections & Insolvency News
Energy bills could hit £5,300 a year by next April according to predictions by Cornwall Insight. The research has found that households will face an 80% rise in bills going into the winter period when energy use soars. The predictions show a typical household will be paying £3,553 equivalent per year for their energy bills.…
Read more
New analysis published by the TUC has shown that energy bills are now expected to cost more than two months of average take-home pay in 2023 – without government intervention. Average take-home pay (after tax) will be £2,054 per month in 2023 based on Bank of England forecasts, so at £4,108, two months’ pay will…
Read more
Latest figures from the Ministry of Justice have shown that mortgage and landlord possession statistics (April to June 2022) have indicated that repossessions by county court bailiffs increased from 45 to 770 (1,611%). Mortgage claims, orders, warrants and repossessions have also increased significantly when compared to the same quarter in 2021. Compared to the same…
Read more
Ahead of the autumn bill hikes, household energy debt is already standing at an all-time high of £1.3 billion – nearly three times higher than it was in September last year according to new research from Uswitch.com, the comparison and switching service. Six million homes – almost a quarter of households (23%) – owe an average of…
Read more
Ofgem has announced that the energy price cap review will be updated every three months instead of six. The energy regulator says that the change will go some way to provide the stability needed in the energy market, reducing the risk of further large-scale supplier failures which cause huge disruption and push up costs for…
Read more
The Resolution Foundation has warned that inflation could hit more than seven times the Bank of England’s 2% target, with the think-tank saying it could pass the 15% mark in early 2023. Inflation currently stands at 9.4% and the Bank’s Monetary Policy Committee is expected to increase interest rates further as it looks to tackle…
Read more
One-in-seven customers are still paying the loyalty penalty across the broadband, mobile and mortgages markets in the midst of a cost-of-living crisis according to latest Citizens Advice research, The charity found two-fifths of people (41%) who are paying the loyalty penalty have struggled to sleep due to their finances. Three in 10 (28%) have already…
Read more
The Consumer Council for Water (CCW) has called for renewed urgency in putting in place a new universal water affordability scheme to provide fair, consistent and sustainable financial help for the 1.5 million households across England and Wales living in water poverty. the call follows a report which has revealed a steep rise among the…
Read more
Ofwat has set out new proposals to improve financial resilience in the sector. These would give the regulator extra powers to stop water companies making dividend payments if the company’s financial resilience is at risk. The move would also enable Ofwat to take enforcement action against companies that don’t link dividend payments to their performance, or…
Read more
The UK’s three largest debt charities have called on the energy regulator Ofgem to urgently increase protections for people with energy arrears, as rising costs continue to impact households. Citizens Advice, the Money Advice Trust and StepChange Debt Charity are warning that with a further substantial rise in the energy price cap coming in October,…
Read more
The Government should immediately update its package of support to help households with soaring energy bills before the cost-of-living crisis grips even harder following October’s energy price cap increase, according to a new report by the Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy Committee (BEIS). The report comes as people are feeling the squeeze of 40-year high…
Read more
8.2 million households, one in three in the UK, are expected to be in fuel poverty following October’s price cap increase, National Energy Action has warned. Today fuel poverty charity National Energy Action (NEA) releases worrying new figures amid the cost-of-living crisis. Energy experts Cornwall Insight has predicted that when the price cap rises in…
Read more
Almost one in four families across England, Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland are set to receive £326 the Government’s first cost of living payment today which will be sent directly to them with the second instalment of £324 sent later this year as part of the government’s £37 billion support package. Over eight million households…
Read more