Credit, Collections & Insolvency News
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
With the latest projections from Cornwall Insight pointing to the next price cap exceeding £3,300 this winter, Energy UK is calling the Government to again look at actions that could reduce customer bills. These could include removing VAT from bills, moving existing levies onto general taxation and seeing whether other costs can be spread over a…
Read more
Energy regulator Ofgem has told a number of energy suppliers to take immediate and urgent action after a review found a range of weaknesses or failings in the way they charge customers direct debits. Out of a total of 17 large suppliers in the market, the majority were found to only have minor issues, but…
Read more
The Credit Services Association (CSA), the UK trade body for the debt collection and debt purchase industry, has cautiously welcomed the Government’s recent announcement of their intention to reform and modernise the now almost fifty-year-old Consumer Credit Act. In a new report, the trade body draws attention to the mismatch between the requirements of the…
Read more
Registry Trust, the not-for-profit organisation which maintains the Register of Judgments, Orders and Fines, is calling on stakeholders from across the credit and debt landscape to support its project to create a Register of Partial Settlements. Registry Trust’s monetary judgments data is used for public good in millions of credit and lending decisions every year…
Read more
Ofgem has appointed Octopus Energy to take on supplying UKEIH’s 3000 domestic customers following a competitive process run by Ofgem to get the best deal possible for customers. Funds that current and former domestic customers of the supplier have paid into their accounts will be protected, where they are in credit. Domestic customers will also…
Read more