Credit, Collections & Insolvency News
Energy regulator, Ofgem has decided to accept commitments from PayPoint and a donation of £12.5 million to the regulator’s Energy Industry Voluntary Redress Scheme, following an investigation into whether PayPoint has infringed Chapter II of the Competition Act 1998. PayPoint provides services to energy suppliers which enable their energy prepayment meter customers to top up…
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Enforcement solutions specialist, Marston Holdings has announced that it has won a place on Crown Commercial Service’s Transport Technology and Associated Services (TTAS) framework. The new framework runs through to 31st October 2025 and makes it easier for government and public sector organisations to procure Marston’s full range of design, build and enforce solutions that…
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Bulb Energy, which has 1.7 million customers, has announced that the firm will be put into administration. The energy firm has confirmed it will enter the special administration regime (SAR), becoming the first energy supplier to do so. The decision to place a company into a Special Administration Regime is made by the court upon…
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Latest figures from the Insolvency Service have indicated that Personal insolvencies fell by 3.0% to 9,668 in October 2021 compared to 9,966 in September 2021, and were 19.2% lower than October 2020’s figure of 11,960. There were 601 bankruptcies were registered, which was 44% lower than October 2020 and 57% lower than October 2019. The…
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The Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) has proposed banning debt packager firms from being paid to refer customers to other firms. Debt packagers are regulated providers of debt advice, who refer customers to other providers of debt solutions. They rely on income from referral fees paid by these other firms. These fees can be many times…
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Energy companies, Neon Reef and Social Energy Suppl, have announced they are ceasing to trade, meaning that 21 energy suppliers have collapsed since the start of September. Neon Reef supplies around 30,000 domestic electricity customers, and Social Energy Supply supplies around 5,500 domestic customers. Under Ofgem’s safety net, customers’ energy supply will continue and funds…
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Energy giant Utility Warehouse has been ordered to pay £1.5 million in redress to its customers an investigation by Ofgem found it failed to adequately support those who were struggling in debt. The investigation by the energy regulator found that customers were not consistently offered support, such as debt repayment plans and energy efficiency advice,…
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Ofgem has appointed five energy suppliers to take on the more than 70,600 customers of six recently failed energy retailers. The news follows the announcement by Yu Group earlier in the week that it had taken over the supply of the 600 domestic and 2,000 non-domestic customers of Ampower. The suppliers will take on a…
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Omni Energy, MA Energy, Zebra Power and Ampoweruk have announced they are the latest energy companies ceasing to trade. Omni Energy supplies around 6,000 domestic pre-payment customers, MA Energy supplies around 300 non-domestic customers, Zebra Power supplies around 14,800 domestic customers, Ampoweruk supplies around 600 domestic customers, and around 2000 non-domestic customers. Under Ofgem’s safety…
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A review of the methodology for setting the energy price cap has been announced by Ofgem following the unprecedented rise in wholesale costs in recent months. In a letter to the industry, the regulator’s chief executive Jonathan Brearley also revealed plans to facilitate faster payments to suppliers of last resort and pause all new applications…
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Chancellor Rishi Sunak has announced changes to the Universal Credit Taper rate, which is the amount of Universal Credit (UC) withdrawn for every pound someone earns (from 63% to 55%, so for every extra £1 earned, 55p of Universal Credit will be withdrawn) as part of his latest budget announcement. StepChange Debt Charity says that…
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The Money and Pensions Service (MaPs) has provided an update on debt advice commissioning following the completion of a key stage of the procurement process As well as providing money and pensions guidance through the MoneyHelper and Pension Wise brands, the Money and Pensions Service (MaPS), the largest single funder of debt advice provision in…
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The Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) has called for legislative change to address concerns beyond its remit in its latest Perimeter Report. .The report recommends that duties on internet companies in the Online Safety Bill should extend to paid-for advertising, as well as user-generated content. The FCA also believes that the Bill should designate content relating…
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