Credit, Collections & Insolvency News
The Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) has announced that it has appointed Non-Executive Chair of the London Stock Exchange (LSE) Michael Findlay, as the Chair of its independent Markets Practitioner Panel. Findlay will take up the post from 1st July 2021, succeeding Interim Chair Tim Waddell, Vice Chairman, Global Corporate & Investment Banking for EMEA, BofA…
Read moreThe Payment Systems Regulator (PSR), the specialist economic regulator of UK payment systems, has published its proposed five-year strategy. The strategy sets out an approach that aims to make sure payments and payment systems work well for everybody and that there is fair competition and access to payments for all. The PSR’s approach will protect and embrace what’s working well, change what…
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The Financial Wellness Group is calling for the public Individual Insolvency Register, and the publishing of personal details in the Gazette, to be abolished and be replaced with a private register, accessible only to those with a legitimate need to access it. The aim is to try and reduce the shame and stigma that many…
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Sub-prime lender, Amigo has warned that it faces potential collapse after confirming that it will not appeal against a High Court decision that blocked a scheme to cap customer compensation. The firm said it would ‘consider all options’ noting that it is looking at an alternative scheme to manage the costs of customer compensation claims.…
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Debt charity StepChange has warned that private tenants will need financial support to address the £360 million black hole of rent debt built up during the pandemic. From today (Tuesday 1st June) evictions for rent arrears can resume in England, however, the debt charity has highlighted that as yet there is no plan to help…
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The Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) has announced a package of remedies to improve competition and protect home and motor insurance customers from loyalty penalties. The changes mean that people renewing their home or motor insurance will pay no more than they would as a new customer from January. The FCA says that these measures address the…
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More than a million households are struggling to pay their water bills according to the Consumer Council for Water (CCW). According to the CCW, there are about 1.5 million people in ‘water poverty’ which it defines as having to spend more than 5% of their income after housing costs on water bills. As a result…
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Universal Credit flaws are stopping vulnerable people from getting help from loved ones to manage benefits, leaving 100,000s struggling, and some risking benefits cuts according to new research by the Money and Mental Health charity The charity is launching a new campaign — Set Up To Fail. The campaign calls for urgent action from the…
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The IVA Standing Committee has published a new version of the IVA protocol, providing updated regulatory standards to insolvency practitioners, creditors and debt advice sector. A significant proportion of individual voluntary arrangements (IVAs) in the UK are drafted in accordance with the principles from the IVA protocol. The IVA standing committee, chaired by the Insolvency…
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The Payments Systems Regulator (PSR) has published its call for views on the second phase of delivering Confirmation of Payee (CoP), which is a name-checking service designed to prevent Authorised Push Payment (APP) scams and misdirected payments. The PSR says every year thousands of individuals and businesses fall victim to APP scams – where they are tricked…
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The Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO) has fined American Express Services Europe Limited (Amex) £90,000 for sending more than four million marketing emails to customers who did not want to receive them. The ICO began investigating when it received complaints from Amex customers who were getting marketing emails despite having opted out from them. The emails included…
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The Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) has announced proposals to stop the practice of ‘claims management phoenixing’, by banning Claims Management Companies (CMCs) from managing Financial Services Compensation Scheme (FSCS) claims where they have a relevant connection to the claim. Claims management phoenixing occurs when individuals from financial services firms go out of business, but later reappear in connection with CMCs and charge consumers for seeking compensation against…
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UK Finance analysis of nearly seven thousand authorised push payment (APP) scam cases shows that 70 per cent of scams originated on an online platform — highlighting the internet’s significant role in enabling fraud. The new analysis comes as the government published the draft Online Safety Bill this week, to include user-generated content on social…
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