Credit, Collections & Insolvency News
Ofwat has announced the appointment of David Black as its Interim Chief Executive following Rachel Fletcher’s decision to take up a new role in the energy sector. Fletcher has been Ofwat’s CEO since January 2018, and will be leaving Ofwat to take up a new leadership role with Octopus Energy. David Black joined Ofwat in…
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Energy suppliers have increased bills by £78 since the start of December, as the new price cap level could rise for millions of households, according to research from comparethemarket.com. A decision on whether the default energy price cap will change from its current level of £1,042, for dual fuel average consumption households, is expected to…
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The Government has announced that it will legislate to bring currently unregulated, interest-free Buy-Now-Pay-Later (BNPL) into Financial Conduct Authority regulation in order to protect consumers under new plans announced by the government. The Government says that buy-now-pay-later products are rapidly increasing in popularity, with the volume of transactions tripling in 2020 as the pandemic drove…
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Energy regulator, Ofgem has appointed EDF to take on supplying Green Network Energy’s approximately 360,000 domestic customers and a small number of non-domestic customers. Separately, it has appointed British Gas Evolve, a trading name to take on supplying Simplicity Energy’s approximately 50,000 domestic customers following a competitive process run by Ofgem to get the best deal possible for customers. EDF and British Gas Evolve are offering customers a…
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Almost six in ten prepay customers are worried about their energy bills during national lockdown according to new research by Smart Energy GB. The research found that almost two thirds (65%) of energy customers on a non-smart prepay meter claim that their energy spend has increased during national lockdowns caused by the pandemic. The increase…
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Latest statistics from the Insolvency Service have indicated that there were 111,424 personal insolvencies in 2020, a fall of 9% on 2019’s figure of 121,882. The decrease was driven by a 25% reduction of both bankruptcies and DROs. The fall in DROs and debtor bankruptcies in the last three quarters of 2020 corresponds with a…
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Energy regulator, Ofgem has announced that two energy companies, Green Network Energy and Simplicity Energy have entered administration. The companies have over 410,000 domestic customers as well as business accounts. Green Network Energy, a medium-sized gas and electricity supplier with about 360,000 customers, has stopped trading, as has smaller firm Simplicity Energy, which has about…
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The Financial Conduct Authority has confirmed that it has extended its current guidance so firms should not enforce mortgage repossessions before 1st April as a result of the pandemic, except in exceptional circumstances. The guidance on consumer credit will permit firms to repossess goods and vehicles from 31st January 2021. In November 2020, banks and…
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Nearly 3.8 million consumers are excluded from the government’s income replacement schemes according to new analysis by Standard Life Foundation. The figures indicate that 7 per cent of consumers have lost earnings as a direct result of the pandemic and have not been either furloughed or able to get help from the Self-Employment Income Support…
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The Advertising Standards Authority (ASA) has published two rulings that have banned misleading adverts by two commercial debt advice firms. The rulings involve commercial debt advice companies, National Direct Service and Fidelitas Group who the ASA says made various misleading claims, in paid-for search ads and on their websites, about their services. An investigation was…
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The number of County Court Judgments (CCJs) issued against consumers in the fourth quarter of 2020 fell 28 percent, from 268,858 to 194,102, compared to the same quarter in 2019, according to figures released by Registry Trust. The total value of CCJs registered fell by 25 percent to £342 million in Q4 2020, down from…
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The number of decrees and total amount of debt registered against Scottish consumers fell sharply in the fourth quarter of 2020 compared to the same period last year, according to figures released by Registry Trust. The number of decrees fell by 27 percent from 4,984 to 3,654. The total value fell from £12.9 million to…
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The number of debt judgments registered against Northern Ireland consumers in the fourth quarter of 2020 was just 699, a huge fall of nearly 60 percent compared to the 1,732 registered in the same quarter last year, according to figures released by Registry Trust. The total value of judgment debt owed in Q4 2020 fell…
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