Credit, Collections & Insolvency News
The Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) has announced the appointment of Sheldon Mills as the Interim Executive Director of Strategy and Competition. Currently the FCA’s Director of Competition, Sheldon will replace Christopher Woolard as he steps into the role of Interim Chief Executive. He will become a member of the FCA’s Executive Committee. Sheldon joined the…
Read moreTwo-thirds of consumers (66%) of current account holders are unaware of the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) changes to overdraft fees, according to new research by comparethemarket.com. The FCA has introduced new rules to make the costs of overdrafts clearer and easier to compare. But two thirds (66%) of customers have no idea these changes are…
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Complaints about high-cost short term loans have leapt by up to 250% in a year, according to the latest figures from the Financial Ombudsman Service (FOS). FOS says complaints about high-cost loans often relate to affordability. Others involve claims that a firm acted unreasonably or unfairly when someone’s financial situation changed. FOS also says it…
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Yorkshire Water has announced that it will not accept the final determination published by Ofwat on 16th December 2019 as part of its 2019 price review. It has instead asked Ofwat to refer its final determination to the Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) for review. Yorkshire Water says that significant work has been undertaken to…
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Energy regulator Ofgem has announced a new customer compensation payment scheme to boost confidence in the switching process. The measures will be introduced from 1st May when consumers will automatically receive £30 if they experience delays or mistakes when switching supplier Ofgem says the new requirements, will give customers further peace of mind that they…
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Energy bills are to fall for millions of British households this April after the regulator lowered price caps. Ofgem has reduced the default price cap and pre-payment meter cap by £17, which the regulator said would lower bills for about 15 million households. The default price cap, which protects around 11 million households, is set to fall…
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Nationwide is to repay customers after it failed to correctly warn them that they would be charged for entering an unarranged overdraft. The move comes after the building society was found to have broken Part 6 of the Competition and Markets Authority’s (CMA) Retail Banking Market Investigation Order, which states that customers with personal current…
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Average household water bills in England and Wales will be cut by around £17 (4%) in 2020/21 according to industry trade body Water UK. The average annual bill will decrease from £413.33 to £396.60, although there will be variations from company to company. It means customers will continue to pay around £1 a day for…
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A new debt recovery law has been launched following authorisation from the Solicitors Regulation Authority (SRA). AJJB Law says that it will be a modern legal practice specialising in all aspects of financial debt recovery litigation and will operate from the same location as its parent company CRS. The company says that its debt collection…
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The Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) has written to credit card firms telling them to review their approach to borrowers who are stuck in persistent debt, where they are paying more in interest, fees and charges than they are paying of their balance. New FCA rules require firms to help people who have been caught in…
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There was a 20 percent rise in the number of judgments recorded against consumers in the Republic of Ireland in Q4 2019, compared to the same period last year, figures released by registrar Irish Judgments show. Consumer judgment numbers rose from 516 in Q4 2018 to 618 Q4 2019, while the total value grew by…
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Utility Warehouse is to refund and compensate 3,430 Warm Home Discount customers with £450,000 after it overcharged them, due to a system error when the price cap was applied. The supplier will pay a further £200,000 into Ofgem’s voluntary redress fund, in recognition of the seriousness of the breach and the impact on potentially vulnerable…
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Ovo Energy has agreed to pay £8.9 million for issuing inaccurate or incomplete information to customers, and for under and overcharging customers due to IT issues. These breaches occurred while Ovo did not put enough attention on ensuring its processes and governance were capable of complying with Ofgem’s rules. Following an investigation by the energy…
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