Credit, Collections & Insolvency News
Members of the UK Regulators’ Network (UKRN) the Financial Conduct Authority (FC) FCA, Ofgem, Ofwat, and Ofcom, have published a joint letter setting out shared expectations in relation to debt collection and customers experiencing financial difficulty. The letter calls on companies to improve their debt collection practices, after identifying shortcomings across the financial services industry,…
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Energy regulator Ofgem has announced a call for input to examine issues around affordability and debt in the energy market. The regulator says that its first responsibility is to protect consumers, and we remain very concerned that struggling households have a limited ability to cope with future price shocks. At the same time, the cost…
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Resolution Foundation analysis of Ofgem’s Price Cap for April-June 2024, and Cornwall Insight forecasts for the price cap in the second half of the year, show that household energy bills are on track to fall by 24 per cent (or £545) in real terms in 2024, compared to last year. The latest Ofgem price cap…
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Energy regulator Ofgem has announced a significant reduction of the energy price cap for the second quarter of 2024. The price cap changes mean that the average annual energy bill will fall £238 a year from April, this is its lowest level for two years. The change means that the maximum rate per unit that…
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Households in England and Wales received an estimated £29,550,000 in Cold Weather Payments from 1st November 2023 to 9th February 2024, according to Compare the Market’s analysis of data from the Department of Work and Pensions (DWP). The fall is £108,050,000 wh compared to the £137,600,000 reported between 1st November 2022 and 10th February 2023.…
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Latest forecast by Cornwall Insight has predicted that energy bills will fall in April by nearly £300 a year for a household using a typical amount of gas and electricity. The forecast for the April – June Q2 2024 forecasts that a typical dual fuel household will be £1,635 per annum. This is a fall…
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The Government’s Annual Fuel poverty statistics for 2023 has indicated that there were an estimated 13 per cent of households (3.17 million) in fuel poverty in England under the Low Income Low Energy Efficiency (LILEE) metric, effectively unchanged from 13.1 per cent in 2022 (3.18 million) The aggregate fuel poverty gap for England in 2023…
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A third of households (34%) are not confident in being able to afford their energy bills over the next twelve months, after wholesale energy cost pressures caused the energy price cap to increase on 1st January 2024 according to research by Compare the Market. The energy price cap increased by £94 for a typical household…
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Ofwat has announced that water companies face fines for poor customer service, which could see the regulator impose fines of up to 10% of the company’s turnover. Ofwat expects all water companies to be focused on delivering a high level of customer service – from resolving complaints to making sure customers are informed and supported…
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Over six million children in Britain have parents who are worried they won’t be able to afford their next energy bill. And almost half of parents said they would cut back on their food shopping to pay for other household bills according to research by Citizens Advice. Citizens Advice and Citizens Advice Scotland are also…
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Age UK is warning that older people living in a household with an income less than £20,000 per year and not in receipt of means tested benefits, have faced particularly steep challenges with managing through recent times. New research for the Charity revealed that almost a third (29%) of over 60s in this group report…
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Ofgem has published a policy consultation considering a new policy to run alongside the Supplier of Last Resort (SoLR) levy process that could help further protect consumers from costs of future supplier failures calling this the SoLR Levy Offset. Ofgem’s Supplier of Last Resort (SoLR) safety net ensures that when an energy company fails customers…
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Average water bills are set to rise by 6% in April to around £473 annually for combined services according to suppliers’ trade body Water UK. Water UK said, was below inflation and represents a real-term reduction since 2019, however, consumer body CCW urged the sector to go further in support of households struggling to pay.…
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