Credit, Collections & Insolvency News
A consultation on how to develop the price cap so customers remain protected as the energy market evolves to a smarter, more flexible system has been launched by Ofgem. The price cap, along with the temporary ban on acquisition-only tariffs, have worked well to protect customers from the ‘loyalty penalty’ where customers on default tariffs…
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Figures released by the Office for National Statistics (ONS) has found that the average monthly rent in the UK rose by 9% in the year to February – the highest annual increase since records began in 2015. The average monthly rents hit £1,276 in England, a 8.8% increase year-on-year. In Scotland, they rose by 10.9%…
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The Joseph Rowntree Foundation (JRF) is warning that the nation’s health can’t be protected only through NHS reform, as new JRF-backed research by the King’s Fund health and care think tank exposed the staggering toll poverty is taking on NHS services. With almost four million people in the UK facing destitution in a single year,…
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Missed payment rates among mortgage holders have returned to levels seen at the height of the cost of living crisis, Which?’s latest consumer insight tracker finds, as the Spring Budget leaves some feeling low about their future household finances. In the month (up until 8th March), 8.1 per cent of mortgage holders missed essential payments…
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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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Outstanding debt on credit cards increased by nearly 10% in the past year, as households turned to borrowing to cope with inflationary pressures and rising living costs. according to latest UK Finance date. The number of credit card transactions rose by 3.8% to 371.4 million in December, with a total spend of £19.2 billion in…
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A new repor from charity Mental Health Innovations, has revealed the extent that the cost-of-living crisis is having on the mental health of the nation. A third of those who are struggling with financial difficulties also tell us they have suicidal thoughts. The report analysed data from two million text conversations over five years, taken…
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New polling by Debt Justice indicated that a record 6.7 million people in Britain are now in financial difficulty. The polling conducted for Debt Awareness Week indicates that 13% of people have missed three or more credit or bill payments over the past six months. Debt Justice’s ,anifesto calls on all political parties to make a…
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Users of alternative financial products, like home-collected loans and payday loans, are four times more likely to be contacted by a debt collector, according to a new study of customers by Lowell. One in five adults who use alternative financial products were contacted by a debt collector in 2023, while one in twenty people in…
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The UK’s leading debt advice charities StepChange, Money Advice Trust, Citizens Advice, and Christians Against Poverty, alongside the Law Centres Network, have today written to DLUHC Secretary of State Michael Gove urging him to prioritise the Renters (Reform) Bill in this parliamentary session and calling for stronger protections in the Bill for private renters experiencing…
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Latest Bank of England figures show that the proportion of mortgages in arrears increased to its highest level since 2016 in the last three months of 2023. The share of outstanding mortgage balances in arrears rose to 1.23% in Q4 2023 from 1.12% in Q3. The value of these balances in arrears stood at £20.3…
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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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Over 270,000 people in Scotland missed a council tax payment in 2023 according to analysis by Citizens Advice Scotland (CAS). The analysis by the charity of polling it commissioned from YouGov found that 276,186 people in Scotland had missed a council tax payment at least once from December 2022. On average around one in three…
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