Credit, Collections & Insolvency News
Domestic energy supplier E.ON Next has been ordered by Ofgem to pay £5 million in compensation for poor standards of customer service. Throughout 2022, energy regulator Ofgem conducted a series of Market Compliance Reviews (MCRs), examining energy suppliers’ performance on key areas across the sector in a bid to drive up standards. One of these…
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New figures released by the Finance & Leasing Association (FLA) have shown that second charge mortgage new business volumes fell by 22% in April 2023 Commenting on the latest new business figures for the second charge mortgage market, Fiona Hoyle, Director of Consumer & Mortgage Finance and Inclusion at the Finance & Leasing Association (FLA),…
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An estimated 5.5 million people (one in ten adults) were behind on their energy bills in April, an increase of 2.1 million compared to March 2022 according to new research from the Money Advice Trust, the charity that runs National Debtline and Business Debtline. The charity’s Under Pressure research, based on an Opinium survey…
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Energy retailers have been urged to simplify the language used in consumer communications after a survey found the majority of customers (76%) are confused by their bill. Consumer group Which?’s research found almost half (48%) of all consumers said they experience a negative emotional response when reading their bills. The research that almost half (47%)…
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Cost of living pressures have affected UK consumers more than their European counterparts, according to the latest EY UK Future Consumer Index. The twelfth edition of EY’s survey of 1,000 UK consumers found that 62% of UK consumers say they are ‘extremely concerned’ by the cost-of-living squeeze, compared with 50% in the rest of Europe.…
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Households have faced more than a year of high inflation and rising interest rates and the impact of both is becoming more apparent according to new UK Finance data. The research found that squeezed budgets and higher financing costs are bearing down more heavily on affordability for prospective house buyers. The same pressures are, as…
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The Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) has announced a ban on referral fees for debt packager firms. The ban applies to all new debt packager firms and will come into play for existing firms in October 2023, and follows a review that found evidence of debt packagers appearing to manipulate customers’ details so that they meet…
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Lenders are being urged to help their customers who are facing financial difficulty to take a proactive approach to the cost-of-living crisis to help prevent unmanageable debt and a deepening of stress-induced mental health crises, before they occur. TDX and Equifax’s say that it’s recommendations are supported by partners including UK Mortgages and the Centre…
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Here is an overview of The Money Charity’s latest statistics for May 2023 Personal debt in the UK People in the UK owed £1,839.7 billion at the end of March 2023. The average total debt per household, including mortgages, was £65,513 and per adult was £34,589, around 105.3% of average earnings. Net mortgage lending shrunk by…
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Temporary measures forcing lenders to offer greater support to borrowers in financial difficulties could become permanent, under new proposals announced by the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA). The FCA also announced that 17 lenders will pay up to £47 million in redress to financially-distressed borrowers, after failing to offer appropriate support. The payments will be made…
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A new report by Christians Against Poverty (CAP) report has revealed a sharp rise in unsustainable budgets with the average person £242 short each month The research found that there has been a rise in the proportion of CAP client budgets that are unsustainable each year over the past five years, apart from 2020 when…
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Latest UK Finance data has reported a 50% increase in home repossessions in Quarter 1 (Q1) 2023, with over 1,000 homes taken into repossession due to homeowners struggling to keep up with mortgage repayments. In addition to the 750 mortgaged properties repossessed, 50 per cent greater than in the previous quarter. 410 buy-to-let mortgaged properties…
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New data from Experian finds that the average adult will wait until they have debt totalling £7,835 before seeking help, with one fifth of the nation (20%) saying they wouldn’t look for any support at all if they owed money. To support people who are finding money conversations difficult, Experian is partnering with Citizens Advice…
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