Credit, Collections & Insolvency News
The amount of money that households collectively owe to their energy suppliers has doubled in the past year to reach £1 billion, with a quarter (23%) of consumers now in energy debt, according to new research from Uswitch.com, the comparison and switching service. The number of households in debt to their supplier has risen by…
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Average UK rents have increased for the sixth consecutive quarter, according to The Deposit Protection Service (The DPS). The research also showed that some tenants are paying above the going rate to secure a property. The UK’s largest protector of deposits, which safeguards 1.8m rent securities, says that average rents now stand at £849 a…
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More than 200,000 private renters in England have been served eviction notices without doing anything wrong in the three years since the government first promised to ban the practice according to research by Shelter. The research found that every seven minutes a private renter in England is handed a Section 21 no-fault eviction notice by…
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The Office for National Statistics (ONS) has published its latest cost of living statistics finding that one in four (23%) adults find it difficult to pay household bills in the last month, compared with a year ago. The research also found that nine in ten (87%) adults reported an increase in their cost of living…
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Household saving is expected to fall by 71% year-on-year to an average of £26 a week in the second quarter of 2022, as inflationary pressures drastically reduce families’ ability to save. A new study by Scottish Friendly and the Centre for Economics and Business Research (Cebr) estimates households would need to earn an extra £80…
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Real average weekly pay packets fell by 1.3 per cent in February, with a far deeper squeeze coming in the months ahead, despite the jobs market continuing to tighten and last year’s furlough flattering the headline pay data, the Resolution Foundation says in response to the latest ONS labour market statistics. The UK jobs market…
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The new level of state pension payments which has come into effect today will see the full new state pension rise to £185.15 from £179.60 a week. The basic state pension full amount has risen from £137.60 to £141.85 – a rise of 3.1%, compared with a current inflation rate of 6.2%. That’s an extra…
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More than a third of customers (34%) struggle to pay bills fairly frequently, yet only 4% of billcpayers reported receiving financial help from their water company over the past year according to research by Ofwat and CCW. The research also highlighted that engagement with water companies was found to be fairly low, with 44% of…
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StepChange Debt Charity’s 2021 Statistics Yearbook, has shown that even before the latest rise in general inflation and the rise in the energy price cap, households in the UK experiencing problem debt were already facing a cost of living crisis. In 2021, StepChange was contacted by almost half a million (483,247) new clients seeking debt…
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Citizens Advice has announced that, for the third month in a row, it has broken record for providing crisis support as the cost of living impact takes hold. In March 2022, the charity referred 24,752 people to food banks or to other charitable support, up by 44% compared to the same time last year. Research…
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The Money and Money Health Policy Institute is calling on the Government to step up efforts to prevent financial harm for people receiving secondary mental health care. A new report shows that the annual average income of people with severe mental health problems is £6,500 lower than the wider population, due to factors such as…
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StepChange Debt Charity’s latest client data report for February has shown a rise in the proportion of people seeking advice who say that cost of living pressure is a reason for their debt. The cost of living was the fourth most common reason last month, cited by around one in nine clients. The Bank of…
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A report from EY Item Club has revealed that the fifth of households on the lowest incomes will be hit the hardest by rising inflation – suffering a 9.6% rise in living costs compared with an average of 8.6% for the richest fifth of households. EY Item Club economists say inflation will peak next month…
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