Credit, Collections & Insolvency News
The Resolution Foundation has warned that a typical household’s income will fall by about £1,000 this year once the effect of inflation is accounted for. The change in inflation would be the biggest real-terms fall in incomes since the mid-1970s, the think tank added. It expects inflation to peak in April at 8.3% – much…
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The End Fuel Poverty Coalition (EFPC) has issued a warning that the energy crisis could leave 8.5 million households unable to heat and power their homes. The group, which represents almost 50 organisations, claims that cold homes cost lives and that more frail and older people could die next winter without further action from the…
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The Covid pandemic has had a very distinct impact on the progress of people seeking debt advice, according to research by StepChange. The debt charity measured the impact of debt advice on clients – primarily on progress on resolving debt, but also wider measures such as wellbeing – through surveys undertaken at three months, nine…
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The UK’s energy crisis has prompted one in five (20%) consumers to rely on credit cards, loans and overdrafts to manage the mounting costs recorded over the last three months according to research by Credit Karma. The research found that the vast majority of consumers (78%) say they have experienced price hikes since the beginning…
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Here is an overview of The Money Charity’s latest statistics for February 2022 Personal debt in the UK People in the UK owed £1,765.6 billion at the end of December 2021. The average total debt per household, including mortgages, was £63,528. Per adult this was £33,328, around 108.7% of average earnings. This is up from the revised £33,306…
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New research from SunLife shows almost 40% of people are not putting enough money aside to pay for their funeral, leaving their families to pick up the £1,800 shortfall. The report also highlights that one in five is also having to borrow to cover that shortfall with the average cost of a funeral is now estimated…
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Joseph Rowntree Foundation (JRF) is warning that a planned real-term cut to benefits in April could pull 400,000 people into poverty. The analysis revealed the consequences of the Government’s decision to uprate benefits by just 3.1% in April, when inflation is forecast to hit 7%. The Foundation says that this represents a real-term cut to…
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An estimated 4 million people in Britain have so far been eligible for a Cold Weather Payment this winter, according to analysis from comparethemarket.com on data from the Department of Work and Pensions (DWP). Among those 4 million people eligible in total across Britain, 13,000 lived in the six areas where weather stations have been…
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Credit Connect’s hosted its fourth Online Collections Technology Think Tank 3.1 last week which saw collections strategies and the impact of the pandemic discussed by fifteen collections professionals from a variety of industry sectors. The themes of collections risk, customer engagement, affordability, vulnerable customers and the future collections were discussed by panellists and Chair Vanessa…
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The TUC has warned that millions of low-income workers face a “perfect storm” this April with universal credit (UC) falling behind the cost of living as energy bills and taxes rise. The warning comes as new TUC analysis reveals that the number of workers on UC has increased by 1.3 million since the eve of…
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The Bank of England (BoE) has increased interest rates to 0.5% from 0.25% as it looks to restrain a surge in the cost of living. With inflation soaring, the Bank opted to increase rates at successive policy meetings for the first time since 2004. Forecasts suggest inflation, as measured by the consumer prices index, is…
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Research by KIS Finance has revealed that as a direct result of the rising cost of living, 57% of people are either already struggling financially, or expect to do so in the very near future. With inflation jumping to 5.4%, its highest level in almost 30 years, increasing numbers are finding it challenging to make…
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Rents rose to hit a three month high in January, as the lack of stock and high tenant demand continue to fuel demand for properties across England according to new research by Goodlord. The average cost of rent across England rose during January, with averages hitting £993 per property. This is up from an average…
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