Credit, Collections & Insolvency News
New figures released by the Finance & Leasing Association (FLA) show that consumer finance new business grew in April 2024 by 9% compared with the same month in 2023. In the first four months of 2024, new business in this market increased by 2% compared with the same period in 2023. The credit card and personal…
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Car insurance premiums for newly qualified young drivers have reached an all-time high of over £3,000, according to analysis by Compare The Market. The average premium for a 17-year-old who has just passed their driving test is now £3,075, compared to £2,004 last year. The rise in premiums is attributed to parts shortages and an…
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A pilot study by data and analytics firm, LexisNexis has revealed that banks and lenders may be denying loans to 80% of adults with thin credit profiles, when they are actually low-risk customers. This means that UK lenders could be missing out on nearly £3 billion of low-risk lending, assuming an average loan application of…
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Latest data from the Bank of England showed that individuals borrowed a net £2.4 billion on mortgages in April, a significant increase from the previous month’s £500 million. The surge in mortgage borrowing, the highest since October 2022, indicates that prospective homebuyers rushed to secure lower interest rates. The data suggests that the drag on…
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Latest Bank of England Money and Credit data has shown that net consumer credit borrowing halved in April 2024, falling from £1.4 billion in March to £0.7 billion. This marks its lowest level since December 2021, at the beginning of the cost of living crisis as consumer confidence dropped. The decline was driven by lower…
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Household costs eased to 4.4% in the year to March, from an annual rate of 5.3% at the start of the year, according to official data from the Office for National Statistics (ONS). Those with home loans had the highest annual inflation rate of 5.5%, reflecting rising mortgage interest payments. The report says mortgage interest…
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New UK Finance data has indicated that later-life lending fell by nearly 12% year-on-year. The data showed that there were 28,840 new loans advanced to older borrowers in Q1, down 11.7% year on year. The value of this lending was £4.3 billion, which was down 8.5% compared with the same quarter a year previously. The…
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New research by Uswitch has found that the UK’s attitudes to credit cards are changing, as nearly one in three (31%) young people perceive them as ‘potential debt traps.’ Only one in five (20%) of Gen Z say they have ‘no concerns regarding credit card usage’, with the remaining 80% stating their main concerns as…
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Consumer confidence has risen to its highest level in over two years, according to GfK’s consumer confidence index. The index rose by two points to minus 17 in May, which is the highest reading since December 2021 The analysis showed that consumer confidence continues to rise, with confidence in the general economic situation over the next…
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UK banks could help stop loan shark growth by learning from US ‘small dollar loans’ products according to a new research by Fair4All Finance. The report says there is an urgent need for the mainstream financial sector to help address the credit vacuum for those on lower incomes, with loan sharks profiting from this financial…
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Almost one in two homeowners aged 55 or over will pay an additional £400 a month on their mortgage after their current fixed rate deal expires according to research by Key Later Life Finance. A total of 47% of homeowners in this age bracket said they expected repayments to rise by an average of £5,000…
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Landlords selling properties represent the single biggest threat to renters according to latest government data. Among households eligible for support from their council to prevent homelessness following the end of a private rented tenancy agreement, 45 per cent needed help because their landlord planned to sell the property in the second half of 2023. This…
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New TotallyMoney research has highlighted the rise of credit and debit card interest rates, and found that over the past 10 years, the Bank of England base rate increased by 4.75 percentage points, yet the average card rate has rose by 6.9 percentage points with one lender hiking theirs by 11 percentage points and that…
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