Credit, Collections & Insolvency News
Using a credit card to withdraw money from an ATM (cash advance) comes with costly charges and higher interest rates. They can also impact one’s ability to borrow in future new research from TotallyMoney has found. Most big lenders charge interest rates close to 30%, with additional charges of up to 5%, or a minimum…
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The Bank of England has raised its key interest rate by a quarter of a percentage point to a 15-year peak of 5.25%. The increase to 5.25%, the fourteenth rate rise in a row, taking the base rate to the highest it’s been since April 2008. The MPC voted 6 to 3 in favour of…
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Latest Bank of England (BoE) data has shown that consumer credit rose to a five-year high in June. This follows a £500 million decrease in lending in May. Net borrowing of consumer credit by individuals rose to £1.7 billion in June, the highest since April 2018. Of the £1.7 billion borrowed £1 billion was borrowed…
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In 2022, in England, the average house price was £275,000 and the average annual disposable household income was £33,000, so houses cost 8.4 times income according to latest Office for National Statistics (ONS). The ONS affordability threshold is five times earnings and we have been above this since 2017. In England, only the top 10%…
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Almost two in ten buy-to-let landlords (18%) said they would not raise rents for their tenants if their own mortgage rate increases when they come to remortgage whilst two in ten landlords (21%) were unsure what to do and 61% said they would raise the rent, according to research undertaken by Landbay. Over the past…
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Immigrants to the UK have poorer experiences from their would-be financial services providers than UK-born counterparts as a result of their lack of available credit history, according to new research by Nova Credit. The research finds that, for two in three (66%) immigrants, the process to receive credit products takes longer than it should due…
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Insurance customers are becoming more accepting of using credit to buy cover as financial confidence grows and credit becomes more available, new research from the Premium Credit has indicated. Around a quarter (24%) of customers say that over the past year they have become happier about using credit to fund cover which is slightly higher…
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One fifth (18%) of teachers have been forced to rely on buy now, pay later (BNPL) payment options to afford their weekly shop, according to new research from responsible lender, Creditspring. More than a quarter of teachers (26%) say they wish they’d never used BNPL options, with 14% admitting they’d were unable to meet repayments…
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The Bank of England has hiked interest rates by 0.5 percentage points to 5%. Rates have now hit the highest level in 15 years it’s the 13th time that the Bank of England has increased bank rates, with its Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) voting by a majority of seven to two to raise rates by…
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More than 2 million people over 65 are known to be living in poverty, with at least a further 1 million also experiencing financial hardship according to research by Independent Age. In a survey of more than 1,000 people over 651, national charity Independent Age has found that one in seven (14%) people over 65…
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Latest UK Finance has found that the number of interest-only homeowner mortgages fell 6.9% to 702,000 last year compared to 12 months. The figures for partial interest-only home loans fell by 11.9% to 222,000 over the same period. There are now 924,000 interest-only mortgages outstanding, just over one quarter of the 3.2 million that…
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Over 50s in the UK have spent more than £4.4 billion on cars for their kids and grandkids over the past five years, according to the latest research from over 50s experts SunLife. SunLife’s new Life Well Spent report has revealed that 25% of over 50s – rising to 29% of retired over 50s – have given significant…
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Latest Bank of England data £48.9 billion of new mortgages were approved for the coming months down 16.1% in a quarter, 40.7% in a year and the lowest since Q2 2020.The figures showed that £58.8 billion in mortgages was borrowed in the first three months of 2023 down 23.6% in a year and the lowest…
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