Credit, Collections & Insolvency News
Latest data from the Financial Ombudsman Service (FOS) has found that credit card complaints reached a record high in Quarter 4 2023, with consumers lodging 5,660 complaints. 3,086 of credit card complaints were due to unaffordable or irresponsible lending. The figures marks the highest level of complaints in a three-month period since 2014/15. Other products…
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Latest data from the Bank of England has shown that consumer credit rose more than expected to £1.9 billion in January, up 8.9% from £1.3 billion on the previous month, adding to signs of a revival in spending. The data also shows a rise in mortgage approvals, rising to their highest level for 15 months…
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New Lloyds Bank data shows that impersonation scams have risen 13% over the past year. An impersonation scam is where a fraudster convinces their victim to make a payment, or give personal or financial details, by pretending to be someone else. Scammers frequently impersonate police officers, bank staff and HMRC, although they may also pretend…
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New data reveals that more than nine out of 10 (92%) regulated firms do not carry out daily monitoring on clients. This exposes them to potential sanctions breaches and other financial crime such as money laundering, warn digital compliance experts at SmartSearch. Under UK law, regulated firms must identify and verify anyone they work with, to…
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Consumer confidence in the UK has fallen for the first time since October, as recession concerns and economic uncertainty took their toll. The GfK survey revealed a drop in confidence to minus 21 points in February, from minus 19 points in the previous month, reflecting a deterioration in confidence about the health of the economy…
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Consumers are prioritising brand reputation above both product and price when choosing a finance provider, according to new research by Amp Corporate Communications. When asked to place the three in order of importance, 37% put brand reputation in first place. This was followed by product (34%) and then price (24%). Additionally, 73% of consumers said…
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A fifth (20%) of millennials are relying on their baby boomer parents to supply first-home deposits versus just 11% of their parents when they were young according to new research by Together. The research shows that ‘boomer’ parents are forced to take charge to get millennials onto the ladder amid record-high prices. The data also…
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Over three-quarters of UK adults (77%) are not confident about how to access their pension according to research by Standard Life. The research also highlights that more information around options at retirement would help people make confident decisions, as nearly two fifths (37%) feel they should have sought advice or guidance before they accessed their…
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Despite mortgage lending growth falling -0.1% (net) in 2023, demand for housing loans is expected to rebound this year, buoyed by the prospect of falling interest rates according to predictions by the EY ITEM Club. It alsop predicts that the Bank of England will cut its policy rate from 5.25% to 4% by the end…
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The value of reported UK fraud increased to £2.3bn in 2023, more than double the £1.1bn recorded in 2022 and the second largest annual fraud value recorded by BDO in 20 years. The report found that the number of reported cases rose by 18% to a three-year high, with high-value cases over £50m increasing by…
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Latest figures from UK Finance has found that the number of retired people with mortgages has decreased by 30.56% in the past year. The data showed that there were 29,060 new mortgages taken out by older borrowers (over 55) in the last three months of 2023 – down 37.1% in a year. The value of…
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UK Finance has released its latest card spending data for November 2023 highlighting that there were 379.3 million credit card transactions in November, 6.4 per cent more than in November 2022. The total spend of £20.9 billion was 6.2 per cent higher than November 2022. Outstanding balances on credit card accounts have grown by 9.8…
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Home insurance premiums increased by nearly a third (32%) in the final three months of 2023 compared to the same period in 2022, according to new research from Compare the Market. The average home insurance premiums in the UK jumped by £47 from £146 in the fourth quarter of 2022 to £193 in 2023. All…
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