Credit, Collections & Insolvency News
British households spent 66% (£226) more on petrol in 2021 than 2020 and 45% (£468) more on groceries, according to the latest figures from LifeSearch. LifeSearch looked at spending across 16 categories, including food, entertainment, clothes and retail – and can reveal a 47% (£96.1bn) total increase in actual spending, with huge spikes in the…
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New research commissioned by the Post Office has found that seven in ten people are left feeling overwhelmed by the amount of jargon used around money and savings. Half admitted they did not understand personal loans, APR (Annual Percentage Rate), interest rates, tax codes, dividends, rebates or the stock market. Whilst just a fifth are…
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The Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) has criticised Lloyds and Barclays for mistakes made when giving information to price comparison websites, potentially misleading customers and breaking open banking rules. The CMA outlined a number of instances where the two banks breached the 2017 Retail Banking Market Investigation Order in relation to open APIs. The CMA said both…
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Consumer spending grew by close to a fifth (19%) in February compared to the same month in 2021, despite the rising cost of living starting to show signs of impacting behaviour, according to Nationwide’s latest Spending Report. The Spending Report is a full monthly breakdown of around 190 million debit and credit card and direct…
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The Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) has confirmed that the Financial Ombudsman Services (FOS) compensation limit will increase from £350,000 to £375,000 from 1st April. The limit will change to £375,000 for complaints referred after this date about acts or omissions by firms on or after 1st April 2019. For complaints before 1st April 2019, the…
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The monthly housing costs for first-time buyers are now £115 (13%) lower than the cost of renting an equivalent home, and the difference could add up to more than £27,600 over a 25-year mortgage, according to analysis by Halifax. The Halifax Buying vs Renting Review is based on the housing costs associated with a mortgage…
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A Property Tracker Report from the Building Societies Association (BSA) has highlighted that mortgage affordability is a growing barrier to buying a home. The data reveals that just 18% of people think now is a good time to buy a property. This is the lowest figure seen since the Report began at the height of…
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The Bank of England (BoE) has raised interest rates from 0.5% to 0.75% as it looks to tackle soaring inflation, which has hit a three-decade high of 5.5% and is set to climb higher still. The rate increase, the third in four months, takes rates to the highest level since March 2020. The Bank has…
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UK Finance’s latest card spending data shows the average amount spent per contactless card transaction rose by almost 30 per cent following the contactless limit increase to £100 in October 2021. In September 2021, when the contactless limit was £45, the average spend per contactless payment was £11.86, this increased to £15.30 in December. The…
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New figures released by the Finance & Leasing Association (FLA) show that the consumer car finance market reported new business volumes up in January 2022 by 43% compared with the same month in 2021. The corresponding value of new business increased by 60% over the same period. In the twelve months to January 2022, new…
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New figures released by the Finance & Leasing Association (FLA) show that consumer finance new business grew by 51% in January 2022 compared with the same month in 2021. In the twelve months to January 2022, new business grew by 23% compared with the same period in 2021. The credit card and personal loan sectors…
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The Government has announced changes to the Online Safety Bill to tackle scams and fraud. The measures mean that social media sites and search engines will be forced to stamp out fraudsters and scammers on their platforms as the government strengthens its pioneering internet safety laws. The move comes as the government also launches a consultation as…
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The latest mortgage lenders’ statistics suggest the housing market is cooling down, according to property experts. In the latest figures published by the Bank of England, the outstanding value of all residential mortgage loans was £1,613.4 billion at the end of Q4, 2021 – up 4.7% on the same period the year before. The value…
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