Money Statistics: February 2019

22nd February 2019 Consumer Collections |

Here is an overview of The Money Charity’s latest statistics for February 2019: Personal debt in the UK People in the UK owed £1.625 trillion at the end of December 2018. This is up from £1.576 trillion at the end of December 2017, an extra £935.34 per UK adult, £81.72 higher than the previous month. The average total debt per…

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Households overpaying £2,500 a year on their bills

19th February 2019 Consumer Collections |

Consumers can save more than £2,500 a year by taking control of their finances, new analysis from Experian has revealed. Families are overpaying on their mortgages and energy bills, and those paying interest on their credit cards can cut their costs by switching to a better deal. Experian has launched Money Matters Week to help…

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Second charge repossessions down by 26.3% in Q4 2018

14th February 2019 Consumer Collections |

New figures released by the Finance Leasing Association (FLA) have shown that the number of second charge repossessions in 2018 was 147, 8.1% higher than in 2017. In the final quarter of 2018, the number of repossessions was 28, down by 26.3% compared to the same period in 2017. The number of properties repossessed during…

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Homeowner possessions hit lowest level in almost 40 years

14th February 2019 Consumer Collections |

UK Finance has published its Mortgage Arrears and Possessions Update for the fourth quarter of 2018, which saw 4580 homeowner possessions in 2018, the lowest level since 1980 when there were 3480 possessions. During this period, there were 6.2 million outstanding homeowner mortgages, compared to 9 million at the end of December 2018. The data…

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Consumer finance new business grew by 4% in December

8th February 2019 Consumer Collections |

New figures released by the Finance & Leasing Association (FLA) show that consumer finance new business grew in December 2018 by 4% compared with the same month in 2017, and by 5% in Q4 2018 as a whole. Credit card and personal loan new business together grew in December by 5% compared with the same…

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Second charge mortgages increased by 13% in December

8th February 2019 Consumer Collections |

New figures released by the Finance & Leasing Association (FLA) show that the second charge mortgage market reports volumes up by 13% in December. Commenting on the December 2018 new business figures for the second charge mortgage market, Fiona Hoyle, Head of Consumer and Mortgage Finance at the Finance & Leasing Association (FLA), said “December…

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Universal credit claimants still struggling to pay for housing

6th February 2019 Consumer Collections |

People claiming Universal Credit are still struggling to pay for the roof over their heads, despite the wait for their first payment being reduced from six weeks to five, according to new Citizens Advice data. One in two people the charity helped were in rent arrears or fell behind on their mortgage payments, the same…

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FOS calls on debt collection firms to improve vulnerable customer support

5th February 2019 Consumer Collections |

The Financial Ombudsman Service (FOS) has released its latest report which shows that it has dealt with around 3,300 inquiries about debt collection and took on over 1,000 new complaints for investigation in 2018. The complaints cover credit and consumer loans, such as mortgages, credit cards and personal or business loans. They don’t include household debts…

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Slowdown in consumer credit growth

30th January 2019 Consumer Collections |

The Bank of England has today published its latest monthly Money and Credit report showing consumer credit growth slowed to 6.6 percent in the year to December 2018. Outstanding balances for consumer credit stand at £215.6 billion. The Bank of England says that the credit growth slow down reflects the continuation of relatively weak flows…

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Money Statistics: January 2019

25th January 2019 Consumer Collections |

Here is an overview of The Money Charity’s latest statistics for January 2019: Personal debt in the UK People in the UK owed £1.613 trillion at the end of November 2018. This is up from £1.569 trillion at the end of November 2017, an extra £898.71 per UK adult and £78.15 higher than the previous month. The…

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Credit card spending increased by 8.8% in December

25th January 2019 Consumer Collections |

UK Finance has published its Household Finance update for December 2018 which have revealed that over £11 billion spent on credit cards which showed an 8.8 per cent increase when compared with the same month the previous year. The outstanding level of credit card borrowing grew by 4.7 per cent in the twelve months to December. Personal…

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Tenant Fees bill will save renters millions every month

24th January 2019 Consumer Collections |

A new Tenant Fees bill has passed its final stage in Parliament before royal assent, the new bill will stop renters being forced to pay £160 million a year in unfair and uncompetitive fees according to Citizens Advice. Citizens Advice says it has called for a ban on fees for the past decade and worked…

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Renting became more affordable in 2018

23rd January 2019 Consumer Collections |

Renting became more affordable in 2018 thanks to a combination of a once-in-a-decade fall in annual rents and wage inflation, according to The Deposit Protection Service (DPS). 2018 was the first calendar year since the global financial crisis of 2008 that average rents decreased in the UK, with the percentage of wages spent on rents…

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