Credit, Collections & Insolvency News
The Financial Ombudsman Service (FOS) has announced a 9.5% rise in complaints it received about financial products in the last six months of 2022. FOS received 79,921 compared to almost 72,978 in the first six months of 2022 (H1 2022). new complaints between the start of July and the end of December, compared to the…
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A new credit decisioning tool, Fuse by Pave, has launched which claims it can offer lenders 97% accuracy in affordability tests, clearer insights into consumer affordability, reduced rate of defaulted loans, and improvements to borrower outcomes. In addition to improved accuracy in affordability testing, which uses Open Banking technology it also offers lenders personalised insights…
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Ahead of The Bank of England’s next interest rate move, TotallyMoney and Moneycomms calculate the cost of the two most likely interest rate scenarios and the impact on borrowers with a variable rate mortgage. The research has found that 5.2 million mortgages will have been exposed to changes in interest rates from the beginning of…
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Bluestone Group announced that it has agreed terms for the sale of its UK mortgage lending and portfolio servicing operations to Shawbrook Group for an undisclosed sum. Under the terms of the transaction, Bluestone’s holding company will sell 100% of the shares and its subsidiaries to Shawbrook in a cash and share transaction. The transaction…
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Research by the Financial Services Compensation Scheme (FSCS) has found that one in four (26%) of savers are taking more risks with their money in an effort to land bigger returns amid the cost-of-living crisis. A poll of 4,000 adults saw 23% of consumers with a pension say they have either decreased the percentage they…
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Experian has announced a new partnership with The Access Group that will allow even more UK employees to digitally share their payroll information to get better access to financial products and services. Through Experian’s Work Report™1, the UK’s first digital employment and income verification service, employees who are paid using Access Group’s payroll software will…
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Gifts and loans from the Bank of Mum and Dad totalled £8.8 billion in 2022, according to the latest analysis from property firm Savills. This amount has increased by almost £4 billion since the start of the pandemic (2019), as a result of a more stringent mortgage market and higher deposit requirements. In total, 170,000…
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Specialist lender Together has announced the appointment of Chloe Cotgrave to the position of Personal Finance Chief Operating Officer. Cotgrave’s remit will be overseeing all operational areas for Together’s personal finance customers, including the underwriting, customer service and collections departments, as well as first line assurance and customer experience. She joined Together six years ago,…
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Financial Ombudsman Service (FOS) Chief Executive Abby Thomas says the ombudsman would like to improve its communications with the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) to help the regulator respond quicker to emerging issues in the financial sector. The Chief Ombudsman told the Treasury Select Committee that while she is satisfied with the level of powers the…
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The monthly cost of owning a home for first-time buyers is now £971, £42 (4%) lower than the cost of renting the equivalent property, according to the latest Halifax Owning vs Renting Review. The analysis, which is based on housing costs for first-time buyers with a mortgage on a three-bed home compared to the average…
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Latest Bank of England data has revealed that in the last three months of 2022, mortgages agreed for the coming months were down by a third (33.5%) from the previous three months, and down a quarter (24.5%) in a year, excluding the onset of the pandemic when the market was effectively closed, this is the…
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Latest data by the Finance & Leasing Association (FLA) show that consumer car finance new business volumes fell in January 2023 by 3% compared with the same month in 2022. The corresponding value of new business fell by 5% over the same period. In the twelve months to January 2023, new business grew 5% by…
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UK Finance has released its latest Household Finance Review which showed a decline in consumer confidence and a drop in mortgage applications in Quarter 4 (Q4) 2022. Following the September 2022 mini budget consumer confidence fell below already-low levels. Despite the concerns of households about their finances, overall card spending remained steady in Q4. However,…
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