Credit, Collections & Insolvency News
The Government has announced that it plans to increase the cap on tuition fees for England-domiciled undergraduate students from £9,250 to £9,535 for the 2025-26 academic year. This is in line with the Office for Budget Responsibility’s latest forecast for inflation as measured by RPIX (3.1%). This ends a long-running cash freeze in the fee…
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The Payment Systems Regulator (PSR) has announced that hundreds of additional financial firms will adopt the Confirmation of Payee (CoP) name-checking service, in the industry’s fight against fraud. The expanded rollout means that over 99% of all transactions made through Faster Payments and CHAPS are now safeguarded by this vital anti-fraud measure, offering consumers an…
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The Court of Appeal has sided with consumers against banks and lenders in a motor finance test case, ruling that a broker could not lawfully receive a commission from the lender without obtaining the customer’s fully informed consent to the payment. Consumers who complained about ‘secret’ commissions on car loans, in a landmark ruling. Lawyers…
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The Financial Ombudsman Service (FOS) received 101,031 complaints about banking and credit cards in the first half of the year, with this almost double the 56,690 recorded in the first six months of 2023. Across all products, the first six months of 2024 saw 133,019 new complains logged with the FOS. This marks a 40%…
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As the government plans to regulate buy now pay (BNPL) later firms by 2026, more than one in ten millennials (13%) and Gen Z (11%) consumers plan to put Christmas on credit using buy now pay later apps, RSM UK’s latest Consumer Outlook reveals. In addition, previous data from RSM UK shows that Gen Z…
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The Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) has fined Volkswagen’s UK financial services arm £5.4m for its unfair treatment of customers in financial difficulty. The City watchdog found that between January 2017 and July 2023. The investigation, Volkswagen Finance took cars away from vulnerable customers without considering other options. The firm failed to understand customers’ individual circumstances…
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Shoppers who use Buy Now, Pay Later (BNPL) loans are to get new safeguards against unaffordable borrowing and credit card-style protection for their purchases, under rules outlined by the Government. Buy-Now, Pay-Later products have become increasingly popular in recent years as they allow people to spread the cost of purchases over time, but users currently…
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New research from personal finance specialist Finder has found that 1 in 20 consumers have hidden credit score problems from their partner. The research also showed that a third of consumers (34%) – an estimated 18.5 million people – have withheld important information about their finances from their partner in a current or previous relationship.…
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Inflation fell unexpectedly to 1.7 per cent in the year to September, the lowest rate in three-and-a-half years, according to the latest Office for National Statistics (ONS). However, households were hit by a jump in food and non-alcoholic drink inflation, with stronger price increases for milk, cheese, eggs and fruit. Lower airfares and petrol prices…
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The Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) has fined TSB £10.9m, having found that the bank’s systems put customers at risk of harm. An investigation found that TSB failed to treat customers in arrears fairly, with more than 230,000 mortgage, overdraft, credit card and loan customers found to have been affected and were paid £100m in redress.…
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Today (7th October, 2024) marks the start of major new protections for victims of Authorised Push Payment (APP) scams. APP fraud happens when someone is tricked into sending money to a fraudster via bank transfer, which can lead to devastating impacts on its victims and reduce consumer confidence when making payments. Payment firms are now…
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Which? is warning that people are being left out of pocket and in the dark because a credit report system that is confusing and riddled with errors lacks transparency and accountability. The consumer champion’s nationally representative survey of more than 4,000 people found that one in three (32%) respondents who checked their report discovered a…
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Ahead of the Budget on 30th October, UK Finance has released its Autumn Budget submission. The submission includes measures on delivering economic growth and tackling fraud. The proposals focus on delivering economic growth include a roadmap for business taxation includes a specific roadmap for banks. UK Finance is also proposing an increase at which the threshold…
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