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…
Read more
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…
Read more
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…
Read more
Over 10,000 financial adverts and other promotions were withdrawn or changed in 2023 following intervention from the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA), an increase of 17%, year-on-year. The FCA also published 2,285 alerts to help prevent consumers from losing their money to scams, up from 1800 in 2022. After being given new powers by the Government,…
Read more
As the Money Saving Expert encourages consumers to claim for potentially unfair motor vehicle credit arrangements, RSM UK is warning that credit providers could face increased operational pressures. In January, the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) announced it was undertaking a review of historic car finance arrangements, and would take regulatory action if widespread misconduct means…
Read more
Figures published by KPMG UK’s Fraud Barometer, which records alleged fraud cases with a value of £100,000 and above, has revealed that the total volume of fraud cases heard in UK Crown Courts was 226 cases in 2023, up from 221 cases in 2022. In contrast, fraud value was £992.9 million, a slight decrease from…
Read more
The Financial Ombudsman Service (FOS) is expecting more than 181,000 consumer complaints in the next financial year, with many involving everyday financial concerns. The complaints include a rise in disputed transactions driven by an increase in financial fraud and scams, as well as unaffordable lending linked to cost-of-living pressures. The FOS has set itself a…
Read more
The EY Item Club predicts that UK interest rates will start to be cut in May, as inflation is expected to fall to the Bank of England’s 2% target by that time. It is predicted that the UK’s prolonged period of economic stagnation should begin to fade this year as falling inflation, potential interest rate…
Read more
North-West law firm, Barings Law has welcomed the FCA’s decision to investigate whether millions of people were overcharged for car loans, having issued more than 6,000 claims in the courts against some of the UK’s leading lenders, with thousands more to be issued soon. In addition to the legal action, the firm has also began successfully…
Read more
The Financial Conduct Authority has announced that it begin a a study of the motor finance industry, amid rising tensions between consumers and lenders on discretionary commission arrangements. In 2021, the FCA banned discretionary commission arrangements. This removed the incentive for brokers to increase the interest rate that a customer pays for their motor finance. The FCA…
Read moreNearly a quarter (22%) of Buy Now Pay Later (BNPL) users have missed one or more repayments in the six months to December 2023, leading to late payment fees and in a quarter of cases, a mark against their credit score too according to data from the nonprofit Centre for Financial Capability (CFC). More than a…
Read more
Community finance organisations and associated organisations are being invited to apply for grants and investment funding ranging from £10,000 to £500,000 from the new Community Finance Resilience Fund. The fund, worth more than £5 million in total, has been created by Fair4All Finance in recognition of the cost-of-living challenges for community finance providers and their borrowers, to help the community finance sector to grow and help more…
Read more
The Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO) has issued the Bank of Ireland UK with a reprimand for mistakes made on more than 3,000 customers’ credit profiles. The investigation found that Bank of Ireland UK sent incorrect outstanding balances on 3,284 customers’ loan accounts to credit reference agencies, organisations that help lenders decide whether to approve financial…
Read more