Credit, Collections & Insolvency News
More than four in ten people struggling with debt wait over a year before seeking help, according to research from StepChange Debt Charity and PRA Group. The study of more than 1,600 debt management plan client, found that 43% worried about their finances for more than a year before seeking advice. Embarrassment was the most common…
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Days before the Chancellor delivers the Autumn Budget, more than half of adults (52%) expect it to leave them worse off, according to new research from Creditspring, with just 12% expecting to be better off, so pessimists outnumber optimists by more than four to one. The research shows that many households go into the Budget with…
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A pizza company boss who fraudulently secured £150,000 in Covid loans before company funds were spent on gambling and children’s toys has been jailed. Matthew Temple obtained three £50,000 Bounce Back Loans for Pizza Cottage (Whitley Bay) Limited, which traded as Pizza Cottage on East Parade in Whitley Bay. Temple, known as Mehdi Ghaneh-Keisami when the…
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The equity release market demonstrated resilience during Q3 2026, with new customer numbers and returning drawdown activity edging higher. According to the latest data from the Equity Release Council, total lending reached £591 million during Q3 2026, down 1% on the previous quarter (£597m). Overall customer numbers increased 1% to 13,611. The number of new…
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Trade credit insurer Atradius says weather volatility and rising costs may put further pressure on Britain’s food supply chain. Atradius says that it saw agriculture claims increase over the summer, while food claims were modestly higher across the latest three-month period. Meanwhile, new data shows agriculture claims rose during the winter following the hot, dry…
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Consumer confidence has suffered its sharpest month-on-month fall since the Covid-19 pandemic, according to the latest data from GfK. No single factor explained the slump and pointed instead to rising inflation, the conflict in the Middle East and the broader squeeze on household budgets. GfK’s long-running Consumer Confidence Index was down 11 points to -24…
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Just 24.7% of new senior leaders appointed in the UK’s financial services industry in 2024/25 were women, according to new research by Fox & Partners, the employment and partnership law specialists. The percentage of new female senior leaders in financial services has declined marginally for two years in a row, from 25.5% in 2022/23 to…
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The share of workers on low pay failed to fall for the first time in 15 years, and in fact rose slightly last year, the Resolution Foundation has said in response to the ONS Annual Survey of Hours and Earnings (ASHE). ASHE is a large ONS survey of businesses and provides valuable detail on earnings…
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HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC) has had success in reducing tax debt as a proportion of tax receipts for three consecutive years, while managing significantly more new debts since the pandemic, according to a new report by the National Audit Office (NAO). Taxpayers owed a total of £43.8 billion in tax debts at the end…
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Latest data from the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) has shown a 6.3% rise in complaints. Financial services firms reported 1.85 million complaints between January and June 2026. 54.8% of complaints were upheld and £240 million was paid out in redress, Current accounts remained the most complained-about product. Commenting on the data, James Towner, Chief Growth…
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Britain’s mid-sized businesses continue to feel overlooked ahead of the Autumn Budget, with more than seven in ten (71%) saying it is hard to find support tailored to their scale. The research, published as part of specialist lender Shawbrook’s M Agenda insight series, shows the proportion of firms struggling to access tailored backing has risen…
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More than a third (36%) of households in Britain with an annual income of less than £40,000 have skipped meals or eaten less because of financial pressures in the last three months, according to the latest Vanquis Financial Wellbeing Index. Over the same period, more than a quarter (27%) have delayed medical or dental treatment…
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British consumers’ confidence in the state of the economy fell from minus 32 to minus 40 this October, according to the British Retail Consortium’s (BRC) consumer index, marking the third consecutive month of deteriorating sentiment. Expectations for personal finances also fell from minus 15 to minus 18 this month, with expectations for personal spending on…
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