Money Advice Trust publishes its latest outcomes report

16th June 2022 Arrears and Recoveries |

The Money Advice Trust has published its Outcomes Report 2021, which outlines the impact of the charity’s activity across its National Debtline and Business Debtline services, training and influencing work. In 2021 the charity helped 170,420 people through its National and Business Debtline services with 1.63 million visits to its advice websites. National Debtline, which…

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Bank lending decreases as CBILS and BBLS end

Outstanding bank lending to small businesses in the hospitality sector has fallen by more than £1.4 billion since the end of the Coronavirus Business Interruption Loan Scheme (CBILS) and Bounce Back Loan Scheme (BBLS). Overall Bank lending dropped to £14.6bn in April 2022, down from £16.08bn in March 2021, according to analysis by Hazlewoods. There…

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Former footballer given six-year bankruptcy restrictions

15th June 2022 Insolvency | #bankruptcy

Former professional footballer Danny Guthrie has been given 6-year bankruptcy restrictions by the Insolvency Service. Guthrie played football professionally for several English football clubs at a senior level. In May 2019, Guthrie borrowed £75,000 from a friend to help him pay his household expenses, promising to repay the loan with funds raised from selling a…

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Over eight million households to get new cost-of-living payment

Work and Pensions Secretary Thérèse Coffey has sets out detailed plans so that more than eight million households across the whole of the UK will get a cash payment from July to ease cost of living pressures. Millions will receive the first of two cost of living instalments totalling £650 from 14 July 2022, part…

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Tight labour market shows signs of cooling the pandemic recovery

High inflation is causing real pay packets to shrink at their fastest rate in a decade, while the slowdown in growth may be causing the tight labour market to cool as unemployment ticks up, the Resolution Foundation said today (Tuesday) in response to the latest ONS labour market statistics. With CPI inflation hitting a 40-year…

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One in four scam victims are aged 21 to 30

15th June 2022 Consumer Lending | #fraud

Data from Barclays show young adults are the most likely age group to have been scammed in recent months, with one in four victims aged between 21 and 30. This is despite 76% of this age group saying they are confident they will not get duped. Barclays said scams often take place on tech platforms…

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Mortgaged households could see a 3% reduction in disposable income

The average household that took out a mortgage in 2021 faces a 3% reduction this year in the amount of disposable income it has left over after home loan, credit commitments and living costs, according to UK Finance. The analysis found most borrowers across all income brackets would still qualify for the same sized mortgage…

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FCA proposes tougher curbs on branch closures

15th June 2022 Consumer Lending | #banks

The Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) is planning tougher curbs on bank branch closures, saying Banks and Building Societies will have to provide greater justification for closing a branch or cutting opening hours. The FCA is also consulting on requirements for more detailed analysis on how firms assess the impact on customers when they plan to…

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UK firms feeling the pressure

Data from PwC show the number of UK firms filing for insolvency in the first quarter was broadly similar to the same period in 2021. However, the analysts show that when the smallest firms and companies that were liquidated when solvent are stripped out, the figures show those filing while insolvent more than doubled in…

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Covid business loans saved hundreds of thousands of jobs

An official evaluation of the government-backed pandemic £78 billion loans schemes has found that they could have saved up to 2.9 million jobs. The research, commissioned by the British Business Bank, estimated that between 146,000 and 505,000 businesses that took out Bounce Back loans might have gone under without the support, up to a third…

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Shire Leasing and LendingMetrics agree partnership

15th June 2022 Commercial Credit Management |

LendingMetrics has announced a partnership with commercial lender Shire Leasing to implement their Auto Decision Platform (ADP). Shire Leasing had already been utilising automated underwriting since 2001 but found that moving from single track sales channels to multi-sales channels resulted in much more complexity in their decisioning. They needed constant IT involvement to achieve their…

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Half of adults think young people spend too much to buy a home

14th June 2022 Consumer Lending |

Half (48%) the UK public think a key reason more young adults today cannot afford to buy their own home is they spend too much of their income on things like takeaway coffees and food, mobile phones, subscription services like Netflix and holidays abroad, according to a new study by the King’s College. In reality,…

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Childcare costs rise by more than £2000 in the past decade

14th June 2022 Arrears and Recoveries |

The cost of childcare has soared over the past decade and is now more than £2,000 a year higher than it was in 2010, according to analysis from the Trades Union Congress (TUC). The analysis shows that nursery fees for under 2s have risen by £185 a month – or £2,200 a year – since…

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