Credit, Collections & Insolvency News
New figures released by the Finance & Leasing Association (FLA) show that consumer finance new business grew by 16% in December 2021 compared with the same month in 2020. In 2021 as a whole, new business grew by 15% compared with 2020, but remained 4% lower than in 2019. The credit card and personal loan…
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The Money and Pensions Service (MaPS) has announced significant changes to its plans for the commissioning of debt advice services, with funding allocated to vital face to face services being increased by 50% (to £30 million). In December 2021, it announced changes in the timeline for awarding the contracts for the National Services, Business Debt…
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A Public Accounts Committee (PAC) report has warned that HMRC’s ‘unambitious’ plans for recovering £6 billion in Covid-19 support payments that were paid out through fraud or mistakes could lead to the Government writing off a large sum of taxpayers’ money. In the report, Parliament’s cross-party Public Accounts Committee says that HMRC’s unambitious plans” for…
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Qualco has announced that it has received authorisation from the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA). Commenting on the development, Managing Director Christian Jacob said “We are pleased to have gained our authorisation from the Financial Conduct Authority. The UK is recognised globally as having some of the most stringent financial regulations and it is great we…
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Around 1.1 million households (5%) are struggling to afford their home broadband service according to new research by Ofcom. The number of households struggling rises to around one in ten among the lowest-income household with affordability problems likely to worsen in 2022 due to retail price increases and the wider squeeze on household finances, putting…
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The Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) has announced that it has secured changes to potentially unfair and unclear terms in the contracts of buy now pay later (BNPL) providers Clearpay, Klarna, Laybuy and Openpay. The FCA says that it was concerned there was a potential risk of harm to consumers as a result of the way…
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New research has revealed that six out of ten credit card users don’t know how much interest they are charged, according to Yougov research commissioned by Klarna. In contrast, the research showed that consumers understand the headline terms and conditions of Buy Now Pay Later (BNPL) products better than they do credit cards. Having reviewed…
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UK financial services companies, Hitachi Capital (UK) is to become Mitsubishi HC Capital UK, trading in the market as Novuna in the UK and as Mitsubishi HC Capital group in Europe. The company, which employs over 1,600 and manages more than £6.3bn of net earning assets for over 1.3 million customers, is now part of…
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High-cost lender TFS Loans has collapsed into administration following claims of ‘unaffordable lending.’ The company was a guarantor lender, requiring a family member or friend to cover repayments if the borrower couldn’t. TFS would lend between £3,000 and £15,000 on a one to five-year term basis at between 30% and 70% interest, with a representative…
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Tackling business customers’ concerns over the accuracy of their water bills should be a priority for the retail water market, if it is to reverse falling levels of satisfaction according to the Consumer Council for Water (CCWater). CCW says marked improvements in billing are still needed after its joint business customer insight survey with Ofwat revealed…
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The Payment Systems Regulator (PSR) confirmed and published a new rule that paves the way for more banks and building societies to adopt Confirmation of Payee (CoP), the bank account name checking service. Every year thousands of individuals and businesses fall victim to Authorised Push Payment (APP) scams – where they are tricked into sending…
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The food and beverages output is forecast to grow by more than 3% in 2022, but the outlook for food producers and processors is less positive according to a recent report from trade credit insurer Atradius. The report outlines how the UK food and beverages market rebounded after a 5.3% contraction in 2020. Last year…
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The Credit Services Association (CSA), the trade body for the debt collection and purchase industry, and an approved Register of Apprenticeship Training Provider (RoATP) has launched a new Online Learning Platform to add to its extensive suite of training solutions. The new platform ensures credit and collections staff are trained and up to date with…
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