Credit, Collections & Insolvency News
The Bank of England Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) has voted to hold interest rates at 4.25%. The MPC voted 6 to 3 in favour of leaving rates unchanged, with 3 members preferring to cut rates to 4.0%. Responding to the Bank of England’s Monetary Policy Committee’s vote to keep the base rate at 4.25%, Tina…
Read more
UK Finance has released a new report on the progress made by banks following the introduction of the Disability Finance Code for Entrepreneurship (DFCE) in December 2024, which aims to improve the entrepreneurial landscape for disabled individuals. The Code sets out several commitments that signatories must make to further widen opportunities for disabled entrepreneurs, including…
Read more
The Government has announced that the Warm Home Discount will be expanded, meaning 6 million households will receive £150 off their energy bills this winter. The Government says that this major expansion of support for working families is the latest in a raft of cost of living support made possible because the government has stabilised…
Read more
The Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) has announced new welfare legislation which aims to ensure there are robust protections in place to support the most vulnerable and severely disabled. The Government says. that nearly 4 million households are set to benefit from the uprating of the Universal Credit standard rate, the largest, permanent real-terms…
Read more
New research has found that the majority of the public opposes the welfare changes announced by the Government this year. Twice as many people feel the Government’s changes were the ‘wrong choice’ (54%) than the ‘right choice’ (26%). Over half (53%) of 2024 Labour voters felt that the Government had made the wrong choice, but…
Read more
Energy company Utilita will pay around £277,000 in compensation after failing to pay its Warm Home Discount payments on time, following a review by Ofgem. The regulator found that, in the scheme year covering 2023-2024, Utilita – which supplies 800,000 customers – failed to pass on the mandatory discount to more than 4,000 customers within…
Read more
New research by Aviva has found that the number of people with a partner, that nearly half (47%) keep financial secrets, with more than £6,000 on average per person stashed away in secret accounts. This is despite almost half (45%) believing they ‘know everything’ about their partner’s finances. Of those who have secret accounts, the…
Read more
Latest ONS data has shown that the average cost of monthly private rents increased by 7%, to £1,339, in the 12 months to May 2025 (provisional estimate); this annual growth rate is down from 7.4% in the 12 months to April 2025. The data showed that average rents increased to £1,394 (7.1%) in England, £799…
Read more
New polling commissioned by charity Independent Age, reveals that 82% of people think the UK Government should be providing more support to older people. The polling also shows the importance of this issue at the ballot box, with more than four in five (81%) saying that policies to support older people in poverty would influence…
Read more
Latest Office for National Statistics (ONS) data has shown that inflation stood at 3.4% in May 2025 down 0.1% on April 2025 with rises in food and furniture costs offset by lower air fares and petrol prices. Annualised inflation was forecast to come in at 3.4% whilst core inflation came in at 3.5% in the…
Read more
The Government has announced that it has appointed Emma Jones CBE, Founder of Enterprise Nation as the new Small Business Commissioner. Jones will take up the role on 23rd June 2025 following the completion of Liz Barclay’s four-year term as the current Commissioner. Barclay was instrumental in designing and delivering the new Fair Payment Code,…
Read more
The UK economy is facing considerable domestic and international headwinds that are set to weigh on growth prospects this year and into next, according to the Confederation of British Industry’s (CBI) latest Economic Forecast. While the economy began 2025 on a strong note, our surveys suggest that underlying activity remains sluggish due to persistently weak…
Read more
Latest data from UK Finance has found that the total interest-only mortgage stock (including part and part) fell by 17 per cent in 2024 and has reduced by 78 per cent in number and 61 per cent in value since 2012 (when this data was first collected) There were 541,000 pure interest-only homeowner mortgages outstanding…
Read more