Credit, Collections & Insolvency News
Chancellor of the Exchequer Jeremy Hunt agreed a new action plan with regulators to try to ensure consumers are being treated fairly and help those struggling to make payments. As part of the government’s plan to halve inflation this year, the Chancellor chaired a roundtable with CEOs from the Competition and Market Authority (CMA), Financial…
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Two in five people (40%) have been hit by an unexpected expense in the past 12 months costing them £1,851, up £394 in a year.according to research by Hargreaves Lansdown. The unexpected bill was most common among those aged 18-34 – half of whom had an unexpected expense (49%). Half (49%) of people were able to cover…
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Cost of living pressures have affected UK consumers more than their European counterparts, according to the latest EY UK Future Consumer Index. The twelfth edition of EY’s survey of 1,000 UK consumers found that 62% of UK consumers say they are ‘extremely concerned’ by the cost-of-living squeeze, compared with 50% in the rest of Europe.…
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The Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) is to investigate whether a ‘failure in competition’ means consumers are being overcharged for groceries and fuel. The CMA says that while the evidence shows that the majority of fuel price increases are due to global factors, such as the Russian invasion of Ukraine, indications are that higher pump…
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New research from Standard Life has found that first salaries might not stretch as far as young workers hope as the reality of paying for necessities like utilities and council tax kicks in. The number of people making regular ‘everyday’ payments rises significantly among those aged 25 to 34, compared to those aged 18 to…
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Latest ONS data has found that the cost of living crisis has seen as a fifth of households go without heating. The research found that around one in twenty adults (5%) reported that they had run out of food and couldn’t afford to buy more in the previous two weeks amd that almost half (49%)…
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Grandparents are supporting their children and grandchildren financially and through free childcare to help them cope with the high cost of living, Paragon Bank research has found. A survey of 2,700 over 55s found that 58% of those with children have supported them financially over the past six months, with over half (53%) of those…
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The cost-of-living crisis has hit hardest in the North East, where savings are lowest and set to fall the most this year according to new research by Hargreaves Lansdown. The research found that in the North East few people have enough cash at the end of the month, and they have the lowest wages in…
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The Chancellor is set to receive a short-term borrowing boost in his Budget, some of which he will use to prevent a spike in energy bills and petrol prices next month. But in the face of a longer-term weak outlook he faces tough choices on how to resolve public sector strikes and boost Britain’s growth…
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As the cost of living continues to spiral people are cancelling or switching their insurance policies in a bid to make savings, according to research by Consumer Intelligence. Around 7% of people have already cut back on insurance to make savings in the last three months and a further 7% are considering back in the…
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Typical household disposable incomes for working-age families are on track to fall by 3 per cent this financial year, and by 4 per cent next year, with the two-year cost-of-living squeeze set to leave families £2,100 worse off and only the very richest households seeing their incomes rise, according to new research by the Resolution…
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While 2023 may offer economic policy makers some relief, with signs inflation will ease and interest rates peak lower than feared, family finances face a ‘groundhog year’ repeat of 2022’s squeeze as the cost-of-living crisis deepens next year, according to the Resolution Foundation’s New Year Outlook. The Foundation says that 2022 has been horrendous, with…
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The Resolution Foundation think-tank has warned that the UK faces the tightest squeeze on real incomes since the second World War due to soaring inflation. With the Bank of England forecasting that Britain is set to see its longest recession since records began in the 1920s, the Foundation has cautioned that the average household will…
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