Smart meters let you see the cost of the energy you are using immediately. 14 million households already have smart meters. But how useful are they in practice? And are there any problems? And is your supplier saying you have to get a smart meter as your meter is dangerous? There is one big issue you may not have heard of... This article looks at the pros and cons when you are thinking … [Read more...]
Debt news and policy
Debt Camel articles on what's changing - and what ought to change - in the world of personal debt in Britain.
If you are interested in a specific area, look at: High cost credit news & policy and Insolvency news & policy.
Will a prepayment meter make it easier to budget?
Many people want to reduce their gas and electricity bills and are wondering if switching to a prepayment meter will help. So could a prepayment meter help you to use less energy and budget more easily for these high prices? Sometimes a supplier will suggest you should change, saying the budgeting will be easier. But in 2022 and early 2023, many energy suppliers forcibly installed prepayment … [Read more...]
Buddy Loans administration – no money for cash refunds
UPDATE Advancis was dissolved in December 2023 Advancis Ltd, trading as Buddy Loans, went into administration on 7 September 2021. Buddy Loans was a small guarantor lender. Its loans were typical of the UK guarantor market - between £1,000 and £10,000 lent on a 1-5 year term at a 49.9% APR. The FCA describes these loans as "high cost". Buddy's slogan was: If you've got a good BUDDY, you … [Read more...]
The FCA’s Consumer Duty – a new overarching principle
On 31 July, the FCA's new Consumer Duty came into force, bringing in higher standards of consumer protection. You may not have heard of it, but financial services firms have been working for a couple of years to be ready for this. Delivering good outcomes for retail customers is the new 12th principle in the FCA's handbook and is described as the overarching principle. That sounds very … [Read more...]
Big hikes in Paypal interest rate & minimum payments
Paypal's interest rate increases Readers have reported getting an email from Paypal in June or July saying their interest rate will be going up a lot. In the email, Paypal warns: You will pay more each month and take longer to repay any outstanding balance on your account. Not good! A poll I ran on Instagram suggested more than half the Paypal accounts in the UK may be seeing an interest … [Read more...]
Making a claim to the Morses Scheme [old article]
UPDATE - Morses Club went into administration on 17 November 2023. This scheme has now been terminated. See Morses Club goes under – in administration – Scheme fails for details and what customers should do. Morses sent out a batch of decisions on 6 July 2023. Many people have found these confusing - see the comments below this article. At one point the email says in a grey box: "Morses … [Read more...]
Are you still paying fees on an old Gregory Pennington DMP?
For many years Gregory Pennington (GP), part of the Financial Wellness Group (FWG), has charged its clients monthly fees for running Debt Management Plans (DMPs) But MaPS awarded Gregory Pennington a contract that began on 1 February 2023. And it can't charge fees for DMPs under this contract. StepChange, Payplan and CAP have always provided "fee-free" DMPs, where all a client's payments go … [Read more...]
IVA mis-selling must stop – FCA finally acts to ban debt packagers
Many people have been mis-sold IVAs when they had a better (cheaper, quicker, less risky) debt option available. These other options were ignored or not properly described by some firms that should have given proper debt advice. IVAs are the only debt solution in England, Wales and Northern Ireland that generates large fees for the firms setting them up. These fees can distort debt advice given … [Read more...]
Has your debt with Hoist been sold to Lowell?
In September 2022, the debt collector Lowell bought Hoist's UK business, with over 2 million defaulted accounts. Most of these debts were loans, credit cards or overdrafts from lenders such as Barclays, Egg, HSBC, Newday and Santander. Lowell is moving over the Hoist accounts to its system. With so many accounts to be transferred, this is being done in batches. When yours is switched … [Read more...]
Amigo to close & Scheme goes into Fallback – implications for customers
August 2023 - the first "UPHOLD" decisions are being received. Comments on this article are now closed. Please see the comments below the main Amigo Claims page to see what is happening. On 23 March 2023 Amigo announced that it has been unable to raise the equity it needed to continue in business. This means that the Scheme of Arrangement currently underway will change into the … [Read more...]
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