On 16 September, the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) announced a review into unsecured credit market regulation. This will be chaired by Christopher Woolard, the outgoing interim Chief Executive, which suggests how seriously the FCA sees this subject. The FCA says: The Review will concentrate on how regulation can better support a healthy unsecured lending market. It will take into … [Read more...]
Credit Ladder – can renting boost your credit rating?
UPDATE - September 2020 - now Credit Ladder are proposing to charge you £60 a year to report to both Experian and Equifax. I suggest you don't bother! As a means of paying to try to improve your credit score this seems unnecessary, reporting to two is very little better than reporting to one. Do yourself a favour and pay that £5 a month off a debt instead. Or add it to your savings account if … [Read more...]
Coronavirus – can’t pay your IVA? Would a break help?
If you are worried about your IVA because Coronavirus has affected your household finances, this article looks at the extra flexibility to help people in IVAs. This help has been extended to April 2021; and how things may change in the next few months, with furlough and payments breaks likely to end. Your IVA firm and your creditors will not want your IVA to fail because of a temporary … [Read more...]
Debt news – 13 September 2020
The government announcement on support for renters over the winter is the top news - and my pick of the articles on it is Shelter's response. Tweet of the week The two-child limit is certainly the worst social policy enacted in my lifetime. Unique to UK. If anyone can identify the mendacious bastard that came up with the idea. Please tell me. He/she will surely rot in hell. … [Read more...]
Debt news – 6 September 2020
My pick of last week's news is the Emerging from Lockdown survey. Tweet of the week Appalled at how hard it still is for our poorest communities to withdraw their hard-earned low wages from cash machines w/o incurring a charge. £1.50 might not seem much to some but can you imagine trying to withdraw your last £10 for electricity and seeing it reduced to £8.50.😢 — Father Grant Naylor … [Read more...]
Major changes for thousands of customers with Aperture & Vanguard IVAs
Two of the largest IVA firms have recently announced the latest in a long line of customer transfers within the industry: all Aperture's open IVAs have been sold to Jarvis Insolvency; and Vanguard's open IVAs will be administered by Ebenegate. Sale of Aperture's IVAs to Jarvis On 5 September 2020 Jarvis Insolvency announced: Jarvis Insolvency have recently taken over your IVA from … [Read more...]
Provident complaints rise – but are its offers too low?
The Financial Ombudsman (FOS)'s latest quarterly statistics, published on 25 August 2020, highlighted a rise in the number of complaints received about some types of high cost credit. In the period April-June 2020, new complaints about home credit rose by 77% to 1,166. Provident is the major lender in the home credit market, also known as doorstep lending. When Provident published its results … [Read more...]
“On furlough, now redundant – what about my mortgage & IVA?”
A reader, Mr D, asked: I am being made redundant, no redundancy pay as I didn't work there long enough. We have managed my IVA payments when I was on furlough by taking a mortgage holiday but that is ending and now our household income will be halving. We will struggle to pay the mortgage let alone the IVA. My partner earns too much for me to get any benefits. I know I have to tell my IVA, but … [Read more...]
Debt news – 30 August 2020
My picks of last week's news are Mum found dead beside starving baby and My working week: 'I advise a client on universal credit who can't pay their bills or support their kids' Tweet of the week Am reading @GlasgowCC proposals for funding cuts to law centres & advice agencies. Proposed cuts range from approx. 40% to 100% (i.e. zero funding). At this point in the pandemic I cannot … [Read more...]
Debt news – 23 August 2020
The big news this week was the eleventh-hour extension of the eviction ban in England for one month. My pick of the articles is the Toynbee Hall report on what needs to be done to resolve the problem, not just postpone it: Understanding relationships between landlords and their tenants during COVID-19. Tweet of the week Just over 1 in 3 adults who were unable to afford an unexpected … [Read more...]
Lloyds & Halifax overdraft fees higher if your credit record is poor
In July 2020, Lloyds, Halifax and Bank of Scotland (BoS) increased their overdraft charges and a month later people are starting to see the full cost on their monthly statements. This is the fourth change to the banks' overdraft charges since 2017. The new fees are higher for customers with a bad credit rating. This is unfair in several ways. So what can you do if you can't afford these … [Read more...]
Debt news – 16 August 2020
My pick of last week's news is MAT's response on Ongoing support for consumers affected by coronavirus. But anyone interested in high-cost lending should also read my summary of Kerrigan v Elevate. Tweet of the week Their defence is literally: we gave all the right grades, just not necessarily to the right people pic.twitter.com/d7T8DVZ9k3 — Chris Cook (@xtophercook) August 14, … [Read more...]
Kerrigan v Elevate Credit – an “unfair relationship”
The judgment in the Kerrigan & others v Elevate Credit International Ltd was published on 5 August 2020. Elevate Credit International was a large UK payday lender, trading as Sunny. Kerrigan and the other eleven claimants were Sunny customers who had made affordability complaints to Sunny through a claims company. The claims company brought the case and selected six claimants; Sunny … [Read more...]
Debt news – 9 August 2020
Another busy week with a wide variety of articles. Tweet of the week The no of newly benefit capped households on #universalcredit rose by a massive 665% between Feb & May; at a time when the things people can do to escape the cap (get a job; move to a cheaper house) were basically impossible https://t.co/v0JvzWKzxy — Ruth Patrick (@ruthpatrick0) August 6, 2020 Debt … [Read more...]
Barclaycard send letters saying they raised credit limits too high
In July 2020 Barclaycard sent out letters to some customers saying their credit limit may have been set too high. They say: We've recently reviewed the way we set some of our customers' credit limits and can see that the limit we gave you previously may have been higher than it should have been at that time. We are sorry this happened and recognise that this may have had an impact on your … [Read more...]
- 1
- 2
- 3
- …
- 32
- Next Page »