Blog · Debt Camel

Debt news – December 9

My pick of last week's news is DWP forces carer to sell home or face jail to repay benefits. Tweet of the week Don’t swim with the sharks this Christmas, a small loan can lead to massive repayments in the New Year! Report illegal money lenders to @Loansharknews on 0300 555 2222 #SLSWeek18 #BrumTS @BhamCityCouncil @AgainstScams @CTSI_UK pic.twitter.com/1SslnVGvcM — Trading Standards … [Read more...]

Refused or want to avoid a payday loan – the alternatives

It's become harder to get a payday loan: Wonga borrowers dropped from one million in 2013 to under than 600,000 in 2014. By the time they gave up in August 2018 and stopped lending their number of new loans had shrunk further; the two big high street lenders, Cheque Centres and the Money Shop, stopped lending in 2017 and 2018; Payday UK and Payday Express stopped lending in 2017. So … [Read more...]

Debts – why, how & when to ask for the CCA agreement

The Consumer Credit Act (CCA) gives you the right to be sent a copy of your credit agreement and a statement of your account for most loans, credit cards, catalogues, store cards and Hire Purchase agreements. CCA agreements are important! If a creditor can't find it then: you can't get a CCJ for the debt; and you may decide to stop paying the debt. This doesn't apply to all debts. … [Read more...]

Barclays & Barclaycard refund thousands of customers in arrears

In 2018 Barclays started a major refund program to customers with overdrafts, loans or credit cards who had been charged interest when Barclays knew they were in financial difficulty. The Arrears assistance review page on Barclays website says: After a careful review, we found that from October 2013, we didn’t always provide the service we should have to some customers who were over their … [Read more...]

Debt news – December 2

My pick of last week's news is Yes we can by Fair for You. Tweet of the week The UK’s #welfare system is currently undergoing fundamental reform in the transition to #UniversalCredit alongside other major & largely untested reforms like #benefitsanctions & #benefitcap. Give us YOUR views on the #social #safetynet here by Dec 14: https://t.co/nT6u7kTx3d — Work & Pensions … [Read more...]

Complaining to the Financial Ombudsman – what happens

When you have a complaint about a loan, credit card, mortgage, pension or insurance and you can't get it settled with the company, send the complaint to the Financial Ombudsman Service (FOS). FOS describes what happens: Your complaint will be investigated by one of our case handlers, who will try to understand what happened and if the business did anything wrong. Your case handler will let you … [Read more...]

Debt news – November 25

A bumper selection this week! Two top picks: the rent to own price & interest cap and Banks that offer personal loans BIGGER than your annual salary. Please sign the petition in A campaign for a compassionate DWP in the following tweet. Tweet of the week My first ever blog post about the campaign for a more #CompassionateDWP I explain why I believe @DWP need to form a … [Read more...]

FCA will cap BrightHouse prices and interest from April 2019

The Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) has announced that it is introducing measures that will cap the cost of buying from BrightHouse, PerfectHome and other pay weekly shops from April 2019. This is very good news. It is not just a cap on the interest, where the FCA has imposed the same 100% cap that currently applies to payday lending. The FCA is also proposing controls over the prices … [Read more...]

Sales bargains – 7 top tips avoiding the bad buys!

How do you spot the real bargains and avoid buying things you will later regret? The human brain is very good at processing lots of information fast by grabbing hold of important facts early on and letting them dominate decisions. That was perfect when we were out hunting for food and living in caves, but in a shopping mall or online it can go badly wrong! Lots of shouty Sale signs and money … [Read more...]

Debt news – November 18

My pick of last week's news is the UN envoy's report on poverty in Britain. Read it. Tweet of the week DWP statistics out today - £10.1bn of meanstested benefits went unclaimed in 2016/17. Figures exclude JSA and Universal Credit as stats not suitable quality. pic.twitter.com/d6lnoyzxy5 — Paul Lewis (@paullewismoney) November 15, 2018 Debt news Settle student loans at … [Read more...]

Is Vanquis delaying ROP refunds to current customers to get more interest?

Vanquis was told by the FCA in February 2018 to refund £168million to customers. This was for the extra interest charged on its ROP product that people were not told about. It said it would refund existing customers within 90 days, then closed accounts within 180 days. But since then there have been huge delays and now Vanquis is refunding some closed account before the open … [Read more...]

Can a debt collector or a lender call you at work?

A reader asked: I work in a Finance Department and I am worried I will be called by a debt collector about a credit card. Can I say I don't want them to call me at work? This is a common worry. Whatever your job, you don't want your manager or your colleagues to know you have money problems. It could be a lender or a debt collector, it could be an overdue bill or a debt. Creditors should … [Read more...]

Debt news – November 11

My pick of last week's news is Government must urgently reassess sanctions regime. Tweet of the week One of the best tributes to fallen soldiers I have ever seen. Ghosts of soldiers silently standing over their graves St John's Churchyard, Slimbridge. Created by local artist, Jackie Lantelli. #LestWeForget #lestweforget18 pic.twitter.com/rYGUUYEAn5 — Pocket Sergeant (@PocketSergeant) … [Read more...]

Christmas 2018 – keeping the cost down and the fun up

Here are some ideas to cut down what you spend this year on Christmas. It's not worth getting into more debt for one day which will make all of 2019 much harder for you. With just over a month to go this is a good time to be starting to plan. Finding ideas for cheap presents in mid-December can be too late to get them delivered in time - even Amazon Prime's one-day delivery often lets you down … [Read more...]

What happens after an IVA fails? What can you do?

Your IVA seemed like the perfect solution when it began, but now it's failing. Will you be back to square one and have difficult creditors to deal with? Or could you even be made bankrupt? First, there may be ways to rescue your IVA An IVA failing may not be a disaster, for some people there are better options! That's what the rest of this article looks at. But don't assume nothing can be … [Read more...]