Blog · Debt Camel

Covid-19 – you can have up to 6 months of mortgage breaks

UPDATE In 2023 with rising mortgage rates, see Worried about the cost of your mortgage? Find out the help your lender can offer. In 2020, all mortgage lenders will provide a three-month mortgage payment holiday for borrowers whose household finances are affected by coronavirus. By May 2020, 1.8 million people had taken a mortgage payment holiday. If you have already had … [Read more...]

Payday lender Sunny heading for administration

UPDATE - Sunny went into administration on 29 June. See 500,000 Sunny customers owed refunds will get little or nothing for the latest news about what customers will get. And see Kerrigan v Elevate Credit – an “unfair relationship” for my thoughts on the court case Sunny lost, badly. Elevate Credit International Limited, which trades as Sunny, has filed a Notice of Intent to appoint … [Read more...]

How Pardners work – friends save & borrow in an informal club

Rotating Savings and Credit Associations (ROSCAs) are arrangements that allow friends to save together and withdraw lump sums from the scheme. ROSCAs are unregulated, relying on trust. The Money Advice Service says "those who use [ROSCAs] say they encourage savings and allow people without bank accounts access to credit." They have different names around the world, including tanda in South … [Read more...]

MaPS to give £38 million more for debt advice – it’s badly needed!

The Money and Pensions Service (MaPS) has announced an increase in its budget for debt support in England in 2020/21 by £38million. And an additional £5.9 million is being allocated to Northern Ireland, Scotland and Wales. This new money is in addition to the existing MaPS budget for debt advice of £64 million. It will come from a combination of government funds, reallocated MaPS budget and … [Read more...]

“Will paying off debt improve my credit rating?”

A reader asked if his credit score would improve if he paid off some debt. First a useful warning from Experian: There’s no one credit score or magic number – different lenders score differently. But a good place to start is by looking at what exactly is on your credit records. There are three credit reference agencies in Britain and you have to check all three as they may have different … [Read more...]

10 things you should know if you can’t pay a tax bill

CORONAVIRUS UPDATE Any self-assessment payments on account due in July 2020 that weren't paid, will automatically have been deferred until 31 January 2021 without penalty even if you did not ask for this. The deferred self-assessment payment will then be due at the same time as the normal January self-assessment payment. If you know you won't be able to pay these, phone the HMRC Self … [Read more...]

Coronavirus & the reform of Personal Insolvency in England

This article builds on the arguments I put forward in Coronavirus – how the debt advice sector should be planning, looking at one area that needs to be tackled urgently - personal insolvency. Coronavirus will cause a large increase in the numbers of people who should choose insolvency over the next couple of years. I am not trying to predict how many, but it is likely to be large enough to … [Read more...]

Wageday Advance – administration now completed

Summary of the administration Curo Transatlantic Limited (Curo) had two brands: Wageday Advance (WDA), a mid-sized payday lender; and Juo Loans, a small guarantor lender. Curo entered administration on 26 February 2019 because of the number of payday loan affordability complaints they were receiving. They appointed KPMG as Administrators. The Administrators … [Read more...]

Coronavirus – how the debt advice sector should be planning

As lockdown is gradually phased out and furlough payments eventually stop, many people will not be able to return to their pre-Coronavirus situation of being able to manage their debts and bills. Now is the time the debt advice sector should be considering how to prepare for the large demand it may face and what may need to change. We don't know how many people will have problems We don't … [Read more...]

Found out you have a CCJ? What can you do?

There are three ways you may find out you have a County Court Judgement (CCJ): you get a letter from the court; the creditor tells you, asking for payment; or you see it on a credit report - possibly after you have been unexpectedly rejected for credit. A CCJ is a decision by a judge that you ("the defendant") should pay someone ("the claimant") an amount of money. In mid 2022, there … [Read more...]

COVID-19, financial decisions & those tricky exponential numbers

This is a guest post by David Steele, Policy and Research Manager at The Money Charity (currently furloughed). He was previously Policy Manager Financial Services for Age UK and Head of the Research and Statistics Unit at the UK Film Council. This blog is written in David’s personal capacity and does not necessarily represent the views of his current employer. With the Sunday … [Read more...]

Wonga – administration ended, company dissolved

The administration of WDFC, the legal company who operated the Wonga brand, was completed in August 2020. The company was finally dissolved in December 2020. See Companies House records for details. Background to the administration - rising complaint numbers A payday loan is "unaffordable" if repaying meant you had to get into more debt, by borrowing again or getting behind … [Read more...]

Getting help with funeral costs

Funerals are expensive. The average funeral now costs £4,000 - that is an 80% increase in the last ten years. This article looks at ways of covering all or some of the funeral costs if you have to organise a funeral. Let's say it's for Sally, as I don't want to keep writing "the deceased". Funeral Payments can help if you are benefits If you get Universal Credit or some other benefits … [Read more...]

BrightHouse “close to collapse” because of increasing affordability complaints

UPDATE - BrightHouse went into administration on 20 March 2020. See BrightHouse enters administration – how does this affect customers? for details. On 29 February 2020, Sky News reported "Rent-to-own giant BrightHouse on brink of collapse". This said: there has been a "surge" of complaints which are currently costing BrightHouse more than £1million a month; management is worried … [Read more...]

How to improve your credit rating after a DRO

A Debt Relief Order (DRO) lasts for one year and then your debts in it are wiped out. But it shows on your credit record for six years. This article looks at what should happen to your credit record during the DRO year and after it has finished. Some of your creditors may have go tt this wrong, you need to ask them to correct any problems. You can start to improve your credit rating after … [Read more...]