In 2019, the bank regulator, the FCA, announced new rules about overdraft charges. It called these: the biggest shake-up to the overdraft market for a generation. Banks had to change their overdraft charging before April 2020. In January 2020, the last of the banks announced how they were changing their rates. In 2020 the FCA admitted that about 8 million people will be paying more under the … [Read more...]
Debts keeping you awake? Find a good way forward
In the small hours of the morning, worries about bills and debts can go round and round in your head: complicated ideas about how to juggle all the payments when there isn't enough money; worries about your partner who doesn't know how bad it is and how to stop your children being affected by your money shortage; panics about what "they" (debt collectors, a judge in court, bailiffs etc) … [Read more...]
When can you get a default removed from your credit record?
"This default is destroying my credit score - how do I get rid of it?" This is a very common question! It's sometimes asked when people's finances have improved and they are trying to clean up old problems on their credit history as fast as possible. Or sometimes the default feels unfair for some reason. I will look at various cases to see what - if anything - can be done for each of … [Read more...]
Debt Advice – 2019 did not go well – what will happen in 2020?
Many annual reviews say the year has gone by so fast. But it seems like a very long while since I wrote my review of Debt Advice in 2018. 2019 has been very difficult for debt advice. There have been few bright spots (apart from affordability complaints), a lot of delays to policy decisions being taken and an ever-worsening benefits environment for our clients. 2019 - what happened & … [Read more...]
Court papers for a CCJ – FAQs about the N9A form & how much to offer to pay?
Mrs E asked: I have a catalogue debt of about £2000 from 2014. I was paying through a debt management company until March 2016 when I stopped. They are going to court for a CCJ. I don't know how to fill in the form with my expenses or which debts I should include. Mrs E's questions are about completing the N9A Admission form that was included with the Claim Form she has received. This is the … [Read more...]
More payday lenders go under – was anything learned from Wonga?
In the last two months of 2019, Britain's largest payday lender, QuickQuid, went into administration followed by three smaller lenders: 247 Moneybox, PiggyBank and Swift Sterling. Have the lessons from Wonga's collapse last year been leaned? And how can regulators and debt advisers do better in future to protect borrowers, not just of payday loans but other sorts of high cost credit as … [Read more...]
If a lender took tax off a refund, reclaim some using the R40 form
If you have received a refund from a lender, you may see that there is an "8%" element included. This applies in many situations, including PPI, affordability refunds and NOSIA refunds. Often the lender will have deducted basic rate tax from this 8% part. Since April 2016 non taxpayers and basic rate taxpayers can probably get some or all of this back from the HMRC. This article looks at … [Read more...]
Should I keep paying an old debt?
Do you have to keep making payments to old debts? It can be easy to get stuck in a long-term Debt Management Plan (DMP) or payment arrangements. If you are paying little each month, your debts will take a very long while to be gone. This article looks at the questions people often ask about old debts where they have been making monthly payments to the debts. If you haven't been making … [Read more...]
Amigo’s half year 2019 results – the rising cost of paying refunds
Amigo's half-year results for April-September 2019 show a big increase in complaint costs about its guarantor loans. The majority of these complaints are affordability complaints, by the borrower or by the guarantor. Here is the management presentation on the results. What Amigo says about complaints Here my thoughts on some of the points Amigo makes about complaints in the management … [Read more...]
Help with bankruptcy fees
A reader asked: I can't afford to go bankrupt! Is there anyone that can help with the fees? The bankruptcy fees in England and Wales are £680. This is made up of the £550 Official Receiver's fee and the £130 application fee. £680 is just stupidly high - most people go bankrupt because they are broke and they don't have hundreds of pounds in their bank account. The fees used to be reduced if … [Read more...]
“Why I had to go bankrupt & how it went”
Everyone’s bankruptcy case is different. Here is L’s story. Few people will have the combination of a high income and high health costs that she had. But many will recognise the problem of consolidation loans not resolving their debt difficulties and have L's worries about bankruptcy. After years of struggling with debts and a chronic health condition, I applied for bankruptcy early in … [Read more...]
Threats of CCJs and bailiffs – are debt collectors bluffing?
Have you received scary letters from a debt collector demanding payments? These letters may threaten defaults, county court judgments (CCJs) and bailiffs taking your possessions. Sometimes the letters are bluffing, but the number of CCJs is continuing to go up. In the first half of 2019, there were 586,765 CCJs and more than half were for less than £650. This article covers consumer debts … [Read more...]
Sunny’s payday lending – concerned about lack of regulatory clarity
In November 2019, many people hoping for a payday loan refund from Sunny were watching for the third-quarter results from Elevate, Sunny's US parent. Would Elevate decide to close Sunny, so they wouldn't get their refunds? In late October QuickQuid had gone into administration after its American parent announced it was exiting the UK. That left Lending Stream, Myjar and Sunny as the largest … [Read more...]
Who should you tell before you go bankrupt? And afterwards?
It is normally a good idea to tell your creditors if you are in financial difficulties, not ignore them. So should you tell people you are planning on going bankrupt? And who do you have to tell afterwards? Before bankruptcy - you won’t gain from telling your creditors Few creditors will feel sorry for you and stop pestering you if you tell them you are going bankrupt. So you aren’t … [Read more...]
An emergency fund – how much do you need & how to save it
A lot of personal finance advice starts out with “Everyone needs an emergency fund”. A survey showed that a third of middle-class families couldn’t pay an unexpected bill of £500 without borrowing, so the lack of savings is a very widespread problem. But what if you already have debts that you are paying off? Accumulating an emergency fund will delay clearing the debts … but having a rainy day … [Read more...]
- « Previous Page
- 1
- …
- 15
- 16
- 17
- 18
- 19
- …
- 30
- Next Page »