Quick overview Provident's Scheme of Arrangement is now in operation. The Scheme was proposed because Provident could not afford to carry on paying full refunds to customers winning affordability complaints. The Financial Ombudsman was upholding 75% of complaints against Provident. The FCA, Provident's regulator, said it did not approve of the Scheme. But as Provident has stopped providing … [Read more...]
Scarcity – why people in debt need a breathing space
Scarcity: Why having too little means so much by Sendhil Mullainathan and Eldar Shafir is a very interesting read for anyone interested in personal debt advice and policy in Britain. Scarcity doesn't just mean lack of money Having less than you need - scarcity - warps your decision making in similar ways whatever you are short of, whether that is money, or time, or if you are on a strict diet or … [Read more...]
How to complain about an IVA
Individual Voluntary Arrangements are complicated long-term legal agreements. A lot can change in your life during the 5,6 or 7 year term your IVA lasts. Sometimes your IVA firm isn't as helpful or sympathetic as you think it should be. You should always be treated politely and have things explained to you. If there is something really wrong with the way your IVA is being handled, then you … [Read more...]
More than a third of IVAs fail – and this may get worse
The latest official government statistics (IVA Outcomes - 2021 ) show that increasing numbers of IVAs do not complete. They fail, leaving the borrower back with their debts. 32% of IVAs started in 2016 have failed. And a lot of these 2016 IVAs are still continuing, so the final failure rate will be over a third. If you are thinking of starting an IVA, you need to know about these IVA failure … [Read more...]
How to ask your bank for a refund of overdraft charges
Have you had big overdraft problems for a long period? You can make an affordability complaint and ask for a refund of overdraft charges if: your overdraft limit was increased to a level you would be unable to clear; or your overdraft usage showed you were in long-term financial distress. For example, being in the overdraft all the time, or using an unauthorised overdraft a lot. This … [Read more...]
Provident’s uncashed cheques – at last they pay out
Provident has at last done the right thing and is paying customers who have cheques from Provident that are too old to be banked. Good! I expect this may affect several thousand people who have cheques ranging from a few hundred to a few thousand pounds. If you have one of these cheques, Provident should have sent you an email about it. Here is an example of what a Debt Camel reader's email … [Read more...]
Guarantor lender TFS Loans goes into administration
TFS Loans Ltd went into administration on 8 February 2022. TFS was a small guarantor lender. This is the second guarantor lender to go into administration. Buddy Loans went into administration last year. Most of the larger lenders in the market are no longer offering guarantor loans, including Amigo, George Banco, TrustTwo and UKCredit. TFS loans were pretty typical of the UK guarantor loan … [Read more...]
Can you afford your car finance?
Can you afford your monthly car payments? You may have lost your job or be worried that may happen. You or your partner may have had their hours cut. Or your business may be generating less profit. Or your other bills may have gone up a lot. Petrol, energy bills, council tax, food... What sort of car finance do you have? You need to know what wort of car finance you have: the most … [Read more...]
Why the FSCS doesn’t cover payday and other lenders
In 2018, when Wonga went into administration, people started asking isn't there some kind of guarantee system that would step in if Wonga fails? Won't the FSCS help? This has become more important every year since then, with most of the major payday lenders failing, including the Money Shop, QuickQuid, Sunny and Myjar. From 2020, other sorts of high cost lenders have also being failing, … [Read more...]
Options if you have an interest-only mortgage
In 2022 there are 1.1 million interest-only mortgages, with an average time until the mortgage ends of 9 years. The FCA has warned: Many of these borrowers may be less well- placed to repay their mortgages. When an interest-only mortgage ends, you have to repay all the amount you borrowed. You can't just carry on paying the interest. The money to repay it can come from three sources: … [Read more...]
How to get refunds from catalogues and credit cards
Have you had a catalogue, credit card or store card where you were given a high credit limit? So high that the monthly repayments were hard to manage so you got into more debt? Many people were originally given sensible limits, but the lender kept increasing them. You may have a good complaint that the lender was irresponsible in allowing you to borrow so much that the debt … [Read more...]
“How can I get a complete list of my debts”
A reader asked: For 10 years now I've been racking up debt and then burying my head in the sand. I have had letters upon letters from debt collectors, I just bin them all. I'm sure I've had a few CCJs as well. I haven't had any new credit or anything for three years. I now have a new job and more disposable income - not a lot, but better than benefits! Is there anywhere I can look to see … [Read more...]
What happens when you can’t afford IVA payments
If you can't make the payment to your Individual Voluntary Arrangement (IVA) this month, don't panic! There may be options for you to cope and get your IVA back on track. This is very common - five or six years is a long time for everything to go smoothly in your life. It is difficult to generalise about IVAs because they really can be "individual". This article looks at the sorts of … [Read more...]
How equity release works in an IVA
Are you in the last year of an IVA and have a house with equity? You may have to try to remortgage your house to pay some of the equity into your IVA. This article looks at the questions people have about how equity release works in an IVA and what happens if you can't remortgage. If you are thinking about an IVA, see this covers what you need to check with your IVA firm before signing … [Read more...]
ICL / Money Shop – a 2nd small payment to be paid on Jan 14/18
A first payment of 4.31p in the £ was paid in May/June 2021. A second, much smaller payment of 0.65p in the £ is being paid on 14 or 18 January 2022. If you do not receive this second payment, see below for what to do. Background to the Scheme This "Scheme of Arrangement" covers borrowers from the ICL brand names, Money Shop, Payday UK and Payday Express, who were given … [Read more...]
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