My pick of last week's news is my article on BrightHouse. Tweet of the week Do you have a bag of unopened bills and letters from creditors? Our brave client brought 2 bags like this today and opened all of them to start the process of dealing with debts. #wecanhelp pic.twitter.com/GqKAPPRBdE — Havant (@HavantCAB) March 8, 2018 Debt news The true extent of Britain’s household … [Read more...]
BrightHouse and the return of the never-never
BrightHouse sell household appliances, furniture and tech products with the customer making weekly payments, usually for three years, and owning the item at the end. But it has emerged that only some 50 percent of BrightHouse contracts complete properly. When BrightHouse Chief Executive Hamish Paton gave evidence to the Treasury Select Committee in February 2018, he said: Typically across all … [Read more...]
Debt news – March 4
My picks of last week's news are the FCA's measures on persistent credit card debt and Vanquis having to refund £168 million to customers. Tweet of the week Today a visitor to the Foodbank walked 3 miles in the snow to get to us, as she's waiting for the outcome of a Universal Credit appeal and is current living on £34 a week for her family of 3. #UniversalCredit #Foodbanks — Waterloo … [Read more...]
Vanquis to pay £168 million in refunds for ROP from 2003
Vanquis will repay c £168,000,000 to over a million customers who had its ROP (Repayment Option Plan) on a Vanquis credit card since 2003. This refund is being paid because on 27 February, the FCA (Vanquis's regulator) announced the result of its investigation into ROP and concluded it was missold to every customer because the true cost was not explained to them. Vanquis had not told customers … [Read more...]
Debt news – February 25
Important reports this week Walking on Thin Ice: The cost of financial insecurity and Recovery Space, but if you only have time for one article and you are involved with debt advice, my pick of the week is Where next after Wyman? Tweet of the week We are calling on @TheFCA to cap interest and charges for things like rent-to-own and doorstep credit. This will help people like Alison, who … [Read more...]
MoJ consultation on default CCJs
I have responded to the Ministry of Justice's consultation on Default County Court Judgements (CCJs). This consultation was started in December 2017, because of: concern about the potential adverse impact of a County Court judgment on individuals who, unaware that a judgment had been made against them, found months or years later that their credit rating had been damaged. This article expands on … [Read more...]
Debt news – February 18th
My pick of last week's news is the Resolution Foundation's An unhealthy interest report. Graph of the week The key balance for the Bank of England... We owe more relative to our income than in most of the past 30 years, but we're spending less on servicing it. Even modest rate rises will quickly alter this picture pic.twitter.com/loISRRt4Nt — ResolutionFoundation (@resfoundation) … [Read more...]
Apps that help you budget or save money
Here is my pick of apps and other #FinTech (Financial Technology) products that help you budget and save if you live in the UK. They are aimed at people who are short of money. It doesn't include apps getting you to invest in the stock market. But if every month is a struggle, you find it hard to manage on the money you have, leave enough in your account to pay the bills and have a small … [Read more...]
Can I overpay my interest only mortgage?
Mrs M asked: I have an interest-only mortgage of £91,000 with 11 years left, with no plan to repay it at the end. It was originally a repayment mortgage, but when I couldn’t afford the payments the bank suggested I switch to an interest-only mortgage. I went through with my bank an option to change to repayment but they didn’t accept me. Can I pay extra each month? Will it reduce the debt and … [Read more...]
Debt news – February 11th
My pick of last week's news is the two pieces on SMI. It is being reported that with about 7 weeks to go before SMI as a benefit ends, less than 5% of the people getting SMI have agreed to take the replacement loan. Graph of the week The impact of having children on earnings. Men vs women https://t.co/0DV90XVebQ pic.twitter.com/4G5x0yePK4 — Paul Kirby (@paul1kirby) February 9, … [Read more...]
LOQBOX – how saving can improve your credit score
LOQBOX is a new product that aims to improve your credit score as you save regular amounts of money. And there are no fees at all. Which sounds good, doesn't it! I'm tired of suggesting that people with poor credit scores should get a "bad credit card", use it each month and repay it in full each month. That works work well if you can stick to the plan... but one 24 year old I was talking to … [Read more...]
Debt news – February 4
If the FCA's update on high-cost credit actually proposed anything it would have been my top pick, but it doesn't, just more delays and consultations. So my selections for this week are my own story on the 2017 Insolvency Statistics and the interesting piece by James Plunkett for CAB: Markets don’t work like they used to. Graph of the week From latest @dwp figures today, the overwhelming … [Read more...]
Which debt should you pay off first? A reader’s case
Steve asked: I have received £4000 from a payday loan refund. I have a £2500 loan with Amigo, £1500 left on a Likely Loans loan, a £2000 overdraft and 750 x 2 on credit cards. (Limit 800 on each). My dilemma is not knowing how to spend the £4000 in order to boost my credit score. Which is the most damaging and needs paying first? Although your situation won't be the same as Steve's, you may be … [Read more...]
2017 Insolvency Statistics – the real story
On 26 January 2018 the Insolvency Service published two sets of statistics: Individual Voluntary Arrangements: Outcome Status 1990 – 2016 Insolvency Statistics: October to December 2017 Predictably the news stories about this lead on the statistic that personal insolvency went up: The number of people who became insolvent jumped by 9.4% in 2017 - the second year running that … [Read more...]
How should you choose an IVA firm?
If you want to talk about setting up an Individual Voluntary Arrangement (IVA) and whether it is a good debt solution for you, which firm should you talk to? You could put IVA into google... but how do you decide which of the tempting "see how much of your debt you can write off" links to click on? Or you could choose the person that cold calls/texts you telling you about a "little-known … [Read more...]
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