My pick of last week's news is Ucas criticised for promoting 'inappropriate' private loans to students. Tweet of the week we will soon have our 7th work and pensions secretary since 2016 — Jim Pickard (@PickardJE) September 7, 2019 And it's Therese Coffey, who thinks pensioners should pay National Insurance and, a landlord herself, voted against the Homes (Fitness for Human … [Read more...]
“£20,000 credit card debt due to gambling – what should I do?”
A reader asked: "I have nearly £20,000 in credit card debts due to 8 years of gambling addiction. I asked several times to lower my interest, defaulted a couple of times and also they could see gambling on my account yet they still increased my credit limits. I was taking cash advances to pay for food. I have not gambled for 18 months now, but I am left with this horrible debt that I cannot … [Read more...]
Debt news – September 1
This week's big news was the end of the deadline for new PPI complaints. Debt news Amigo Q1 figures - their guidance on no loan growth in next year caused share pricev to halve at one point; Amigo – Q1 results show more complaints being upheld my article Amigo warns lending growth to stall ahead of anticipated regulatory crackdown FT (paywall) Free debt advice must be properly … [Read more...]
Amigo – Q1 results show more complaints being upheld
On 29 August, Amigo published its financial results for the April-Jun 2019 quarter. I wanted to see how Amigo was going to refer to the very high percentage of complaints against it which have been upheld by the Financial Ombudsman - see 83% of guarantor loan cases won at Financial Ombusdman - and whether Amigo is making any changes because of this. The Amigo announcement Here are some … [Read more...]
“I have a CCJ from Amigo – is it too late to complain?”
A reader asked: I agreed to be the guarantor for a loan for a friend, but he lied to me and couldn't pay it. Amigo were very difficult, wanting me to stop paying other debts so I could pay them, and got a CCJ. Is it too late for me to complain and ask to be removed as the guarantor? Guarantor lenders have a reputation for being very fast to go to court when a guarantor doesn't pay them. People … [Read more...]
Debt news – August 25
In a quiet week on the news front, the statistic that FOS is upholding 83% customer complaints about guarantor loan firms is my top pick. For a non-UK topic you may have missed, read Speculators make 13% returns but fail to pay out in response to Ebola in DR Congo. Debt news April-June Financial Ombudsman Complaint statistics by product FOS 83% of guarantor loan cases won at … [Read more...]
After a fixed rate mortgage ends, fix again? For how long?
If your fixed mortgage has ended, or will soon, you could face a large increase in your mortgage payments. Most mortgage revert to their lender's Standard Variable Rate (SVR) when a fix ends. In summer 2019, the average SVR is 4.9%. You can get much cheaper fixes than that! This affects a lot of people. In October 2019, fixed rate mortgages worth £26billion are coming to an end. More than … [Read more...]
83% of guarantor loan cases won at Financial Ombusdman
The Financial Ombudsman (FOS) complaint statistics for April-Jun 2019 have just been published, see Product Complaints Data. For guarantor loans, FOS decided in favour of the consumer in 83% of cases. That is a dramatic increase from the uphold rate of only 32% for the previous financial year I have been saying for several months that almost all affordability complaints by both … [Read more...]
How the borrower of a guarantor loan can complain
Amigo and other guarantor loans are very expensive and the lender often doesn't check properly that you will be able to manage the loan repayments without having to borrow more. If proper checks would have shown that you couldn't afford the repayments, complain! There is a template letter in this article for you to use. You can get a refund of the interest you have paid, or an existing loan … [Read more...]
How to complain when you are the guarantor for a loan
If you are a guarantor for a loan you can ask to be removed as the guarantor: if you couldn't afford to repay the loan without difficulty; or you were pressured into becoming the guarantor; or you didn't understand the implications of being a guarantor. A lender such as Amigo should have checked that a loan will be affordable for both the borrower and the guarantor before the loan … [Read more...]
Off to uni in 2019? Time to plan your finances!
You have the A level grades - well done! There are now just a few weeks to get organised for uni in September 2019. What should your top priorities be for managing your money? And what should you avoid? Living on a student loan is hard You will probably get more money in your bank account than you have ever had before. But most students find it harder to manage than they … [Read more...]
Debt news – August 18
In a quiet week, my two top picks are my article on UK credit records & scores and the Times article - unfortunately behind a paywall - on Hostile environment: immigration system keeps families like ours in debt. Debt news CRUEL UNIFORM Payday lenders are targeting skint parents and charging 1,333% interest on children’s school gear Sun: The loan shark-style firms’ websites feature … [Read more...]
Will the Money Shop really pay 80% of your payday loan refund?
UPDATE On September 13 ICL put an update on its website to say: Over the previous weeks, we have been refining how we will assess complaints made to us in the Scheme, and there have been some important developments, which might affect how much consumers might get in the Scheme. It has clarified how it will assess claims for refunds, accepting all loans over 6 years and more claims in general. … [Read more...]
UK credit records & scores – not fit for purpose!
The Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) has recently started a Credit Information Market Study. In the consultation on its terms of reference, the FCA is asking: Do you consider that the credit information market is working well? I don't think it is. It has grown up over the years into a poorly understood, complex system which has many problems. It isn't working well for consumers or … [Read more...]
Debt news – August 11
The quiet announcement that CAP isn't taking on any new debt clients until 2020 has come as a shock to the sector. Tweet of the week I’ve only spent 25 years stopping thousands of Glaswegians being evicted or repossessed from their homes. Got £1.7bn back in bank charges for free. Wrote the payday loan & bedroom tax guides that were downloaded hundreds of thousands of times. Yet GCC … [Read more...]
- « Previous Page
- 1
- 2
- 3
- 4
- 5
- …
- 31
- Next Page »