Debt Camel

Answers to questions about debts and credit ratings - in plain English!

  • Home
  • Debt refunds ▾
    • Large loans
    • Overdraft refunds
    • Catalogues & credit cards
    • Car finance – affordabilty
  • Debt solutions ▾
    • Debt Management Plans
    • DRO – Debt Relief Order
    • IVAs
    • Bankruptcy
    • Payment arrangements
    • Compare 2 solutions
    • Help if you can’t pay bills & debts
  • Car commission
  • Latest posts
  • About ▾
    • About Debt Camel
    • Media
You are here: Home / Blog

Car finance – what happens in an IVA?

Cars on finance can be a big problem with an Individual Voluntary Arrangement (IVA). Sometimes they can cause difficulty getting the IVA approved. Sometimes you face a major problem when the car finance end. With more than a million cars a year in the UK being bought on finance, this is an increasingly common situation. And one that is being made worse in 2023 by the cost of getting a … [Read more...]

August 8, 2023 Author: Sara Williams Tagged With: cars, IVA

Can you get a mortgage with debts?

People often think that a mortgage lender will look at how good your credit score is. That isn't right - sometimes you can get a mortgage with a not good credit score or you may be rejected with a great credit score. Three key factors in getting a mortgage are: your deposit the affordability calculation - this is affected by current debts that you are repaying; your credit history - … [Read more...]

August 5, 2023 Author: Sara Williams Tagged With: Mortgages

Buddy Loans administration – no money for cash refunds

UPDATE Advancis was dissolved in December 2023 Advancis Ltd, trading as Buddy Loans, went into administration on 7 September 2021. Buddy Loans was a small guarantor lender. Its loans were typical of the UK guarantor market  - between £1,000 and £10,000 lent on a 1-5 year term at a 49.9% APR. The FCA describes these loans as "high cost". Buddy's slogan was: If you've got a good BUDDY, you … [Read more...]

August 3, 2023 Author: Sara Williams Tagged With: Guarantor loans, High cost credit news/policy

The FCA’s Consumer Duty – a new overarching principle

the Consumer Duty - an overarching principle

On 31 July, the FCA's new Consumer Duty came into force, bringing in higher standards of consumer protection. You may not have heard of it, but financial services firms have been working for a couple of years to be ready for this. Delivering good outcomes for retail customers is the new 12th principle in the FCA's handbook and is described as the overarching principle. That sounds very … [Read more...]

July 31, 2023 Author: Sara Williams Tagged With: consumer duty, General news & policy

Big hikes in Paypal interest rate & minimum payments

Paypal's interest rate increases Readers have reported getting an email from Paypal in June or July saying their interest rate will be going up a lot. In the email, Paypal warns: You will pay more each month and take longer to repay any outstanding balance on your account. Not good! A poll I ran on Instagram suggested more than half the Paypal accounts in the UK may be seeing an interest … [Read more...]

July 22, 2023 Author: Sara Williams Tagged With: credit cards, General news & policy

Making a claim to the Morses Scheme [old article]

UPDATE - Morses Club went into administration on 17 November 2023. This scheme has now been terminated. See Morses Club goes under – in administration – Scheme fails for details and what customers should do. Morses sent out a batch of decisions on 6 July 2023. Many people have found these confusing - see the comments below this article. At one point the email says in a grey box: "Morses … [Read more...]

July 7, 2023 Author: Sara Williams Tagged With: morses, Schemes of Arrangement

Are you still paying fees on an old Gregory Pennington DMP?

For many years Gregory Pennington (GP), part of the Financial Wellness Group (FWG), has charged its clients monthly fees for running Debt Management Plans (DMPs) But MaPS awarded Gregory Pennington a contract that began on 1 February 2023. And it can't charge fees for DMPs under this contract. StepChange, Payplan and CAP have always provided "fee-free" DMPs, where all a client's payments go … [Read more...]

June 13, 2023 Author: Sara Williams Tagged With: consumer duty, DMP, General news & policy

IVA mis-selling must stop – FCA finally acts to ban debt packagers

Hercules clearing out the Augean stables

Many people have been mis-sold IVAs when they had a better (cheaper, quicker, less risky) debt option available. These other options were ignored or not properly described by some firms that should have given proper debt advice. IVAs are the only debt solution in England, Wales and Northern Ireland that generates large fees for the firms setting them up. These fees can distort debt advice given … [Read more...]

June 2, 2023 Author: Sara Williams Tagged With: For debt advisers, Insolvency news & policy, IVA

How to repair your credit record after bankruptcy

credit record after bankruptcy - it needs tidying up

  Bankruptcy badly affects your credit record for six years. This article looks at what should show on your credit record after you are discharged from bankruptcy. For almost everyone, discharge happens after a year. But if lenders don't record bankruptcy and your discharge correctly, they will continue to damage your credit record for longer than they should. Even if you … [Read more...]

June 2, 2023 Author: Sara Williams Tagged With: Bankruptcy, Credit ratings

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 or get a secured loan to pay some of the equity into your IVA. This is called "equity release" This article looks at the questions people have about how equity release works in an IVA. If you are thinking about an IVA, you need to know about this before signing up. In 2023, most … [Read more...]

May 30, 2023 Author: Sara Williams Tagged With: IVA

Affordability complaints for two credit cards from a lender

My article on credit card affordability explains when you should make a complaint and has a free template letter to use. Some people have two credit cards from the same lender. Or two catalogue accounts from the same lender. The most common lenders this affects are: Newday - brand names include Aqua, Marbles and Fluid; Capital One - some people have been given two Capital One cards. … [Read more...]

May 19, 2023 Author: Sara Williams Tagged With: credit cards

IVAs and secured loans – how to complain

IVAs - complain about a secured loan

The IVA protocol, which applies to most new IVAs, says that in the last year of your IVA, if you have a house with equity, you may have to release equity by either remortgaging or getting a secured loan. Some of the proposed secured loans mentioned by Debt Camel readers and on other debt advice forums have been at very high interest rates - 16%, 19% or even 22%. And have been for terms ranging … [Read more...]

May 6, 2023 Author: Sara Williams Tagged With: IVA

Has your debt with Hoist been sold to Lowell?

Hoist debts sold to Lowell

In September 2022, the debt collector Lowell bought Hoist's UK business, with over 2 million defaulted accounts. Most of these debts were loans, credit cards or overdrafts from lenders such as Barclays, Egg, HSBC, Newday and Santander. Lowell is moving over the Hoist accounts to its system. With so many accounts to be transferred, this is being done in batches. When yours is switched … [Read more...]

May 2, 2023 Author: Sara Williams Tagged With: debt collector, payment arrangement

I have a letter from a debt collector – what can they do?

Letter from a debt collector

If you get a letter saying that a debt has been sold to a debt collector you may be very worried. This article answers common questions about what has happened and how it will affect you: will the debt collection agency (DCA) be horrible to deal with? is it legal to do this? do you still have to pay the money? what about your credit record? what if you don't owe the money? I … [Read more...]

April 26, 2023 Author: Sara Williams Tagged With: CCJ, debt collector

What happens after discharge from bankruptcy?

Discharge from bankruptcy

This article looks in detail at what happens when you are discharged from bankruptcy: the practicalities, the implications for savings and gifts and the restrictions that end after discharge. Discharge is almost always after 12 months Almost everyone is discharged from bankruptcy automatically 12 months after the date they went bankrupt. During these 12 months when you are bankrupt, you have … [Read more...]

April 25, 2023 Author: Sara Williams Tagged With: Bankruptcy

  • « Previous Page
  • 1
  • 2
  • 3
  • 4
  • 5
  • 6
  • …
  • 22
  • Next Page »

I post regularly on Instagram

Follow me!

Help with your debts

Recommended places for debt advice

Get an email after a new article:

About Debt Camel

This is the personal website of Sara Williams.

More about Debt Camel.
Privacy policy and Comments Policy
Contact (not for debt advice)

 

Copyright © Debt Camel 2025