UPDATE - in November 2023 the Morses Scheme failed - see Morses Club goes under – in administration for details Comments are now closed on this old article. Britain's largest doorstep lender, Morses Club, announced in July 2022 that it was considering a plan to reduce its liability to pay compensation to customers mis-sold unaffordable loans. The announcement of a possible Scheme of … [Read more...]
July 2022 – SafetyNet Credit halts lending after FCA restrictions
UPDATE - In January 2023, Indigo Michael, who operates the SafetyNet Credit and Tappily lending brands, went into administration. See SafetyNet Credit goes into administration for a description of SafetyNet Credit's previous lending and what is expected to happen in the administration. This is bad news for customers hoping for a refund for unaffordable lending. The rest of this article is … [Read more...]
Ofgem names energy firms who must improve their Direct Debit setting
Ofgem has been investigating how energy suppliers set customers' direct debits. The energy regulator has found: more than 7 million consumers on a Standard Variable Tariff (SVT) had their direct debits increased between February and April 2022; direct debits went up 62% on average; half a million households had an increase of more than 100%. Ofgem has told 6 energy suppliers to take … [Read more...]
Help with IVAs if you can’t pay because of the cost of living
Many people in an IVA are currently struggling because of the large rises in bills and prices in 2022. The Insolvency Service has now issued Guidance to support the IVA protocol. (That is confusingly laid out - look for the section headed 60) Guidance to support the IVA protocol for existing protocol compliant IVAs: 26 June 2022.) This sets out what extra help IVA firms should provide … [Read more...]
Provident is paying 4.2557p in the £
Quick overview Provident's Scheme of Arrangement is now in the final stages. 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 … [Read more...]
“My debt has been sold, just when I thought I was out of the woods”
A reader asked: I had an old credit card debt from Vanquis, the last payment was made in 2018. It dropped off my credit file last week. I have just received a letter from Lowell saying they have bought the debt and have to contact them. Will I have to pay, just as I thought I was getting out of the woods with old debt? If I do, will it reappear on my credit file? At the time I was in a … [Read more...]
Defaults – have you been given bad information?
In the last week, three readers have queried what they have been told about defaults and their credit record: Ms A: I have debts that have been defaulted for about 4 years. I have set up a debt management plan and Payplan say that if my debts are sold then the new debt company can place a brand new default on the loan and the default date would be when the new debt company (not the originator) … [Read more...]
Guarantor lender TFS Loans goes into administration
UPDATE: FCA fines TFS £880,000. On 10 June 2022, the FCA announced: TFS Loans Ltd (in administration) has been fined £811,900 by the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) in relation to deficient affordability checks on 3,150 guarantors in its consumer credit business. The FCA has also imposed a requirement on TFS to redress the guarantors that were harmed by the firm not conducting appropriate … [Read more...]
“A mystery CCJ on my credit record – I know nothing about it”
A reader, Ms J asked about a CCJ that suddenly appeared on her credit report. "I check my credit record a couple of times a year and there is now a CCJ on there. It looks like it was added 2 months ago at an address I left ages ago, possibly 8 years. I don't even know if this is real or some sort of error. It's only a few hundred but I don't want to pay it if I don't have to and I don't know … [Read more...]
Credit cards – the minimum payment trap
Do you only make the minimum payments on your credit cards? If money is tight, you may feel you can't afford more... But do you know that there is a simple alternative that will speed up debt repayments a lot, not harm your credit record and not cost you any more? Repaying a credit card with minimum payments How long does it actually take? Suppose you buy a cot and a buggy costing £1,030 … [Read more...]
Zable – a “credit builder” card to avoid [updated]
UPDATE - August 2023 - Zable hikes interest rates for some borrowers Some people have been told that Zable is increasing their interest rate from 38.9% to 48.9%. The customers were told the rate was being increased to reflect changes in Zable's assessment of their credit record. 48.9% is now the "representative rate" that Zable quotes - this makes it one of the most expensive credit … [Read more...]
Amigo’s new Scheme – approved by the Court
UPDATE the Scheme is now live After the court approved the Amigo scheme in May 2022, the Scheme is now live. The deadline for making claims has now passed. See Amigo’s Scheme – waiting for claims to be decided for details. UPDATE on the result of the voting Amigo announced on 13 May that c. 89% of people voting had voted in favour of the new Business Scheme. the next stage in the … [Read more...]
Vanguard Insolvency closed down – a rogue IVA firm
On 13 May 2022, the Insolvency Service announced that Vanguard Insolvency had been wound up "in the public interest". Vanguard set up and ran Individual Voluntary Arrangements (IVAs). These are long-term agreements between a customer and their creditors that are increasingly criticised as being mis-sold to vulnerable customers. However, Vanguard has not been shut down for mis-selling IVAs, … [Read more...]
Debt advice in an age of inflation
At the beginning of 2021, UK inflation was under 1% but by the end of the year it was about 5%. In May 2022, it was up to nearly 9%. More than 20 million household say their energy bills go up by over 50% in April. Petrol price increases are hard for anyone commuting to work by car or living in a rural area. And of course rising food prices are affecting everyone. When it raised UK interest … [Read more...]
BNPL is now often on credit records, but it’s ignored in credit scores
Klarna details will start to be added to TransUnion and Experian records from June 2022. TransUnion says: Incorporating this data into credit reports will support consumers that are using this type of point-of-sale finance, whilst also ensuring lenders have a comprehensive picture of a borrower’s financial position. But this year TransUnion will not be using the BNPL information when it … [Read more...]
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